This was supposed to be the group of death, but it was more like the group of little death for Argentina today. (If you don't get that, crack a book once in a while.) To kick things off early, Argentina scored in the 6th minute on a series of passes culminating in a goal by Maxi Rodriguez. Tactically, an early goal against team that plays tough defense and counterattacks means you force them to come forward and open things up, so it's a huge advantage. In addition, on this goal... well, you know how in The Matrix when Trinity, Neo, and the Agents get going it's like they're moving on a completely different time frame from the normal people, who are unable to move and react with the same speed? That was basically what Argentina looked like today. I can't believe this is the same Serbian team that shut everybody out in qualifying, or for that matter, the same team Holland could barely break down last Sunday. (More on Arjen Robben's sabotage of Holland later.) The combinations in the box Argentina was pulling off really were nothing short of amazing, and based on these two games, I don't even know that they've gone full speed yet, so Holland is really in for it.
Just in case they weren't getting screwed enough, Mateja Kezman was sent off in the 65th minute by a ref trying to keep things from getting ugly, as a Serb team with nothing left to lose lashed out. Then again, this Argentine team could lose a lot of players without suffering a whole lot, they're insanely deep. They proved it today by bringing on Lionel Messi (making his WC debut at 18) and Carlos Tevez, who both scored. The game was over so early the ref ended the game without any extra time, despite several subs, just to get it over with.
The last appearance by a unified Serbia and Montenegro team (minus their star Kezman) is on Wednesday, vs Cote d'Ivoire.
Argentina 6-0 Serbia & Montenegro
'6 Rodriguez
'31 Cambiasso
'41 Rodriguez
'78 Crespo
'84 Tevez
'88 Messi
Red Card: Mateja Kezman '65
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