Argentina defender Nicolas Burdisso has called on his team-mates to secure a win against Nigeria (13/2 to beat Argentina) in their World Cup opener – by any mean necessary.
The South American nation are one of the favourites to win this summer’s tournament, despite a disappointing qualifying campaign which saw them scrape through by the skin of their teeth.
While little is known about how the Albiceleste will perform due to their unpredictable coach Diego Maradona they will certainly expect to make it to the knockout stages of the competition having been drawn alongside Nigeria, South Korea and Greece.
They start their World Cup campaign against possibly their toughest opponents in the first round of the tournament, with Nigeria the second favourites to win the group.
The Super Eagles (18/5 top African nation) reached the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations and topped their group in qualifying ahead of Tunisia, Mozambique and Kenya.
However, Nigeria have lost one of their star players to injury since then in the form of midfielder John Obi Mikel and haven’t enjoyed the best build-up to the World Cup, failing to beat Saudi Arabia in one of their warm-up matches.
While Nigeria did beat North Korea (1/8 to finish bottom of Group G) 3-1 in their last friendly match, Argentina will certainly fancy their chances of overcoming their Group B rivals and getting their World Cup off to a flying start.
Burdisso says Argentina need to get off to a winning start and believes it doesn’t matter how they get the victory, just as long as they take all three points.
“I give more value to starting the tournament with a win than to playing well,” he said.
“There is a lot of anxiety and to start with a win would mean a lot to us.
“We must win our first game and although it will be difficult, we have to know that a good result is all that matters.”
In the 2006 World Cup Argentina got their campaign off to a winning start, beating the Ivory Coast 2-1 as they made it out of the ‘group of death’.
The Albiceleste were looking good four years ago until they were knocked on penalties by Germany.
Burdisso says this time around the team won’t get carried away with any media hype surrounding their performances and promises they will be taking it one game at a time.
“There is no question we are candidates to win the tournament,” he added.
“We have very strong players in the team but that doesn’t mean anything.
“We must win our first game and then draw some conclusions.”
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