Uncle Gregory defends Jose Pekerman

By Gregory Pekerman
The moment I saw my cousin Jose Peck call Julio Cruz to the touchline, I sensed Argentina were in trouble.
It is true that Cruz got into the 23-men squad on the basis of last minute goals scored for Inter Milan after having come on as a late sub. Had he scored, or had Germany simply failed to equalize, we would all be pondering Jose's genius and about the richness of Argentina's bench. My only other explanation is that Jose probably felt Cruz was HIS choice, whereas Messiwould have been everybody else's choice.
If the result had been any different, that would be called "personality". Now it's an instance of "Svenism"...Overall, it was a remarkable showing from Argentina. Nobody here (in Argntina)expected as much.
Considering "star-spangled" Argentina were in fact a team madeup mainly of subs and rejects, they didn't do badly at all.
Cruz: sub at Inter. Crespo: sub at Chelsea. Saviola: sub at Seville (and Barcelona reject). Aimar: sub at Valencia. Sorin: Juve reject. Heinze: after his injury, he'd played just one or two games for Man United reserves. Mascherano: only played about twice this year for his team Corinthians. Riquelme: another Barcelona reject, never a first choice at national level before Peck.
It was only logical that the only real stars of the team should be on the bench: Tevez and Messi. But Jose's magic was in making his players forget all this and play like a team of stars. I'm not objective, but I don't think there was a better team at this year's world cup.
And certainly not Germany, judging by what they had to show against Argentina. Two headers on target in 120 minutes: one was a goal. And the ball is round.