Maradona Musters Win

Argentina scraped through to the World Cup Finals after a thrilling match away to Uruguay. Heavily under fire boss Diego Maradona faced one of the biggest games of his career as Argentina required vital points away from home to progress. The hostile atmosphere within the stadium before hand was a as taste of what was to come. Argentina, who have struggled throughout the group stage were looking to take some huge pressure of their shoulders by qualifying for South Africa but the game did not go all their own way. It took a late goal for debutant Mario Bolatti to seal an unconvincing win after the sending off of Caraceres. Maradona and his team were greeted by raptures boos from the home fans as they entered the field and the home fans reaction was met by that of the players. The game started very lively, with seemingly both teams fired up for the big game. To begin with it was a very stop and start game with tackles flying in from every direction. The referee's attempts to calm the players resulted in numerous yellow cards within the first 10 minutes. The first real chance fell to the home side as Jorge Rodriguez made use of some slack defending to burst through on goal only to crash his effort against the upright. 10 minutes later and Argentine keeper Romero was sent scrambling after a fierce drive from Alvaro Pereira went narrowly wide. However, the Argentine's quelled their nerves and started to stroke the ball around effortlessly. They had a decent penalty shout on the half hour when Diego Perez appeared to wrestle Gabriel Heinze to the ground only to be waved away by the referee. As the clock approached the half time mark Uruguay almost grabbed the lead when a sensational drive from Diego Forlan scrapped the post, ending a thrilling first half. The hosts continued to press in the second half as Maradona's men looked tame in front of goal. Maradona who has come under some harsh criticism for Argentina's disjointed World Cup campaign looked to be heading for more misery. Athletico Madrid forward Forlan unleashed rasping drive from the edge of the box only to be saved well by Romero as Uruguay pressed for the opening goal. World player of the year Lionel Messi looked anonymous in the first half but displayed some his talents after taking the ball past three defenders before putting his shot wide. Argentine hearts where in their mouths once again when Diego Lugano was left free in the area only to fluff his header over the bar. The home side were dealt a heavy blow when Caceres picked up a second booking after hauling down Jonas Gutierrez. This was a telling blow as the resulting free kick allowed Bolatti to smash the ball home giving Argentina all three points and qualification. Maradona and his men had been able to silence their critics at least until South Africa.