Argentina fell short, but Pekerman deserves credit

	It was coach José Pekerman (right) who brought in midfield lynchpin Juan Román Riquelme to orchestrate the potent Argentine attack. AP
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The Argentine national team may not have succeeded in bringing home the title as promised, but they were still welcomed home as heroes on arrival at Buenos Aires' Ezeiza Airport by thousands of Albiceleste fans in the early hours of Monday morning.

"C'mon, C'mon Ar-gen-tina, we will never stop supporting you," the loyal supporters chanted.

What a relief.

For the first time since 1990, the nation was actually proud of its team's World Cup performance. Although coach José Pekerman's side was unable to reach its goal, it made several friends along the way.

The reason, quite simply, was that Argentina was the most exciting team of the competition and captivated its fans with all the components that make great entertainment. Skill, teamwork and creativity were some of them, not to mention some outstanding goals.

In previous World Cups, most notably in '02, the Albiceleste projected a negative image of itself, mostly based on the idea of playing defensive soccer to achieve favorable results. Former managers such as Marcelo Bielsa faced scrutiny for adopting lackluster systems that solely focused on the efforts of high-profile individuals.

But the '06 version of the Albiceleste proved that's all in the past. Much of the credit should go to Pekerman, who, shortly after Argentina's elimination confirmed, "It's the end of an era, and I definitely won't be staying on."

His work ethic, however, will definitely be valued for many years to come. Pekerman carried a refined mentality, a quality his predecessors lacked, and that translated to the team. After leading Argentina to three World Youth Cup championships ('95, '97 and '01), he was appointed first-team manager, and promoted several of his youth players into the senior team -- most notably attacking midfielder Juan Román Riquelme, the player around whom Argentina's game was centered in Germany.

Pekerman drilled home a standard that saw Argentina playing an attractive style of soccer, something that was likely to bring back the glory days to a nation that has traditionally been amongst the elite of the world game.

He respected, but modified the traditional conventions used by past managers, and it paid dividends. In its five matches, Argentina played extremely high-quality, teamwork-heavy soccer that had the nation at a standstill for several weeks.

In the end, Pekerman used the tournament as a stage to demonstrate to the world all the good work he had been doing since he took over as manager a little less than two years ago. The side completely played in accordance to his rules, and only modified its structure in order to adjust to sudden changes in the passage of play.

Coming into the competition, everyone knew that Argentina's main strength was its forward line. Hernán Crespo & Co. made Pekerman's controversial roster choices look wise, producing some brilliant displays that made Argentina the attacking menace of the competition with 10 goals in its first four games.

The midfield also consisted of several players with a natural tendency to attack, including Riquelme, Maxi Rodriguez and Pablo Aimar. But it was still a balanced, well-equipped side that was one of the strongest of the competition. Argentina was the protagonist in all its matches, playing some creative but effective soccer. The players dominated their opponents, even if they were at times physically inferior, and were able to handle the pressure to the extent that they looked like worthy title candidates.

Unlike Brazil, England and Spain, they played to their full capacity. They were able to adapt to changes in the flow of the game, and demonstrated this when they went behind for the first time in the competition against Mexico in the round of 16. But they proved their worth by playing intelligently and eventually grabbing a late victory on an amazing Rodriguez goal.

It was no wonder Argentina came into its quarterfinal clash with Germany riding a wave of confidence. The Albiceleste proved its superiority throughout most part of the 120 minutes. The Argentines didn't allow the Germans to play their game, and when they took the lead, thanks to a Roberto Ayala header early in the second half, it seemed there would be no stopping them. They seemed to have the game in control, and it stayed that way until the 72nd minute.

That's when things got dicey. Pekerman made some unconventional decisions that severely dented his side's chances. Had Argentina continued to attack the leaky Germans, it might have increased its lead. But for once Pekerman went against his usual attacking methods, preferring a more conservative approach to maintain the slender advantage.

We all know what happened next. Argentina is a side that likes to play with the ball, and it suffers when it has a minimal lead -- as it demonstrated in several of its pre-World Cup friendlies and in its opener with Ivory Coast.

For all of his impeccable preparation and tactical know-how, Pekerman's inexperience at the highest level showed. He went with a defensive system and insisted on sitting back, effectively soaking heavy German pressure for more than 20 minutes. The Germans leveled in the 80th minute and Argentina went on to lose a heartbreaker on penalty kicks.

Restricting Lionel Messi to the bench could have been the biggest mistake any manager made in the competition, but it would be unfair to pinpoint this as the reason why Argentina was eliminated.

After all, although Pekerman failed in the moment of truth, he worked wonders during his time with the national team. Argentina failed to win the title, but the nation respects itself as a soccer power once again. That's an achievement few could argue.

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