With Argentina’s friendly against Portugal in Geneva just a few hours away, HEGS readers have a wide choice of previews. First, if you’d like to remind yourself of the main players in the Argentine side, you can get yourself over to Cahiers Du Sport where I’ve written a guest post on the Argentine side for fans of the Portuguese league. If you’re wondering where in South America Portugal is exactly, and who their players are, check out CDS author Ben Shave’s guest post here on HEGS on Argentina’s opponents. And to see how accurate we each were in predicting the starting lineups? Just read on.
International friendly, Geneva, Wednesday 9th February 2011
Argentina (manager: Sergio Batista)
S. Romero
J. Zanetti —- G. Milito —- N. Burdisso —- M. Rojo
E. Cambiasso —- J. Mascherano (c) —- E. Banega
E. Lavezzi —- L. Messi —- A. Di María
Portugal (manager: Paulo Bento)
Eduardo
J. Bosingwa —- R. Costa —- B. Alves —- F. Coentrão
R. Meireles —- J. Moutinho —- C. Martins
Nani —- H. Postiga —- C. Ronaldo
You can follow the ins and outs during the build up to the 2011 Torneo Clausura, as well Argentina’s performances in the Sudamericano Sub 20, the country’s vast foreign legion and the latest news from the selección during the 2010-2011 season direct from Buenos Aires with HEGS on Twitter. If you’ve not signed up yet you can do so here. You can also join the official HEGS Facebook group, to keep up to date with the latest posts on the blog and discuss things with other fans. You’ll find it here. Also remember to bookmark Hand Of Pod, our home to a brand new Argentine football podcast (or subscribe to it on iTunes here)
Hasta El Gol Siempre 
Argentina’s centerback situation is beyond bad. Burdisso is a scrambling hacker and Milito just doesn’t play enough to be effective. Samuel is out injured, getting older and who knows how effective he might be when he returns. For all the incessant talk about Argentina’s glut of offensive firepower and increasing optimism about the midfield, the defense remains their huge achilles heel.