The traditional American aversion to football — or soccer — stems from their inability to comprehend the concept of a 0-0 draw, and how it can be anything but boring. They should have been watching on Wednesday night when Argentina and Holland failed to score but played football of such high quality that one almost forgot it ended goalless.The scoreline reflected two things. One, for all their passing, Argentina sorely missed the services of a skilled, clinical finisher such as Crespo; there was plenty of ammunition but no sharpshooter. And two, that Argentina are a strong defensive unit, from Mascherano, their holding midfielder, to the back four. Despite the absence of their regular defenders, they rarely allowed the Dutch within sniffing distance of Abbondanzieri’s goal.Most of the match was compressed in the middle half of the pitch and it’s here that Argentina sparkled, showing off the wealth of creative talent at their disposal and playing their trademark short, quick passes. Most teams play one-touch in the safety and anonymity of practice sessions; Argentina do it on the biggest stage of all.Pulling the strings was, of course, the pass master Riquelme but he was joined, and occasionally outshone, in his exploits by the young pretender Messi, making his first start of the tournament, Tevez, Cambiasso and even the unheralded Maxi Rodriguez. Late into the game Pablo Aimar, the lost talent of Argentinian football, entered to rapturous applause and proceeded to show glimpses of his skills. In all this, one barely missed Saviola and Sorin.So swift was the movement, especially in the first half, that reporters making notes had a tough time; take your eyes off the action and you risked missing another great pass. Some moves were simple, requiring only eyes at the back of the head; a back-heel, a side-pass. Some were intricate, as the one in the 15th minute that went on for two minutes and involved Messi, Riquelme and Maxi; impossible angles, incredible twists and turns of the body to leave the Dutch, no mean artists themselves, leaden-footed.It seemed the only way Holland could tackle this was, well, by tackling. In the 27th minute Kuyt, the prodigious goalscorer tracking back to help out the defence, got a yellow for a tackle on Tevez. From the free-kick Tevez hit the post; the ball was eventually bundled out for a corner. When it came in, Maxi hit a scorcher that just missed the goal. The fans just got louder.A few minutes later Argentina won a free-kick deep in their own half; three passes later Maxi was in the Dutch penalty area though his shot hit the side netting. So absorbing was this football that the first “wave” in the stands came about only in the 40th minute. Just before half-time Messi performed the incredible feat of chasing a ball fired from deep inside his own half, winning it near the Dutch area, heading it down, and firing it just wide. So much for the theory that Argentina don’t like running.At half-time the statistics were incredible: Holland had 57 per cent of the possession, but were unable to do anything with it. Van Nistelrooy spent much of his time isolated in the outfield, screaming at Kuyt on one occasion for choosing to go for glory rather than pass into the box. Van Persie lacked his usual presence and without Robben Holland lacked bite.The second half was more of the same; Messi — incredibly, he’s still 18, celebrating his birthday with his senior pro Riquelme on Saturday — ran, passed, jinked and dribbled, the Brazilian in the Argentina team. Yet he has a core of steel, willing to jump in for the 50-50 balls; so, too, do his teammates.These aren’t Fancy Dans strutting like peacocks around the park; they can take care of themselves. On this evidence, Argentina have what it takes to go all the way. They have the confidence, the skills, the unity and the work ethic. Their problems, if any, will come from within. On this form — and with Crespo and Saviola, Sorin and Heinze back in the team — it is hard to see them being beaten.A goalless draw, then, but Argentina have bigger goals in their sights.
