Jogo Bonito? Si, che pibe, es la Argentina...

And what could be a bigger insult to la Canarinha than that? Their arch-nemesis, that pesky neighbor to the south, the Albiceleste, has played the best soccer of the Cup so far. It's not even debatable. And all this despite the huge disparity in the toughness of their respective groups. The Argentines were drawn into the Group of Death and forced to play a team that made the semifinals of Euro 2004 (Holland), another team that made the final of the African Nations Cup (Ivory Coast), and another that allowed only one goal in 10 games of European qualifying, forcing a powerful Spanish team into the playoffs (Serbia & Montenegro). Meanwhile, the Brazilians were given a comparatively easy road, lined up against Croatia, Australia, and Japan.

Most people, yours truly included, thought that the Brazilians would cruise through the group stage. Sure, el Selecao is not without problems: Dida has become a liability between the posts, Cafu and Roberto Carlos are finally slowing down and coming off less-than-stellar seasons with their club teams, Ze Roberto is hardly a defensive midfielder, Adriano and Ronaldo have struggled to find the net in recent months (plus, Ronaldo has gone on the Jon Favreau diet), and no one knows if it would be possible for two playmakers like Ronaldinho and Kaka to co-exist in a crowded midfield. But despite all those concerns, this is a team that without the slightest doubt is the most talented in the world - surely they would make quick work of such an easy group. Not exactly. You might be sitting there checking the standings, wondering if your idiot author knows that both Argentina and Brazil have qualified for the second round with a game to spare, both taking maximum points from two games while not allowing a goal...but the difference between these two rivals is much greater than the standings would have you believe.

While all of Brazil's fears have been realized (none more so than a dreadful Ronaldo - even the president has taken issue with him), Argentina has dazzled soccer fans around the world with two fantastic performances, especially this week's 6-0 thrashing of Serbia & Montenegro. For the reasons why these teams have taken such different paths to the same place, one need look no further than their coaches' decisions in the past month. Carlos Alberto Parreira, while undoubtedly a fantastic coach, has fallen prey to the same star-gazing obsession of England's coach, Sven Goran Eriksson. Unable and/or unwilling to bench one of their main stars, even when it would clearly lead to a more balanced and stronger line-up, both Parreira and Eriksson seem determined to stick it out until the bitter end with their so-called 'galacticos'. While Eriksson plays a midfield completely devoid of any defensive midfielders, clearly to the detriment of players like Lampard and Gerrard who now have no defensive cover and are forced to resort to defensive duties themselves, Parreira starts only one defensive midfielder (Emerson), flanked by a winger moved to the center of midfield (Ze Roberto), two playmakers ('Dinho and Kaka), and two out & out strikers (Ronaldo and Adriano). This system has left his team dependent on moments of individual brilliance, not to mention scrambling to make-up for the lackadaisical Ronaldo; fortunately for the sake of Parreira and Brazil, the team is more than talented enough to win in spite of these problems, saved by goals from Kaka and Adriano in games against Croatia and Australia respectively (and one more by the poorly-named Fred as well - c'mon, you play for Brazil, at least go by 'Fredinho' or something).

Meanwhile, Argentina's Jose Pekerman has not fallen victim to the seduction of the many stars in his squad, despite public outcry to the contrary. First, Pekerman had the audacity to leave veterans such as Javi Zanetti and Walter Samuel out of his squad altogether, but then went so far as to leave popular youngsters like Lionel Messi and Carlitos Tevez out of his starting lineup. While the Argentine fans sharpened their knives for Pekerman's head, appalled that he would choose to field such a conservative line-up including two (!) defensive midfielders and the effective-but-unexciting Javier Saviola, his team went out and beat a dangerous Ivory Coast team before the aforementioned massacre of Serbia & Montenegro. While Messi and Tevez were reduced to second-half subs, the ultra-defensive Javier Mascherano was controlling midfield, Esteban Cambiasso was surging forward to score the goal of the tournament thus far, Saviola was combining wonderfully with Hernan Crespo up front, and Juan Roman Riquelme was left with complete control of the team's attacking play, letting him set his own pace, run into acres of space in the offensive half, and pick the opponents apart with the cool precision of a top-notch surgeon. Whereas Pekerman resisted the temptation to play Riquelme with his close-friend and mirror-image Pablo Aimar, Parreira chose to play two playmakers, Ronaldinho and Kaka, together. It should come as no surprise that the results of the former have been far more impressive than those of the latter.

As evidenced by Real Madrid's failures in recent years, soccer is not a name-game. It is not played on paper (thank God), but is played out on the field, where such tedious things like team balance and tactical knowledge are immensely important. When did Real Madrid go wrong? When they sold Claude Makelele, a magnificent but boring defensive midfielder, to Chelsea; they then tried to play David Beckham, a million times better-looking and far more marketable, at Makelele's center-mid position, despite Beckham's preference for the right wing. The words of Real's president at that time, Florentino Perez, continue to live in infamy. Questioned as to the rationale of selling a useful cog in the machine like Makelele and attempting to replace him with Becks, Perez said, "We've just traded a player who can't pass the ball 10 yards for one who can pass it 60". While Beckham's #23 shirt was flying off the shelves, Real Madrid's results took a nosedive; 'los merengues' hardly needed one more offensive player to go with the likes of Ronaldo, Figo, Raul, and Zidane - what they needed was a solid, albeit anonymous, defensive midfielder. It is no coincidence that in the three years since this exchange Real has not won a single title, while Chelsea has won the English Premiership twice. Perez resigned four months ago.

Jose Pekerman understands the importance of having the guts to leave big-name stars on the bench in order to field a more balanced line-up. While Parreira and Eriksson continue to wonder when their star-studded teams will finally start clicking, Pekerman's insistence on building a strong team, just not one full of the sexiest names, is paying dividends. Now maybe Eriksson will finally bench Michael Owen in favor of someone such as Michael Carrick who could provide some balance and free Lampard and Gerrard for more offensive roles. And maybe Parreira will leave out the overweight and off-form Ronaldo in favor of the young and quick Robinho, who could combine wonderfully with a big, powerful striker such as Adriano. But for now, despite the facts that the standings say otherwise, the only team in this cup displaying the 'jogo bonito' on which Brazil prides itself is its neighbor to the south, coached by the unpopular, but gutsy, Jose Pekerman. More power to him.