With dreams and aspirations...

Argentina had an away win at Equador (1-3), with Messi scoring a hat trick and qualified 3rd at South America Qualification group. The 23 players who chose Jorge Sampaoli were a weird choice, as Mauro Icardi didn't participate, although he had an excellent season with Inter Milan. On the other hand, 'albiceleste' were unlucky, as their first choice goalkeeper Romero was injured. The same for the miedfielder Manuel Lanzini (tear of the cruciate ligament), who was replaced by River Plate's Enzo Perez. E.Banega left Saturday's training due to injure and his participation will be last minute's decision. In their sole preparation game against Haiti they won 4-0 in 'La Bombonera', as their last scheduled one before the World Cup vs with Israel was postponed. They've got a tremendous quality in attacking line, full of world class players. The only question is upon defense. as the defenders are not that confident.

On the other hand, Iceland's team qualified to the finals as they came first in a tricky group with opponents like Croatia, Turkey, Finland, Ukraine and Kosovo. They are a physical team with an average quality. They didn't have a good performance at friendly games. In March they were defeated from Mexico (3-0) and Peru (3-1). In their most recent games, Norway beat them (2-3) and they drew 2-2 (in a game they were ahead with 2-0) vs Ghana, in their last preparation game before the World Cup. The 50th years old manager Heimir Hallgrimsson managed to bring the team to this point and that's a great success for a country with only 334.000 inhabitants.

Messi's team want to have a good start and put the lead for qualifiying, against a worth-fighting for but definitely inferior Iceland. Home win odds are quite low, but I will go with the 'albiceleste's' win with handicap -1.5, a bet that doubles our stake.