Doing it easy is just, to easy!

Football really does damage your health. From the cold sweats to the over aggressive celebrations, the heart and most of the body aren't really built to take the punishment but some how we battle through, we watch, we enjoy!

Sometimes our passion goes further, it makes us take part, maybe when we're not good enough, or fit enough, or don't really want to. At times in the last few months Diego Maradona would have felt a whole new feeling, that maybe, for once, he wasn't good enough. Throughout his career Diego has always been too good. But it was always at playing the game, managing the game is like a whole different sport, one which many talented players have failed at.

And the Argentinian legend had seemed to be one of those as well, having taken the position of national manager Diego has put his almost Godesque status in his native country on the line, he has struggled. So, going into the final match of the qualifying campaign away to Uruguay, Argentina were on the brink of not getting to a World Cup for the first time since 1970.

Having been the villain of the piece for many months Diego threw on young Mario Bolatti as a late substitue and just four minutes later Argentina led 1-0 and that was that, the old enemy were heading to South Africa.

With Maradona at the helm Argentina look week, frail, and all together at a loss as to how play football. Scary thought considering they posses the world's best player, Lionel Messi, and several other rather decent players, Tevez, Higuain, Veron, Mascherano, Gutierrez, Heinze to name but a few of them. And if they continue playing the way they have been the World Cup will not last long for them.

Unfortunately for their rivals they wont continue to play this way. The World Cup does magical things to footballers, especially those who have suffered adversity on the way to said event.

Rewind if you will just 4 years ago. The Italian national team arrived in Germany on the back of one of the biggest scandals to hit any footballing league in the world. Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio, three of the countries biggest teams were relegated to the 2nd tier of football, whilst Milan and Regina picked up points deductions. The scandal meant players such as Italian captain, Fabio Cannavaro, would be playing in Serie B, imagine John Terry in the Championship if you will.

The Italian side were not expected to do too well with the scandal expected to be on the minds of all of thier players. In the group stages the Italians were good but not exceptional, beating Ghana and Czech Republic then drawing with U.S.A, the Azzuri topped their group as was expected. Four years earlier Italy had gone out in Round 2 against Guus Hiddink's South Korea, who were helped by a dreadful Italian performance and some rather awful home refereeing decisions. This time round they faced Australia, managed by none other than Guus Hiddink, this time it was Italy who got the rub of the green, being awarded a 95th minute dodgy penalty to make it 1-0. The quarter final was a 3-0 run over of the very average Ukraine.

Suddenly the semi's were upon us and excitement had reached fever pitch. The Italians scored two late goals in a magnificent extra time match against the Germans and the final was set up, the determined Italians vs the French, a team who possesed a retiring Zinedine Zidane. I could write a whole post dedicated to that man, possibly one just dedicated to the picture of him walking past the World Cup trophy and down the tunnel after his sending off. The Italians of course won on that night! They fought through adversity, through pain! They won when they perhaps felt they weren't good enough, were too emotionally injured and perhaps they didn't even want to be there!

Any one writing off Argentina, in the same way that many wrote off Italy, would be stupid. In 2002 Brazil were written off after a dreadful qualifying campaign, of course they won the World Cup that year. Meanwhile England this year qualified easily and head to the World Cup full of expectation, that will be furthered by the media's and fan's view that we will win the World Cup. Maybe we need a touch of Argentina, although with Wayne Rooney in our ranks we may just have an English Maradona!