Mario Kempes: "Argentina will be in South Africa 2010"

Interview by Sebastián García (seba@theenganche.com)

Thirty-one years ago, the Albicelestes moved away from Buenos Aires during their World Cup 1978 campaign. They lost to Italy and were forced to play in Rosario for the second round. After a brace by Mario Kempes against Poland, up next were Brazil. The result was a disappointing 0-0 draw that left Argentina on the verge of elimination, needing a comfortable win against Peru to reach the final.

Fast forward to 2009. Argentina move again from Buenos Aires to Rosario and The Enganche spoke to El Matador to find out whether this time a 0-0 draw will be enough for Diego Maradona's team and to hear what the top-scorer of the 1978 World Cup has to say about the current state of the national team. 

Here is Part 1 of the big interview with Mario Alberto Kempes.

The Enganche: Clásicos against Brazil are always special matches. How do you see this weekend’s game going?

Mario Kempes: This match brings back a lot of memories for me. There's no other result for Argentina on Saturday than winning. I think it is a good thing for the team to play in Rosario instead of at [the Estadio Monumental]. The players should benefit from the crowd being closer and the support the rosarinos give them.  

TE: What’s the best formation for Argentina?

MK: It all depends on who’s your number 9. If you have a tall striker and all you do is send in crosses for him to deal with, it’s hard to get results. But if you have short players like Argentina, who move well, know how to create chances for themselves and hold on to the ball when needed, it’s different and you don’t have to rely on sending crosses into the box. Argentina have options. You can play with the three little guys up front. It’s what we have. It’s what the manager is choosing. We have to get used to watching them today and hopefully they’ll do a good job in the World Cup.

TE: Is there a big target man that you would like to see playing regularly for Argentina?

MK: I like Diego Milito, but every time he joins the national team, something bad happens to him. He is not getting too many minutes. If you play two minutes, you want to do everything in two minutes and that’s impossible. I think he can be a great alternative for Argentina. Doing well, like he is, in Italy is not easy. Maybe his move to Inter could help him, but you never know. Look at Gonzalo Higuaín, scoring a lot of goals for Real Madrid and yet he is not being considered so far. That proves that it doesn’t matter how big the club is. That’s not the most important thing.

TE: How do you see Diego Maradona’s start as Argentina manager?

MK: First of all you have to leave the friendlies aside. It all looked so good after the 4-0 win over Venezuela and then we were back to reality and we lost to Bolivia [6-0 on the 1st April] at altitude. I don’t know what happened there. I don’t know if there was a bit of overconfidence or if previous results made us believe we had chances of winning up there too. We received six punches in a match where our players looked out of breath from the start.

TE: You made your debut for Argentina in 1974 playing in the altitude of La Paz. What are your memories from back then?

MK: I played in La Paz, but we went to Tilcara (a city in the Argentine province of Jujuy – 2,546 metres above sea level) for fifteen days to start our preparations. Then we arrived in La Paz (3,640 metres above sea level) fifteen days before the match. It is still not know if it’s better to arrive three days before the match or with just a few minutes to go until kick-off.

TE: Does any player from today remind you of yourself?

MK: It’s difficult to compare other players with me. I was an unconventional striker. I played deeper than most of the present-day strikers. I used to join the attack from behind. Also, I am bigger than many of today’s forwards like Messi, Agüero and Tevez.

TE: Some people are saying that if Brazil beat Argentina then Argentina won’t make it to the World Cup. Do you have any doubts that Argentina will qualify for the next World Cup?

MK: I think Argentina will qualify. I can’t think of Argentina not getting to South Africa 2010. The problem is that these days, our rivals will not only play against Argentina. They will also play against Maradona. The other teams will have a double incentive to beat Argentina.