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Your support makes all the difference.ARGENTINA, a victory over holders Brazil in a warm-up at Maracana under their belts, are creeping up the pecking order in the World Cup betting.
With Ariel Ortega's fine form helping to consign Diego Maradona to the pages of history and Gabriel Batistuta reclaiming the role of chief striker, Daniel Passarella's side could go all the way.
The Ortega-Batistuta duo scored a goal apiece in a 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin in April, which is now regarded as the turning point in the twice World Cup winners' form. It came one week after an ignominious defeat in Israel.
Argentina have now won their last five games without conceding a goal and have scored 11 - six from Batistuta whose tally is now an Argentine record 43 in 61 internationals.
In midfield, Argentina are looking good even without Fernando Redondo, a key figure in Real Madrid's European Cup triumph, but who refuses to play for his country under Passarella because of past differences.
Redondo had emerged as the most likely successor to Maradona as team leader but that role is now being gradually assumed by the shaven-headed Sampdoria midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.
Veron is a fast maturing 23-year-old playmaker who, along with the hardworking, hard-tackling Diego Simeone, gives quick pace and forward movement to the Argentine attack.
He has inherited speed of thought and skill on the ball from his father Juan Ramon Veron, a winger of the Estudiantes de la Plata side that won the world club title in the late 1960s.
The son, who also inherited his father nickname La Bruja (the witch), would like to go one better and take the world title with his country.
Ortega, known in Argentina as El Burrito (Little Donkey), has inherited Maradona's No 10 shirt since first catching the eye at top level in the 1994 finals.
A dazzling dribbler, he can catch even the best-ordered defence flat- footed. But he also has off-days when he looks like a faulty wind-up toy, whirring around the pitch and falling over whenever challenged.
When the creative Ortega and the sturdy Veron are both in good form, Argentina look capable of holding their own with any side in the world.
The two combined to deadly effect in Argentina's best performance in their gruelling 16-match qualifying campaign - an away tie against Chile last September. Chile, previously unbeatable at home, were seen off 2- 1.
Argentina have a fearsome international record, although they have had a tough time over the years against Italy and England.
The most impressive statistic is their 31-29 win-loss ratio against mighty Brazil. Their victory in Rio de Janeiro in April, ominously enough, marked the first time that Passarella has beaten Brazil either as a player or coach.
Passarella has the credentials to emulate Brazil's Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany, the only men to have won the World Cup as both captains and coaches.
He was captain of the 1978 side which triumphed on home soil and a generation later he is hoping to emulate that feat with his revitalised, and above all, disciplined new team in France.
It was not easy to assemble the new Argentina from the post-Maradona wreckage.
Passarella started as coach a few months after the wheels fell off Argentina's 1994 US campaign.
A rampant Argentina had overwhelmed Greece 4-0 - including a Batistuta hat-trick - and beaten a fancied Nigeria 2-1 before Maradona failed his drugs test and was suspended.
Demoralised without their captain, Argentina slumped to shock defeats to Bulgaria and Romania.
Passarella arrived determined to restore discipline. He lost friends straight away for banning players who were homosexual, had long hair or wore earrings. He also introduced drugs tests.
Batistuta cut his blond hair but Passarella began his continuing feud with the hirsute Redondo.
Passarella soon faced harsh criticism for his side's performance on the pitch which did not ease when their World Cup campaign began badly.
He struggled to find his ideal team and went through more than 70 players before striking the correct balance.
With the experienced Nestor Sensini, in his third World Cup finals, and Roberto Ayala, an accomplished performer, at the back the team has achieved some defensive security.
During many of the qualifying matches, Passarella opted for Hernan Crespo rather than Batistuta up front but injury to the Parma striker has given the Fiorentina player a successful extended run.
If the latest results are indicative of the kind of play to be seen from them in France, then Argentina may banish the shadow of Maradona once and for all.
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