You'd have thought that Argentina would be one of the favourites for the World Cup, that was until they got blasted 6-1 by Spain on Tuesday night. Diego Costa though thinks they'll be a different prospect in the summer.
Spain are pretty good at football, well they have been for the last decade. Before 2008 they were the biggest underachievers in international football considering the amount of talent they had on show.
Then they won two Euros and a World Cup in a row in a four year period and whilst there's been no success since they remain one of the teams to beat at this summer's World Cup.
So losing to them without your best player is nothing to be too down about. It's only when they tonk you 6-1 that you should be embarrassed, as they did to Argentina, another of the would be favourites, last night.
The South American's were at least without Lionel Messi so they had that as an excuse. But Messi is often derided for not doing enough for his country. After the match last night Diego Costa put that myth to bed suggesting his side wouldn't have won 6-1 if Messi had been playing, saying:
"When Messi is not playing, Argentina transform into another team. Our style is different if we face Messi. In Argentina, they love to to criticise Messi a lot. Today, they have seen what they are without Messi. Argentina have to take care of Leo; they have to be grateful.
"Argentina have to imagine, 'If Messi weren't there for them, how would they get by?'"
But what would happen if Argentina had Emile Heskey:
Often the criticism of the Barcelona superstar is that he hasn't helped his country to win any international tournaments despite the fact they've been to three finals in a row, one World Cup and two Copa Americas.
However, whilst he has failed to reach his very high heights in those finals, without the five time Ballon d'Or winners brilliance they wouldn't have been in the finals in the first place.
Costa was on target in the 6-1 win and he will be hoping that his impact on the Spain team is far better than his impact was four years ago in Brazil.
The Atletico Madrid striker decided to pick Spain ahead of the host nation and the country of his birth and Spain seemed to lose a step on their previous success playing a number nine.
Brazil on the other hand suffered from not having him in the team as they started Fred. Both teams now seem in a better position, Argentina definitely do not!
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Topics: Football News, Lionel Messi, Diego Costa, Argentina, World Cup, Spain