On this day in 2009, Martin Palermo scores for Argentina vs. Peru

By
Roy Nemer
-
64

On this day in 2009, Martin Palermo scored a memorable goal to save Argentina in a 2-1 win vs. Peru.

October 10, 2009 was the date. It was the goal which saved Argentina’s entire 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. It was Martin Palermo scoring in a typhoon with Diego Maradona doing a belly slide as the entire stadium erupted.

Argentina had two matches remaining to qualify for the World Cup. The first at home against Peru and the second away to Uruguay. Everyone expected Argentina to defeat Peru but not in the way they got the win.

Pablo Aimar was back in the Argentina team after being away for over 2 years and it was the Argentina debut of Gonzalo Higuain. Here was the team Diego Maradona put out:

Romero, Gutierrez, Schiavi, Heinze, Emiliano Insua, Perez, Mascherano, Di Maria, Aimar, Messi, Higuain

Substitutes: Andujar, Demichelis, Bolatti, Federico Insua, Tevez, Aguero, Palermo

While the two time world champions controlled much of the first half, they went into half time without a goal. Martin Palermo was substituted in for Enzo Perez at half time.

Shortly after the break, Diego Maradona’s team would get the goal. It was the returning Pablo Aimar with a lovely pass to Gonzalo Higuain who would score his first Argentina goal. Martin Demichelis was brought in for Gonzalo Higuain as his job was done for the day.

Federico Insua would replace Pablo Aimar for the final substitution.

With the rain blocking any visibility and with Argentina losing control of the game, Peru would equalize in the 90th minute and Argentina’s World Cup chances were in serious danger.

That was until Martin Palermo would score another legendary career goal. Argentina were awarded a corner kick and it was taken by Federico Insua. The ball wasn’t fully cleared and landed on Angel Di Maria’s foot. He would cross it in and it land to Federico Insua. He would take a shot which would be blocked by a Peruvian player and land in front of Marin Palermo.

What came next was a fairy tale ending. Palermo’s first touch would send the ball into the net with the crowd celebrating and the players running around the pitch. He saved his team from one of the biggest humiliations which could ever happen. He scored a goal which ensured that Argentina were still in the running to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

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64 Comments

  2. “Choripan October 11, 2019 at 9:15 pm
    5. Then there are kids that only care about arbitrary “fighting spirit”. Even for shit performances, they justify by saying “OH MY GOSSHHHH, I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT SPIRIT IN DECADES. We cant make more than 2 passes but fuck it, at least I AM seeing FIGHT!!”.

    6. This list can keep going forever.”

    Choripan @choripan

    You are the classic definition of a 10 year old playstation football manager and a deluded irrational plastic fan!

    • Feeling ok there, little baby?

      -You insult those that want to comment on tactics and formation

      -You insult those that prioritize and comment on possession

      -You insult those comment on width and wing play

      -You insult those that want to see results after 1 year of Scaloni taking over

      I join your trash talking and take a joking jab at those commenting on “fighting spirit” and you get all bent out of shape. Calm down dude, take a deep breath lol.

  4. De Paul and taglafico are the heart of the team now … They are main stays. Also lautruo and Foyth should always start and of course Messi.

    Everyone else has to fight for their position
    I like paredes also, not great but I like him and he has heart. .
    Acuna is a hard worker and should always be considered.
    One thing about this post, it always reminds me of that loser Guiterrez and how maradona picked him over zannetti. And cambiasso was also left home. I still puke when I think of it

  5. November setup
    Montiel….foyth….kaneman/querta….tagliafic
    ………………….Paredes/Nico dominguez
    …………..de paul…………Palacios
    Messi………………………………….ocampos
    ……………………alario/aguero

  6. Tagliafico is not going anywhere. Even our legend Sorin rates him highly. De Paul is also a must. Don’t know about Paredes, not sure his strengths compensate for his weaknesses, I personally always want to have a proper dynamic destroyer type of no 5. Acuña also gives us an extra dimension on the left, both defensively and offensively.

  7. What is wrong with you people ! Every time the NT plays the same polarizing arguments. Everyone trying to get vindicated. Your feeling of vindication is not going to help the team ! This whole Tagli thing is way overrated. If he starts for Ajax all games he can start for us as well. If he was so bad and unable to defend he would not start in a top tier club. Like any other players he also needs some setup to succeed. You need to assume certain sections of the equation in order to find out the other variables. Tagliafico is a good enough assumption to start with. Way better than worn out options like Rojo !
    Paredes is a way more difficult/important question now to me.
    I am sure Scaloni is juggling the same question during the trials. He has arrived at a good core set. With that he can now evaluate other options. Maybe we will eventually hit a point when Tagli will need to be replaced. He is not irreplaceable for sure. But in my opinion not right now. We need a “team” not your and my favorite players. A good core team is a group of guys who play multiple systems well with each other. Then we will have few players more system specific and they can offer the coach options. Scaloni does seem to have a pattern/method to the perceived madness and some dubious choices aside he is progressing in my view.

  8. It won’t be a regular “Mundo” day, if there weren’t so much rubbish aimed at players like Tagliafico, Acuna, De Paul and Lautaro who give their everything for the NT week in week out. They’re treated like crap. Taken for granted. Judged based on what clubs they play for or in which they league play. And for some little kids, they don’t show enough skills on the pitch, or goals or assists or any other worthless stats. So they’re useless. And for some propagandists, they’re public enemy no.1 since they’re the ones literally carrying this Argentina NT right now.

    • 1.And there’s too much obsession on the formations, style of play and tactics. According to some here, 3 at the back formation is some kind of a taboo and some are brainwashed to believe that it won’t work and unfortunately it has become a stereotype.

      2. Some here want front foot attacking football, 100% possession and stuff like that and criticize the team when they don’t play that way. And when they do play or try to play that way, they complain about high line or some other stuff. What the hell do you want then?! Damned if you do or damned if you don’t.

      3.Then there’s playing wingers stuff or attacking through the wide areas. Not along ago Sampaoli was trying to do it and all hell were breaking loose here. The usual stereotype like the 3 at the back stuff: “Playing wingers or attacking through the wide areas don’t work for Argentina”.
      Now Scaloni is focused on using the midfield rather than wide areas, they come up with the stuff: “We’re not using the width, we should use pacy wingers( who are they talking about “pace” anyway??) and attack from the wide areas”.

      4. Then there are people or kids perhaps who’ll never understand reality and human aspects of the game and want 100% perfection and ideal football. “Overnight things should be fixed,.. defender ain’t giving assists or scoring goals …blah blah blah”
      These are not straightforward times for Argentina NT and everyone knows it. Still people rather than supporting the team through these troubled times, they chose nitpicking over trivial matters and be ultra negative as they can get.

      • 3 at the back or high back line is suicidal for us. unless we develop really great Cbs and wingbacks which we don’t have at this moment of time. every time we played high back line or 3 at the back we were left exposed!

      • 5. Then there are kids that only care about arbitrary “fighting spirit”. Even for shit performances, they justify by saying “OH MY GOSSHHHH, I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT SPIRIT IN DECADES. We cant make more than 2 passes but fuck it, at least I AM seeing FIGHT!!”.

        6. This list can keep going forever.

  9. Mamoun @elpipita
    I agree Scaloni got it wrong with player selections, ie Rojo and Otamendi! I guess, no football fan will argue with that case.
    But come on, what managers get their player selections 100% spot on?? Be it past or present, international or club football, there always will be a few head scratching selections. Scaloni is no different at the moment.

    Blaming Pereyra( who had a decent game in my view contrary to popular mundo opinion) and Angel Correa for their alleged bad performances over one friendly and maybe a couple or more is rather preposterous ,don’t you think?

    And finally, who in your opinion is that “right coach” who you’d think can guarantee success?

    • Agree with the part that not always the selection will be 100% spot on.
      And you learn from your mistake.
      But the core players are all set.
      Their is few position like CB RB LW where Scaloni still couldn’t found the perfect option.

      • Centre backs for me are Pezzella, Kannemann and Lucas Martinez-Quarta(though he only played two matches for the NT). Then you have Foyth and Tagliafico who also can play in that role. I’d have liked Medina and Licha Martinez given chances during this break and before.
        As for LW I don’t know what you’re talking about.

        PS: I agree with Mamoun that Licha Martinez, Medina, Benedetto, Buendia and Abraham should have been tried in these friendlies( Mamoun only mentioned Licha, the rest are my choices).

  10. IMO, below players will be in starting eleven under Scaloni.

    Foyth-Tagliafico
    Paredes
    LoCelso-Palacios-Depaul
    Messi-Lautaro

    CB pair, RB and GK position will be the positions, Scaloni will still has confusion. He has to take decision and start best eleven in October friendlies and further. Experiment should be over by Ecuador game.

  12. De Paul, Paredes, Palacios – these three are starting midfielders for me. Plus the fourth midfielder of yet unknown name but certainly from group: Lo Celso, Ocampos, Ascacibar, Acuna, MacAllister, Battaglia, Dominguez.

    These 10 names are ATM our midfielders sort for Copa. I’m strongly convinced about need for Ascacibar no matter how far from NT he is now. We need him, and maybe even as starter as he is developing his overall attacking abilities and might play not only No.5 but also box-to-box. Generally we need to crowd our midfield with hardworkers having Paredes, Messi and the unknown yet striker which will not cover much space when we are on defending.

    Marchesin, Andrada are enough good IMO to be in squad. The third name is yet to select. I’m not a fan of Armani though he seems to be Scaloni’s favourite.

    • Marchesin saved our ass many times against Germany but can he maintain his reflexes till 22 ,that’s what we have to look for ,imo he is our romero
      Bdw how will you integrate ascacibar in the team who is must IMO because parades can never stop counters or run enough to nullify opponent’s attack like mashereno

      • This is hard to integrate all the players together. Maybe:

        ………………….Paredes
        …………..Ascacibar…..Palacios
        Messi………………………………….De Paul
        ……………………No.9

        or

        ………………Paredes

        …De Paul…Ascacibar….Palacios

        …………Messi……No.9

        or simply instead of Paredes as No.5, however on this variant Paredes is going straight to the bench because I can’t see him being moved to Box-to-box role. He is too much static.

        • 100% NO should ascacibar be put in more advanced position while we have much better options. Ascac instead of Paredes. Paredes mostly passes sideways and backwards to Otamendi. If we have both Paredes and Ascac, the midfield will be way to static.

          • Ascacibar is not static player. Exactly opposite. Playing as box-to-box he will link with forward line. On the other hand Ascacibar instead of Paredes option is cutting our percentage of creative passes. Ascacibar is growing quickly as passer but still this is not Paredes level.

            I feel like we need them both. Hawover having to choose one I take Ascacibar to make our defence stronger against strongest opponents. DOn’t forget Battaglia though.

          • Ascacibar + Paredes is more static than Ascac or Paredes + Lo Celso or Lamela or any other attacking mid. Paredes doesn’t drive the ball forward nor do i see many “creative passes” and Ascacibar doesn’t have the same attacking quality oas the other 2.

      • I can’t answer on Marchesin quastion whter he will be that good in 2002. However in goalkeepers matters it is not a big problem to integrate quickly one name (out of three). Let’s take 2 younger goalkeepers like Andrada and Benitez then one older like Marchesin (even as starter) is not a problem.

      • Stop spreading lies that Ascacibar was not good during Olimpic Games. He was one of 2 best players or the only good players. You may back to comments from 2016 and read.

        This is not obsession, there’s demand for such hardworking players and last games shows that very well.

      • This is not between Ascacibar/Lisandro. Both are worth of NT however Ascacibar is more hardworking one while Lisandro more similar to Paredes.

  13. There is a lot of discussion on Tagliafico. Against Germany he was not playing at the level he is playing every week at Ajax. He looked bad in the first half, but if you look closer you know why. He was facing two opponents, first the best man from Germany Gnabry and second, the German right back who stormed forward. The reason he got into trouble is that Correa was not doing his defensive duties.
    Foyth did not have the same problem with the German LB because DePaul did do his defensive duties.
    So do not put all the blame on Tagliafico. Blame Correa.

    IMHO, Rojo and Correa do not belong in the NT.

    Most worrying for me is the lack of speed in defence. Every time we face fast wingers or strikers we are in trouble. Gnabry and Brandt showed that just like Mbappe did in the WC. Foyth, Otamendi and Tagliafico lack pace. We are still looking for a good defensive midfielder as Parades is not the right man. One of the qualities we’re looking for is speed to make us less vulnerable as Foyth and Tagliafico will be with the NT for many years.

    Best thing: Scaloni got his subs right. Rojo and Correa out and also the disappointing Dybala.
    Sampaoli never made such great subs. In that respect definitely an improvement in terms of coaching.

  14. If I can name some players who are undisputed in the NT, I would name :
    Tagliafico, DePaul and Lautaro. they all have cemented their place in the NT.
    until there are better ‘proven’ players in their position, you guys have to accept their presence.
    one player in particular I would like to see in the NT more often is Quarta

  15. Foyth should be a CB he has tremendous speed and ball playing skills his ball playing skiils choke when he plays as right back,his speed can nullify any counter attack to some degree.Montiel is good in RB.

  16. Some shitty fans are overpraising Tagliafico for his beliw the average performance.They are talking anout decoy run and recovery.
    For the first goal i do not see any decoy run at all.Ball gets to Acuna on open place because German were concentrated in Right half and so Acuna was alone there by the way it was great cross.Tagliaco did mothing.
    For second goal,Germans were trying to get the ball forward from their own half either by through ball or by some aerial ball but with possession,Argentina do not have the ball so everyone should stick to their position as they do not have possession,but Tagliafico does not believe that,he wants to do other player’s job at expense of his.This is the problem, he does not understand the game,brainleess ,short,workhorse but with no talent.We were playing 3 5 2 formation he should know his role.There are many LB better than him but Scaloni what you see in him tell us what makes him starter or core of team since he came to NT.So many good LB were sidelined because of him

    • What is your obsession for tagliafico
      He is Argentina best left bk by far
      Oh I get it he is better player than
      Your brother man utd reserve warmer
      Rojo.. what f… king .. joke
      The best thing happen Argentina game vs Germany was that.
      they conceded two goals
      While rojo was playing .
      Which means no more rojo get used it.

      • “The best thing happen Argentina game vs Germany was that.
        they conceded two goals
        While rojo was playing .”

        ?? so bro, you were hopping and wishing for Germany to score while Rojo was playing? and you can prove your point ?
        most know that Tagi is better than Rojo at LB, so what is your point ?

        • Ebo bro
          I know I will be accountable whatever
          I say bro I never wish Argentina lose
          A single game weather is friendly or
          Competitive match but to extend
          I wanted Germany hit us badly while
          Rojo and otamendi playing so we don’t
          See playing together again.
          Other wise it could be deceiving
          If arg were to win with those playing
          Together. In the long term.
          Scaloni must find young Defenders
          Definitely not rojo

          • Jeez my friend

            > I say bro I never wish Argentina lose A single game weather is friendly or Competitive match

            But that’s not true because you just wished it:

            > I wanted Germany hit us badly while Rojo and otamendi playing so we don’t See playing together again.

            Can you imagine if someone said that they want Argentina to lose with youngsters to prove a point? Lol

      • Only Rojo were playing what a joke as if Tagliafico was not playing.All attack from left side it was Tagliafico’job to stop any attack.During 2014 WC Rojo kept quite both Robben and Van Persie for full 120 minute.Tagliafico is nowhere near Rojo.Rojo is still a good player but not at CB.

      • Comment:Just look at the match E. Can eaten alive Tagliafico who is at his main position.Every average winger is causing havoc for the Tagliafico.Because of Tagliafico player like Ansaldi and Rojo are sidelined.Rojo is left back not CB.For a LB he has everything.Tagliafico sjould be used as sub only

        • Can you provide some fact or stat that ansaldi and rojo is better lb than Tagliafico ?
          If they were better than than Tagliafico they would have gotten there chances in both national team and club.
          Rojo gets benched by Ashley Young. I mean its Ashley Young i m talking about.
          Roja was a great player not anymore. We cant take him just because he was great at 2014 WC.

          • You can follow Torino a serie A team.He always score goal or assist in every fourth game he plays.If you ask stat then Tagliafo never scored or assisted since the day he came.25+ game even against shit teams in Fifa ranking he mever scored or assisted inspite playing full 90 minute with no substitute for him.Rojo is fast aggressive than Tagliafico that is why i want him LB.

  17. Lol Casabala trying so hard to prove Tagliafico Is not better LB. And no one literally no one agrees with him. This is sad and emotional. Tell me casa have you seen the match. How Tagliafico recovered the ball in our second goal. And how solid he was on the second half. When rojo was not on the pitch.

    • Here cant disagree with Casabala here Tagliafico is the one of the weakest point in our defence , our opposition actually targets our Right side and Tagliafico is unable to stop a single counter and an average winger destroys Tagliafico and he offers nothing in attack in NT like he does for ajax. Friend watch the game as a neutral audience not as a supporter of young players or senior players , you will find out.
      This blog has become so predictable It doesnt matter how good our young players plays Casabala and Mrinal will criticize them i . And how bad how bad our young players plays Gonzalo and some others will defend them and i had never seen them praising our Senior players no matter how good they play in a particular matches.
      Its like 2 political parties attacking each other for the shake of themselves dont have to do anything with National Team.

      • Hhh mate tagliafico is good in my eyes.
        Come to those two parties you have
        Mention I only can talk for myself
        I believe I’m well balance when it
        Comes to Argentina nt which I proudly
        Support it and there re few other good
        Guys in here whom re balance too.

        Csabalala and Co are way too
        Extreme . As gonzalo I agree and
        Disagree with him like any other
        Person in this blog.

      • El loco then tell us who should be our LB ? If Tagliafico is not good enough then who is better than him ?
        Who you think should take his place ?
        O m not taking any ones place for me all the players are at same level old or young. I simply cant ignore what Tagliafico is doing for us. We dont need him to attack if he can defend thats it, enough. Marcelo was Dropped form Copa team why ?because his defensive work was poor. A lb work is not to assist and score. It is to defend.

  18. When all hope was lost to win that game and the dream of making the 2010 WC was getting dimmer as seconds ticked by………..watching the game on some shady website that started out In English then Spanish and finally Italian commentary ………it was raining hippos and elephants with almost zero visibility and all of a sudden I see Martiiiiiiinn ripping off his jersey and getting mobbed by the rest of the team and you hear Goooooooooooooooooolllll, I jumped off my chair almost hitting the ceiling, ripped off my shirt and ran around the house like a fool ,yelling we won we won we woooon.

  19. With all due respect but Tagliafico other than his tremendous work rate offers nothing, he’s short, weak, gets bullied easily by bigger opponents .. so he tries to compensate that with his reckless challenges.

    No skills, gets nervous when he has the ball, always playing it safe by passing the ball backwards instead of taking the initiative.

    On the other hand you have Foyth who is not even a full back but does a better job, he’s calm, confident with the ball, not afraid to take it forward.

    I think Lisandro martinez should be tried as a LB, even Medina will do a better job than Tagliafico.

    • Tagliafico is Argentina best LB at the moment. He played almost every match for more than a year, so he is the no.1 LB in the NT

  20. and the headlines is written Santo Palermo ! a goal that was remembered by all the fans.. but then start the long journey and ended in South Africa. fresh in mind

  21. brilliant historic moment for palermo!
    ——————————–

    i have a question for those who think tagliafico brings nothing in attack. did anyone notice his important role in both the goals we scored?
    a brilliant decoy run to take out the excellent klostermann who had been torturing the left flank all night by stopping correa’s runs perfectly besides his offensive work, and thus resulting in creating the huge amount of time and space for acuna to deliver his cross? without his run acuna is not sitting on that huge green space in front of him to deliver the ball.
    or how about nico’s excellent track and press on serdar deep in opponent half to turn over the ball to parades and thus the through ball to release alario for second goal.

    both plays made from his deep Center Back position in second half when he was probably farthest from play zone. i mean this guy is probably the most intelligent defender in this team but because he does not have the sexy goals and assists people do not recognize what they are watching in the build ups.

    • Good observations. Off the ball movement isn’t recognized enough.

      What do you think are the key differences between Scaloni’s 1st and 2nd half including changes to Germany?

      related..funny comment on reddit describing the game as:

      1st Half = 2014 Germany
      2nd Half = 2018 Germany

      • the way i see it the initial setup of the teams meant we were at a disadvantage offensively. our 4231 was up against their 343. This resulted in lautaro being completely swallowed by 3 center backs and marked out of the game. we needed to beat them with our wide mids in such a situation. but correa could not overcome klostermann on the left before he dropped into a back 5, and while pereyra was ok forcing width on the german widest left player he just did not have a final end product to be dangerous.

        this is not a problem as such since depaul was growing, dybala was finding room from deeper and running up and even paredes found one or two longer balls. but we played too impatient. we pressed very high too aggressively including with our center backs and the germans were actually pretty good playing out of it. and secondly, and more importantly to overcome the german numbers advantage in the 532 back line in the absence of any danger from our wide mids and our full backs as discussed above we started throwing rojo into it as well! it wasn’t required to be this aggressive so early in a balanced game. not counting the goals i remember at least three or four occasions one of our cb’s were too far advanced and we paid the price having to panic defend multiple counters.

        scaloni came out in the second half with the right solution. beat their 343 with our 343. now with ocampos, lautaro, and alario we could completely occupy their center backs but Lowe did not adjust for it. klostermann was fading out wide and acuna found space as i mentioned with nico’s help. from then on our continued aggressive press was enough to beat the german subs before they could settle into the game for the second goal.

        i think scaloni wanted to impose us on the game from early to dictate the game. we saw in the brazil semi final how both teams wanted to punch first and whoever got in first, won. maybe he’s practicing for similar scenarios, i don’t know.

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