Argentina+Futbol

=__Argentina Futbol__= __By: Maria Morales,Yousef__ __ Mousa, Ritesh Dash __

Argentina soccer has been around for a long time and there isn't a mark date to when it was first played in Argentina. But the first match of the national team was played in the year of 1901. The Argentina National Soccer team also known as // La Albicelestes, // which means "the sky blue and whites" has appeared in 4 finals, including the first final in 1930 which they lost to Uruguay, 4 to 2. They have won two titles in these FIFA international appearances. They won these two titles in 1978 and 1986. Their biggest win was in January of 1942 against Ecuador in Montevideo, Uruguay. The final score of the game was 12-0 a huge win!



Now you might ask, who's the best player on the Argentina team. Any Argentina fan wouldn't hesitate to answer Lionel Messi. Who leading all active Argentina players in goals with 61 this season. Last year, he scored a record-breaking 91 goals for his hometown team in Barcelona, Spain. This record was held by Gerd Muller for the previous 40 years. Another achievement is that he is the only player in history to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or 4 times, the previous record was 3 Ballon d'Or awards which was set by Marco van Basten, Johan Cryuff, and Michel Platini. At the age of 25, Messi became the youngest player to score 200 La Liga goals.Messi just broke another record by scoring in 19 consecutive games in La Liga and against all the teams.Lionel Messi's current futbol club is F.C Barcelona located in Spain. Then in Argentina, the top goal scores of Argentina are striker Gabriel Batistuta who has more than any other on the team. He has 56 in total and then Hernan Crespo who is in second place with 36 goals. Third place comes Diego Maradona with 35 and lastly but all time favorite Lionel Messi with 34 goals.

The Argentinean Team has also competed in the Copa America (Spanish for the American Cup). They currently have the second most titles from this tournament with 14 (Ecuador has the most titles with 15). This was preceded by the FIFA Confederation Cup. Currently, as the World Cup qualifier rounds have taken place. Argentina has taken a strong leap of strength and taken control of first place in their table. As of now Argentina, 7-1-3, (as displayed in the chart), with 24 points.
 * ~ Copa América ||
 * ~ Total: 14 Titles ||
 * ~ Year ||~ Position ||~  ||~ Year ||~ Position ||~   ||~ Year ||~ Position ||
 * [|1916] || Second place ||^  || [|1939] || //Withdrew// ||^   || [|1967] || Second place ||
 * [|1917] || Second place ||^  || [|1941] || **Champions** ||^   || [|1975] || Round 1 ||
 * [|1919] || Third place ||^  || [|1942] || Second place ||^   || [|1979] || Round 1 ||
 * [|1920] || Second place ||^  || [|1945] || **Champions** ||^   || [|1983] || Round 1 ||
 * [|1921] || **Champions** ||^  || [|1946] || **Champions** ||^   || [|1987] || Fourth place ||
 * [|1922] || Fourth place ||^  || [|1947] || **Champions** ||^   || [|1989] || Third place ||
 * [|1923] || Second place ||^  || [|1949] || //Withdrew// ||^   || [|1991] || **Champions** ||
 * [|1924] || Second place ||^  || [|1953] || //Withdrew// ||^   || [|1993] || **Champions** ||
 * [|1925] || **Champions** ||^  || [|1955] || **Champions** ||^   || [|1995] || Quarter-finals ||
 * [|1926] || Second place ||^  || [|1956] || Third place ||^   || [|1997] || Quarter-finals ||
 * [|1927] || **Champions** ||^  || [|1957] || **Champions** ||^   || [|1999] || Quarter-finals ||
 * [|1929] || **Champions** ||^  || [|1959] || **Champions** ||^   || [|2001] || //Withdrew// ||
 * [|1935] || Second place ||^  || [|1959] || Second place ||^   || [|2004] || Second place ||
 * [|1937] || **Champions** ||^  || [|1963] || Third place ||^   || [|2007] || Second place ||
 * ||  ||^   ||   ||   ||^   || [|2011] || Quarter-finals ||

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