It was a winning start for Argentina but their victory was not convincing even before a late Bosnia reply from Vedad Ibisevic. This was a scratchy, scrappy performance that raised far more questions than it answered against a disciplined and technically adept Bosnia side who were undone first by a moment of misfortune three minutes in to their first World Cup and then, as they tired in the second half, by a moment of brilliance from Lionel Messi.
As expected, Argentina switched to a 5-3-2 from the 4-3-3 they used for much of qualifying, with Gonzalo Higuaín being replaced by Hugo Campagnaro. Higuaín was not fully fit which, with Rodrigo Palacio out with a calf injury, perhaps in part explained why Alejandro Sabella had made the change. But it still seemed baffling, particularly given that Bosnia, having used a 4-4-2 through most of qualifying, had spent their warm-up games preparing to use the 4-2-3-1 they did ultimately deploy. Sabella was a devotee of 5-3-2 when he led Estudiantes to the title and the Copa Libertadores but the danger of using three central defenders against a lone centre-forward is that, with two spare men, one is left redundant. Sabella had only heightened the sense of mystery by saying his selection was not to do with how he expected Bosnia to line up but “more with other things, but I can’t say what publicly”, prompting rumours about cliques and splits in the squad.
