WHEN Uruguay and Argentina drew 0-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Montevideo on Sunday night, it set one thinking. Not only did this first ever World Cup qualifier between two traditional arch rivals - prove (happily) to be without major incident, on or off the field, but it also served to underline the changing soccer times in which we live.
Put simply, there was a time when Argentina and Uruguay could have been expected to waltz through a World Cup qualifying group.
All the more so when the number one power in Latin America, Brazil, are ruled out of the business of qualifying since they are of course the reigning World Champions.
It is no longer so. We are now one game short of the halfway stage in Latin America's marathon nine country, round robin qualifier involving Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Given that the first four home earn themselves a place in the France 98 World Cup finals, you might have expected Argentina and Uruguay to be in the driving seat in the South America group.
On the contrary, our teams are locked in third position on 10 points, seven behind group leaders Colombia and four behind second placed Paraguay. Furthermore, Argentina and Uruguay are just one point clear of three countries - Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru - who could yet cause them embarrassment.
Such is the wide open nature of this group that even eighth placed Chile are not yet out of the hunt, just two points behind Argentina and Uruguay. The both have experienced unexpected setbacks with Argentina being beaten by Ecuador and held to home draws by Paraguay and Chile, while Uruguay have already lost away to Chile and at home to Paraguay.
All of which is by way of repeating one of the great cliches of footballing 1990s, namely that there are no longer any pushovers at international level, Iceland and Liechtenstein included (Irish fans will understand). The levelling off process in international soccer means that Uruguay and Argentina in Latin America, just like Holland, Italy, England, Germany etc in Europe, will have to struggle to the very last qualifying game to be sure of a place in France.
For some, the qualifying pressure has become too hot to handle.
On the day that he ought to have been strutting his stuff for his country, AS Roma's 30 year old Argentinian ace Abel Balbo was to be found last Sunday at the Olympic Stadium in Rome scoring two goals in a 4-1 Roma win against Perugia to bring his tally in Italy's Serie A to 90, level with a certain Marco Van Basten.
Balbo is no duffer, yet he opted out of the Argentina squad this autumn simply because he was tired of playing in a side that was going nowhere. Balbo reckoned that he had problems enough playing in the current inconsistent Roma team without travelling across the Atlantic once a month to play in another inconsistent side, one which also ran the risk of being jeered off the park by its own supporters.
Balbo's assessment of Argentina seemed to find partial confirmation in the post match sense of relief expressed by Argentina coach Daniel Passarella, sweeper to the 1978 and 1982 Argentina World Cup finallist teams: "We overcame a stiff test and kept third place in a very tough qualifying contest", said Passarella on Sunday evening.
Both these sides still have some tough games ahead. Both have yet to play away to Bolivia, more than 11,000 feet up in La Paz where even the mighty Brazil were beaten during qualification for US 94.
Could it be that Maradona was right when he said before the game that if Argentina only drew, then they would fail to qualify for France? Perhaps Maradona exaggerates, but the Argentinian road to France certainly looks steep and thorny.
By the way, Maradona predicted a draw for Sunday's game.
