History
La Selección (national team), also known as the Albicelestes (sky blue and whites), has appeared in four World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost 4–2 to Uruguay. Argentina won in their next final in 1978, beating the Netherlands 3–1. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany. Their most recent World Cup final was in 1990, which they lost 1–0 to Germany by a much disputed penalty. Argentina's World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, and Carlos Bilardo in 1986.
Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it fourteen times and also winning the 'extra' South American Championships in 1941, 1945 and 1946. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and an Argentine team (with only three players of over 23 years of age included in the squad) won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
Argentina also won six of the 14 football competitions at the Pan American Games, winning in 1951, 1955, 1959, 1971, 1995 and 2003.
In March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time.
Read more about this topic: Argentina National Football Team
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“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.”
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