Awful away form continues to hinder Diego Maradona’s side

Ever since CONMEBOL first introduced their lengthy everyone-plays-everyone (twice!) World Cup qualifying system for France 1998, Argentina have coasted through - finishing first twice and joint-top on the other occasion.

This campaign, however, has been different, and yesterday’s 2-0 loss away to Ecuador leaves them just two points clear of their equator-straddling opponents in the final automatic qualifying place, with four games to go. Those include trips to Paraguay and Uruguay and a home clash with Brazil. Yikes.

The side who finish fifth meet the fourth-placed CONCACAF side in a play-off. That would usually be a limited nation like El Salvador but, thanks largely to Sven-Goran Eriksson earning his latest payoff, Mexico occupy that position.

Since arriving with the fanfare usually reserved for a Geordie Messiah last year, Diego Maradona hasn’t exactly

FIFA examines evidence of international football naughtiness

This week, FIFA president Sepp Blatter took a break from being ridiculous to respond to allegations that an Asian gambling syndicate affected the outcome of several games in the 2006 World Cup finals. Following the findings of journalist Declan Hill in his book The Fix, the German version of Bild reports that the Swiss oaf is on the case:

“FIFA are actively trying to bring clarity to the situation.”

Blatter also promised to examine Ghana’s 3-0 loss to Brazil in World Cup 2006, one of the games said to have been fixed by the Asian mafia. Bild recently spoke to Ghanaian goalkeeper Abukari Damba, who is accused