Yes people! It´s that time once again, time for the South American World Cup Qualifiers; Argentina host Brazil this Saturday at Rosario Central´s stadium - Estadio Gigante de Arroyito.

As it stands, Brazil are top of the group by one point and Marcelo Bielsa´s (who, incidentally, has his very own facebook campaign to become the next president of Chile!) Chile side are second, Paraguay 3rd - 2 points behind them, while Argentina occupy the last qualifying spot in 4th (2 points behind Paraguay). Even though they are currently in the last direct qualification spot with four rounds to go, Maradonas men are only two points clear of Ecuador.

So, you can tell Argentina are in an unusually precarious position, and if they don’t perform in their upcoming games against Brazil & Paraguay; they may well finish 5th in the CONMEBOL group , leaving them facing a two-legged play-off against the 4th placed team from CONCACAF to achieve qualification in a for a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Obviously, that would be hugely embarrassing for a country with such a rich football history.

Brazil, will ensure, at worst, a spot in the CONMEBOL/CONCACAF play-off if: they defeat Argentina AND Ecuador defeat or draw with Colombia, or, they draw with Argentina and Ecuador defeat Colombia while Peru beat Uruguay. Got all that? Oh, hang on, they will also secure that play-off place if Ecuador draw with Colombia and Uruguay draw with or lose to Peru.

Now, I don´t really need to talk this South American classic clash up -it speaks for itself- but, this time there is more national pride at stake than usual. Usually both sides are clear of the pack and only need concentrate finishing top, but this Argentine side are floundering and shall be going all out for the win on Saturday.

This game was originally set to be played at River Plate´s stadium -El Monumental- but Maradona pleaded with the AFA (Argentine Football Association) to change the venue as he complained of a ´lack of atmosphere´. He said that the running track around the pitch at River´s ground quashes the atmosphere. While the Argentine crowd is typically vocal, El Monumental´s setup means the acoustics are poor. Well, as you can imagine the River directors didn´t take too kindly to Maradona´s words, they responded by lodging an official complaint!

Julio Grondona (The AFA president since time began), then waded in; he told Radio del Plata that the argument could stem from Maradona´s fanaticism for River´s arch-rivals Boca Juniors.

"This is a matter of Boca and River" he said, "where River people complain against some comments by a passionate fan of Boca,"

"Unfortunately, it happened, but there are misunderstandings, expressions neither of the parties should have made. Maybe the AFA has to accept some blame because we could have set another venue as an alternative."

Now, all that took place back in June, but of course, it´s all part of the big story surrounding this game!

So, the game shall take place in Rosario. Argentina and Brazil have met in Rosario only once before - in the second round of the 1978 World Cup. It was a tough goalless draw, and aided Albicelestes in reaching the final where they won their first World Cup; Brazil finished third.

Rosario´s ground is quite a cosy one, only 16 feet separates the field from the stands, on top of that -, Maradona demanded the pitch be cut short before Saturday´s match, which should speed up play and allow the likes of Lionel Messi to quickly attack Brazil´s bigger defenders.

As always, the build up to these crucial qualifiers has been intense.

We have seen both sets of teams exchange opinions in recent weeks, and, as is customary, Pele and Maradona have opened their mouths and waded in to the discussion. These guys tend to not get on terribly well and you´re basically guaranteed a chuckle when you read over the comments exchanged between them.

It´s basically a pair of old greats mouthing off at one another, your legs will eventually go, but the ego will always remain!

After recent declarations made by Maradona, which included saying things like "I was a better player than Pele was" and "Argentina have better players than Brazil", Pele responded, and in his own unique style, attempted to put the little fella in his place, right before the big clash.

"I´m confident in Brazil, most of all against teams who we have always been superior to, like Argentina," said Pele.

"Beating great rivals like Argentina gives you a different feeling," he admitted.

Pele continued: "But we already know who Maradona is... what he says isn´t worth taking into consideration." This coming from the gentleman who exclaimed back in 2002 after the World Cup in South Korea and Japan that Nicky Butt was the player of the tournament.

He then offered Diego a small concelation by declaring that Maradona has the potential to be a good coach in the future: "He has everything to become a great coach, but hopefully it doesn´t start against Brazil."

Fantastic! This is what we all like to see, hey?

No clash between these two historic rivals would be complete without a war of words between two of the best players ever.

Now, all that´s left is for the game to take place this weekend. Lets all hope it is a classic, and one we will all enjoy talking about for some time to come!