Three points for Argentina were vital to put their Copa America campaign back on track following the slip on opening day against Paraguay. But the Albiceleste also received an unexpected boost from Javier Pastore. After years of promise, the playmaker showed for the first time that he is ready to drive the squad from the middle with a sparkling performance against Uruguay.The clues were there right from kick-off that he would be key. Uruguay opted for a safety-first system, inviting their great Rioplatense rivals to come and get them while a solid bank of four at the back was shielded by the twin figures of Alvaro Gonzalez and Egidio Arevalo Rios.Pastore, meanwhile, was given slightly more license to assume advanced positions. The inclusion of Lucas Biglia left the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder free to link up with the attack. But even so, it was a breakout performance for a man that for the last six years has never made the national team his own.It was Diego Maradona who first called up the wiry 20-year-old prospect in 2010, for the World Cup in South Africa. The year before Pastore had wowed Argentine football as part of a wonderful Huracan team that had come within a whisper of taking the Clausura title under Angel Cappa.Those performances earned El Flaco a move to Palermo, and his ascendancy appeared assured as the plaudits kept coming in Serie A. But somewhere along the line, and despite a multi-million euro move to PSG, there was the sense that he had never quite shown his best for Argentina.Just 21 appearances in international colours, many of those coming late off the bench, is a poor return for a player of such obvious talent. It is true that the constant change of personnel and management in the Albiceleste has not exactly helped his case, as Alejandro Sabella for one preferred more workmanlike talents to Pastore's creativity. But neither has the midfielder ever shown what he is really capable of when lining up alongside the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria. Until now.Pastore took Tuesday's game by the scruff of the neck. Located just out of reach of Uruguay's snarling midfield bruisers, he constantly sought space to operate and when it did not materialise, more often than not a team-mate did to keep the move going. The playmaker was particularly adept at finding the overlap; it was with this move, early on, that Di Maria was first released to force a save out of Fernando Muslera.He took the hits, and never lost his head. In the second half lightning did indeed strike twice. Pastore held the ball up perfectly on the edge of the Celeste area, ghosting past Arevalo with a neat back-heel and evading a tackle that would have sent him sprawling had it connected. As the Uruguay defence charged out to plug the gap, the star released Pablo Zabaleta with a ball similar to one Di Maria had received in the opening minutes.Further out than the Manchester United man, Zabaleta opted to fire the ball into the area. There waiting was club colleague Aguero, who finally broke Uruguay's resolve with a bullet header that left Muslera helpless. It was a wonderful goal, and the product of an inspired play by Pastore that opened the gate for the City pair."It is great to have more rhythm and more games. It is what is best for me; it gives me confidence," the delighted star told reporters in La Portada at the final whistle. It is that confidence Pastore needs to reach his full potential.There are still kinks to work out in the system, as in much of coach Gerardo Martino's nascent Argentina master-plan. Placing Pastore in an advanced position caused he and Messi to play far too close at times, the captain accustomed to shouldering the burden of playmaking while in international colours. But it is encouraging to see the team take to the field with two recognisable creative talents, and if La Pulga can resist temptation and return to the edge of the penalty area, as in Barcelona, a potent duo is in the cards.But more than a mere tactical victory, this game will be an immense boost to Pastore and his uneven Albiceleste record. With Martino on the bench he finally has a trainer who is willing to put complete faith in him; that faith was repaid in full with a match-winning display to down Uruguay, and Argentina will hope there are many more to come from the enigmatic star.
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