Enzo PÉREZ named to Argentina World Cup squad

By
Roy Nemer
-
190
Enzo Perez Argentina
Enzo Perez playing for the Argentina National Team.

Enzo PÉREZ has been named to the Argentina World Cup squad.

With Manuel LANZINI out injured due to an ACL injury, the River Plate man has been named as the replacement. PÉREZ is no stranger to the Argentina team nor the World Cup, having played 22 matches for his country, three of which came at the 2014 FIFA World Cup (one of them being the final itself).

He will travel to Russia tomorrow (on Sunday) where he will stay with the team.

Enzo Pérez: Argentina International Caps – Senior Level

# Opponent Competition Date Result
1 Peru 2010 World Cup Qualifiers October 10, 2009 Final 2-1 Argentina
2 Costa Rica Friendly January 26, 2010 Final 3-2 Argentina
3 Ecuador Friendly April 20, 2011 Final 2-2 Draw
4 Paraguay Friendly May 25, 2011 Final 4-2 Argentina
5 Peru 2014 World Cup Qualifiers September 11, 2012 Final 1-1 Draw
6 Trinidad and Tobago Friendly June 4, 2014 Final 3-0 Argentina
7 Slovenia Friendly June 7, 2014 Final 2-0 Argentina
8 Belgium 2014 FIFA World Cup July 5, 2014 Final 1-0 Argentina
9 Netherlands 2014 FIFA World Cup July 9, 2014 Final 0-0 (4-2 P) Arg
10 Germany 2014 FIFA World Cup July 13, 2014 Final 1-0 Germany
11 Germany Friendly September 3, 2014 Final 4-2 Argentina
12 Brazil Friendly October 11, 2014 Final 2-0 Brazil
13 Hong Kong Friendly October 14, 2014 Final 7-0 Argentina
14 Croatia Friendly November 12, 2014 Final 2-1 Argentina
15 Colombia 2018 World Cup Qualifiers November 17, 2015 Final 1-0 Argentina
16 Brazil 2018 World Cup Qualifiers November 10, 2016 Final 3-0 Brazil
17 Colombia 2018 World Cup Qualifiers November 15, 2016 Final 3-0 Argentina
18 Bolivia 2018 World Cup Qualifiers March 31, 2017 Final 2-0 Bolivia
19 Peru 2018 World Cup Qualifiers October 5, 2017 Final 0-0 Draw
20 Ecuador 2018 World Cup Qualifiers October 10, 2017 Final 3-1 Argentina
21 Russia Friendly November 11, 2017 Final 1-0 Argentina
22 Nigeria Friendly November 14, 2017 Final 4-2 Nigeria

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190 Comments

  1. France (lead 2:0) against Colombia 2:3 a few weeks ago
    USA against France 1:1

    Spain against Switzerland 1:1
    Tunisia against Spain 0:1

    Brazil against Austria 1:0 ,very weak performance from Brazil
    Brazil vs Croatia 2-0, but in the first half Croatia were the better team and lost unfortunate.

    Germany against Austria 1:2
    Saudi Arabia vs Germany 1:2 weak performance from Germany

    Why do we think Argentina is not good?
    Good that we are not favorites, so you can play without pressure..

  2. this a team who only conceded 2 goals in the last 4 world cup qualify game, I think the scoring and DM problem is more of a problem, not the back line.

  4. Biggest mistake France made was leaving Wissam Ben Yedder off their world cup roster who is one of the most underrated player.

  5. It’s correct but late decision to add in 23 men squad. Certainly Lanzini was not physically mentally strong to this Argentina strongest squad though he able to score a goal against Italy last month. You can say it was a waste of time to include him in the squad.
    On the other hand This squad was lacking a box to box player with great physique and pace while tackling offensive and defensively. Enzo Perez will fullfill the need. But He must train to improve his defensive and offensive tackling and also need to train on high accuracy passing skills.

  6. Argentina meeting Portugal or Uruguay in the latter stage of the tournament will be the toughest games for me. Portugal and Uruguay are two of the most awkward teams to play against in knockout games.

  7. So France strongest starting XI struggling against an U23 USMNT and Spain looking out of sort against Tunisia in the first half. Tunisia>Argentina? People making world cup predictions and brackets base on names on team sheets. Argentina have one of the strongest roster at the world cup and the best attack at the tournament. Saying stuff like Spain is sure to make the quarterfinal or France is destiny to make the final is a load of baloney. I’ll repeat again France is OVERRATED! it’s not a given Spain top their group, the names on paper don’t automatically win you the group. Spain have lost three games in their last six world cup group stage games. If by some chance Spain face Uruguay in the second round, lights out for them. Argentina was experimenting against Spain; nobody will remember a meaningless friendly results. Iniesta and Busquet are too slow and predictable. No Xavi, no party!! Because I choose Tunisia to make out of a group with England and Belgium people laugh at my predictions. If Tunisia perform at the world cup like they did against Spain in the first half, they will be making out the group. This is not 1970’s it 2018 people, wake up and stop ignorantly writing off the lesser teams without prominent names. Wissam Ben Yedder in this Tunisia attack would have made their attack very formidable.

    • Bang on friend.
      Even against Argentina first 60min was 2-1 with no Messi. With messi alba can’t press.
      I don’t consider Ramos and pique world class. Some how if kun clicked with messi Argentina will come up against them.

      • @Vivek
        Agree with you with the 60 mins part. But looking at preview, it’s the chaos after loosing the ball and one wall pass from Iniesta that ruin the moment. Transition to coming back defensively was a mess, high line defending was a mess, there’s no plan or strategy, watching out certain players (like Isco or coming in of a certain Iago Aspas) or making professional foul, tackles or anything to stop Spain’s moment. Sampaoli must’ve work hard on that part.

    • If France lose against the USMNT, that should be enough to tonfinaly get rid of this idea that they’re the best. Spain are a threat like ignoring or not. However, they were held to a 2-1 result for 60 min in the Wandametrapolitano with 4 guys not regular starters and without Messi, Di Maria, Aguero, while Spain was playing full strength while th the exception of Busquets. I do believe Argentina can go far, but the real menace is Germany. For several world cups they have not been abren to get passed Germany. If they can get passed Germany, the cup is theirs. Guaranteed! Vamos Argentina!!!!

      • I’m not saying Spain isn’t a threat. The fact of the matter is; Spain have always had good teams whenever they play at the world cup. What change for Spain at the world cup was having the influence of Barcelona/Pep Guardiola/Xavi/Puyol on their national team. Pep Guardiola revolutionize Spanish football while he was at Barcelona. Xavi and Puyol was the bed rock of the 2010 Spain world cup winning team. Under Xavi, Spain use to have 70-75% of the ball even against the big teams, right now Spain won’t dominate possession like they did under Xavi playing against any of the top teams or semi top teams.

    • No is worried about argentina’s attck . We are worried about argentina’s defence. Sampoli should have selected garay and rulli atleast.

      • @Mrinal: Argentina played in three straight final only conceding one goal., and no team with a poor defence will make three straight finals. Argentina is a tournament team and Sampaoli is a tournament coach, I’ll leave it at that. Rulli? haha, the same guy who was clueless at the 2016 Olympics gifting the opponent goals left right and center?

        • You know kid just for once it would be nice if you actually watch a match in it’s entirety before dismissing a player. Yeah Rulli had a howler in that portugal game but had you watched the match you would’ve noticed that he made 3 amazing saves afterwards.
          Rulli is actually an excellent GK and I think if Sociedad gets a better coach who actually knows how to organize a defense Rulli will get his confidence back and can become a serious contender for Argentina’s no.1 GK.

    • That tells you how weak is our defence plus we don’t play cohesively. That’s the response you get from any football analyst or expert.

      • I believe that match was blessing in disguise.that point out our weakness at back and also whole world believe we are shit so less expectations less pressure

    • that day they didn’t score we just conceded.
      our gk had no save
      6 shot on target and six goal
      one goal was assisted by de gea
      think how clueless we were

  11. from what I have seen Spain vs Tunisia, vs Switzerland any team with discipline can defeated Spain; they’re not that impressive.

  13. The 90’s Man Utd team
    had full backs, defenders, Neville, Stam
    had destroyer:Keane
    Playmaker: Scholes
    Wingers: Giggs – dribbler, Beckham – Crosser
    Striker: all types
    when Nistelrooy and Veron got on the team the balance was lost, the versatility was lost.
    you dont need only runners, you dont need only passers, you need different options.
    for example real madrid
    casemerio runner destroyer
    kroos passer
    modric passer dribbler

    2006
    gattuso, pirlo, de rossi, totti, comaronesi, perotta

    2010
    xavi, iniesta, busquets, silva, fabregas, xabi

    2014
    kroos, khedira, schweinsteiger, ozil….

    who is our pirlo, xavi, kroos,…?
    in this squad only banega can bee that guy.

    we have enough ozil, or silva’s and with lanzini we had an poor man’s iniesta.
    but midfield has won most of the recent titles.

      • I really like those 2. It’s just that they aren’t like Pirlo and Kroos…Playing style because quality they are far from them at this moment. Future I do’t know.

    • We are no match to all those great legendary midfield you have mentioned but we have something they don’t and that is Messi. Notice how amateur and midtable team Barcelona looked without Messi. Even Levante attacked Barcelona and beat them. Messi presence adds extra man in our side and the opponent loses one man as they have to assign atleast two players a defender and a midfielder to mark Messi. If we play as a team and cover all the bases we can win this. If Portugal can win Euro our team has twice the quality. However I wouldn’t get my hopes high on Banega to play a creative role. He is too slow and very inconsistent. Ofcourse if he can bring his Sevilla game in the world cup it will be added bonus but its highly unlikely given his track record. But yes we are going to need Banega at some point. Nevertheless this time we are better prepared interms of attack and creativity. We have Pavon as a backup for inconsistent Dimaria ,Meza and Locelo in the midfield,we have Salvio and Acuna in the flanks, Also Enzo back in the team so we don’t have to stick with Biglia and Masch if they don’t perform. Dybala is another game changer, Aguero looks fit . The most important part is keeping the possession of the ball and scoring first. If our opponent score first in a KO game I don’t see our slow B-Grade defense able to hold off the counter attack of quality opposition like Spain and Germany. 6 more days to go lets all pray we win this world cup against all the odds.

      • Yes we have Messi. but why rely only on Messi? we have other great players to support him. Like stated I think we have better players this time and more options but the problem is Enzo was overkill in this team. Nothing against Enzo in my opinion he should be there in the first place but we need a midfielder who controls the midfield, knows when to attack and when to pause.

    • I would say almost the same.. only difference is meza is more of bull dog, lanzini is more passive of a player.. mesa reminds me almost of a mixture of lamela and lanzini.. just my opinion

      • Pavon is not a better dribbler nor a better creative than Lanzini; Lanzini is also a goal scorer
        Lanzini covers both in attack and in defence; that’s a big plus in Sampaoli’s plan; He rarely gives away the ball even in tough situations;
        Lanzini adds the missing piece what ARG lacked in earlier tournaments; That’s why he was a sure starter for Sampaoli; It didn’t take much time for Sampaoli to notice that;
        Hopefully Meza provides the same;
        If both (Meza & Lanzini) were there, it would have been really good; Enzo is not that creative i believe;

  17. Peru is looking pretty dangerous.. I’m watching them and Denmark today, most likely one of these two teams will be our opponents after group.. who would you rather play? They are ranked only 1 position difference by FIFA…

    • I’m watching too.

      Hope they will go far though must beat Denmark in first game. Denmark seems to be really strong. The first game would be crucial.

    • both teams are very good. i prefer Denmark because they have less technical abilities than us.
      plus Peru know us very well and they can block our game because they have similar type of play with us.
      just we have more quality.

  18. Mascherano is very good passer and always was. He had always acute, often long pass and is doing the passes still. Watch Haiti. At the same time he is better than Paredes in defence. So we have 3 players who are potentially good passers in midfield: Masche, Lo Celso, Banega.

    But now:

    people must finally understand that in big tournaments, especially World Cups, passes that are enough good for clube season are not enough good. That is because of tight space. That acute passes you may see in regular season from players like Banega or other good passers are really hard to realize in WC. THere’s no space for such cracking passes. Go and see how Argentina creates the goal chances on World Cups or COpas. It is rare to see goal or good chance created by one penetrating pass.

    People thinks if you have great passer on tournament he will create best opportunities for you just by standing and passing. But it does not work. Mascherano is really good passer, but standing passer. YOu need first of all a lot of move to create chances.

    Despite the fact Lo Celso is good passer I doubt he will create opportunities for us by outstanding passes. If he will do better opportunities than Masche, Biglia or Banega he will do that by his movement. Just like the chances he created in friendlies.

    So, it’s better to have decent, but running a lot, passer than very good passer who is standing type of player.

    One more time: Do not expect in WC briliant passers that will broke defensive lines of opponent by one pass as you may see in club season. On WC there’s so little space.

    We have wrong idea of being “creative”. WHy people think it means player who just is good on passing. Enzo is not type of passer and Lavezzi too but with the players on the field in last WC and COpas Argentina created opportunities more easier than did that with typical passers.

    • Meza, Lo Celso, Mascherano, Di Maria midfield seems balanced. There are runners, there are passers. No guarantees it will work but I suppose if it will work it’s just thanks to movement of players like Meza, Lo Celso and Di Maria/Pavon and only then thanks to passes.

    • well said.
      i enjoy read this kind of opinions like yours my friend.
      even if somebody have different opinion about something you said you make him think with
      creative way and create too creative dialogue.

      well said again.

  19. Most of us here are worried about who is going to bring more attacking option and creativity in the team but no one is talking about our fragile defense. We had 4 years of goal drought and it was due to the slow and toothless midfield of Banega-Biglia-Masch and Sampaoli has fixed that issue finally. We have good young mids now in Pavon,Meza,Locelso, Salvio and Acuna. Especially Pavon and Meza are our trump cards! The only problem in the team is our defense. Our defense is a mess right now. Otamendi was totally burned out after a long physically demanding marathon of games in Epl. As someone has pointed out here EPL is too fast and too physical. No wonder Fazio failed miserably there. However Fazio has improved a lot from his days in Spurs as he doesn’t make those silly mistakes but hasn’t gotten any faster also. He had a very good season with Roma but we cant ignore that he was in the receiving end of goal fest against Barca and Liverpool. His back up is Rojo and I still can’t comprehend how Rojo managed to get him self selected . Another big liability is Mercado who is also another slow defender and he too had a horrible season in the last quarter with Seville. Glad Ansaldi is with the team. Tagliafico seems to be very good fullback, sound defensively and offensively and moreover he is young . But i am very worried if he will be able to handle Spain and Germany’s wingers,If Tagliafico looks shaky against Croatia and Peru/Denmark then Ansaldi has to play as a LB which he is more than capable of. Enzo Perez’s inclusion will provide much needed cover to our shaky defense which Lanzini would have never been able to present but that doesn’t mean I wanted Lanzini to be injured. Enzo should have been selected for either Biglia or Masch. I am very much in for the midfield of Meza-Enzo-Locelso .

    • We didn’t score goals because our midfield was slow, it was never as simple as that.

      We player 4 center backs and Mascherano with Biglia AND in a low defensive line.

      Thats pure and simply playing with 6 defenders and 4 forwards 30 meter apart.

      So what we got was a tight defense but without any way of scoring goals unless Messi deciding to fuck it.

      Last couple of matches we conceded goals becauee now we are playing in a high defensive line and fullbacks attacking as proving runs for the wingers.

      Our forwards are not bad, non of them. People with a lot of money and lot of smart analysis decides to pay them a shit ton of money not because they are shite, because they are good. The thing I am trying to tell you is we will not have issues in scoring goals now. We will score a lot of goals.

      But we also need to concede less than that to be world champs.

  20. In today’s training, Higuain and Dybala are the goal scorers;
    The final score was 1 – 1; Higuain scored for the starting eleven while Dybala scored for the substitutes;

  21. 100% – Enzo Pérez 🇦🇷 was the only Argentine player to complete 100% of his passes in the last two games of the WC Qualifiers: 18/18 v Perú, 31/31 v Ecuador. Replacement?

  22. anymore it is completely komik to read some comments from some fans that CRYING on dayly basis about the age of our players.
    really they are komik anymore.

    but i understand them because they can t wait to see the U20 world cup next summer :-):-):-)
    be patient little more guys :-):-) we can t use in this world cup the Argentina U20 team :-):-)

    next year exist world cup in Poland and we will use that team 🙂

    LITTLE MORE PATIENT PLEASE :-):-):-):-)

    • These some either don’t know, or don’t care,, Argentina was the ‘oldest’ team in 2014 as well…
      Youngest were Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Bosnia etc…

      We know what happened..
      2006, Italy was one of the oldest squads. We know what happened.. but They won’t care.
      No matter what they will cry.

    • Yes the squad is too old. Not sure how will they manage the speedy Brazilian and French players.

    • so what? we need them for 7 games in world cup.
      we don t make 4 years contract to anybody.
      we are not football club. we are speaking for national team.

    • Yes he has to train hard for sure
      I hope there’s gonna be another friendly before the WC…

      And I really hope Sampa is not going to make the same mistake as in 2006…
      Let Dybala get some time not like Messi in 2006
      I think Dybala would be great for us

    • That is one of the finest reasons, which makes me believe Enzo was the best choice..
      Among the probables no one knows this camp better than him.. he was always part of sampoli’s plan just before this campaign.
      After it was one of his finest performance against Ecuador which braught us to this tournament… Perez should start training patiently… He have time.. no one will force him to ground from match 1.. there is enough time till knockouts

  27. nothing against Enzo! Enzo should have been called instead of some others but not today.
    Experience.
    Only Argentina need 34 year olds to babysit 30 year olds, such a bullshit point, we have enough experienced players. We don’t need experience!We need quality and capable players!

    Tell me one thing. Who is our passing midfielder?
    I see only 1 and that is Banega.
    We are empty in the middle.
    this is our team.
    ——————gk———————
    -fb————defense————–fb–
    wingers—–empty———–wingers
    ————-attack———————-
    Mascherano can’t create or pass.
    Biglia can’t create or pass.
    Enzo played his best football as left or right midfielder.
    I consider Meza the same as Enzo.
    that leaves us with Lo Cleso who is more direct and Banega.
    We have the body but no heart.
    people want Messi to come get the ball in midfield and also score and if he doesn’t they say he failed us. Messi has always performed for us. The problem was always we never knew how to use him. We have players but we don’t have organization, management and coaching.
    IF WE WIN? THE ONLY REASON WILL BE MESSI! it would be the biggest achievement because not only did he have to fight opponents but also his worst enemy were his team that never understood to use him. Instead of having 2-3 World cups he has 0. What a shame. People are happy with finals. Those people hate Messi the most. People who support dumb decision hate Messi the most. I love Messi and I wanted this team to do everything possible to make a fucking team to support the greatest player ever to win 2-3 World cups. IT pains me to see such a great talent wasted. He is the probably the greatest player ever and 0 titles. there is something wrong. especially considering that we also had other great players with Messi. THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS TEAM. only blind people don’t see this. PLEASE MESSI WIN US THE WORLD CUP despite all the enemies within.

    Sometimes I stay silent here because people are

    • What are the great options in midfield , Sampoli missed, who would have done much better than What we got now?? Who would have been a great help to messi, than the likes of Lo Celso,Lanzini,Meza,Enzo, Banega.. et al.

      Any examples.. so eager to know..

      • PAREDES!
        Our most talented midfielder.
        and Lanzini who got injured.

        By the way how many chances did Enzo, MAscherano, Biglia. Lavezzi midfield create for Messi at the world cup?
        Enzo is a great player but if you count on him other things than fighter, runner, team player you are wrong because he will not be anything else but a glue guy.

      • it’s not my fault you lack reading comprehension. I said we need someone like Banega but who is consistent and that is Paredes. They are mix of Riquelme and Mascherano. not as good defensively but not as good offensively. They know how to attack, when to attack, when to pause.

    • Fill Lo Celso & Meza in that empty space and we are fine.

      Stop spreading so much negativity.

      Football tactics don’t work like how you think. We can’t select a 21 yrs old DM because we have experienced players in other positions.

      Sampaoli has got enough support for Messi. That’s a great relief for all of us. Messi has LoCelso, Pavon, Meza etc on his side to support him. If properly used, DiMaria can also be a good support for Messi (just tell him not to shoot and use his brain when the ball is at his feet). Even Aguero/Higuain can support Messi from FW position by making space or playing 1-2. Masche can support him from DM position with clever long passes which he has done often. Even Salvio & Tagliafico can do that.

      I have no idea how you guys can still complain as we finally have a coach who understands football and have created a team around Messi by calling the right plays and using the right system. It’s no coincidence Messi has scored back to back hat tricks for the NT.

      It would have been great if we could get Dani Alves at LB, Jordi Alba at RB, MATS at GK, Pique at CB, Iniesta at AM, Busquets at DM, but unfortunately they play for some other nations and we don’t have much quality in those positions. To be honest, we have not developed anyone in those positions because we had dumb coaches.

      Ever since Sampaoli came, we can see a breathe of fresh air in the team in the form of LoCelso, Tagliafico, Pavon, Meza, Lanzini etc. And you know, he came just a year ago. If he had come a year before, we would have had a perfect team for this WC, but unfortunately that was not the case to be.

      As for me, I’ve no complaints. I know we don’t have a great squad. We are at the same level of Portugal for this WC which is very strange, but that’s the truth. France, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Belgium and probably England too have a better all around squad than us. But we have Messi. That’s a HUGE plus. And then we have Sampaoli. Messi doesn’t need great players beside him, but just the right players. Hopefully the likes of LoCelso, Meza, Pavon, Tagliafico, Aguero, Masche, Salvio can do the job.

      • It’s not my fault you are content! Yes sampaoli did some good things but he could have done more. You are happy with good and I am never happy. You think we are as good as Portugal I think we are way better. We just have to work harder and never be content.
        Be happy with Portugal level. I am not. We are better without a doubt. You think of Argentina as some scrub team.

    • The only thing I’m sure is that Messi will not win WC by himself. He may win some games by himself in groups but not in the final stages. He will need team at crucial moments. Portugal wanted team in crucial moment of Euro while they didn’t need Ronaldo.

      I think all your disappointment is lack of Paredes as the third who can create or pass. He really should be there but if you takes Lo Celso and Banega as the players who can pass then:

      1. maybe Sampaoli took Banega and Lo Celso thinking that they are better passers than Paredes

      2. we should not categorize so easy as black or white. It’s not that our players can just run or pass and never both things but to differing degrees.

      • No one can win games by themselves. I am just saying that if we win it will be because of players like Messi can win matches, Aguero can, Di maria can,…
        Not because of management or coaching.
        Before the World cup 2014 I criticized Sabella for lack of creativity, alternatives. He followed his plan during the group stages and it didn’t look well to say the least. after injuries he was forced to fall back on his 4-4-2. That worked well but we lacked creativity and alternatives from the bench so we lost. When Germany scored everybody knew we were finished.
        looking at the bench there was no one, absolutely no one!
        People said I was negative bla bla and would prefer my favorite players and it turned out I was right unfortunately.
        I have the same opinion now about central midfielder position.
        Yes I am disappointed that paredes was not selected.
        now more than on 21st of may.
        I wanted paredes and lanzini in the squad, but was happy with lanzini. now there is neither and we are lacking in that department again.
        For me Paredes was a no brainer.
        He offers different skills in comparison to the other midfielders.
        Shoots just like lanzini.
        He is our future midfielder together with Lo Celso, Ascacibar, Meza.
        He plays in Russia and I am sure many Zenit fans would support our team.
        He is also familiar with the pitches, climate, lifestyle, etc.
        No brainer.

    • In my eyes this team is far better than that of 2014. Lo celso, Pavon, Meza, Tagli, Mache and even Aguero and Higuain can feed Messi with their skills. And to win a world cup you need more than a good team, you need luck. If Higuain could score that sitter or if Messi could score that chance(I don’t want to say miss, but Messi scored a hell lot of goals like that) history would have been different. We don’t even see Johan Cruyff on the level of Pele, Maradona because he couldn’t win one world cup.

      I think we have a decent squad and a good coach to work with this team. I hope we have that luck to be the world champions this time. Messi deserved to be the champion of the world.

      Vamos Argentina

  28. Can you tell me what’s the average age of our starters who most likely will be:
    Caballero, Messi, fat Higuain, Diva, mascherano, otamendi, rojo, enzo Perez, Marca, lo celso, and Acuna ?

    • Our 11:
      Caballero (36)
      Mercado (31) | Otamendi (30) | Rojo (28) | Tagliafico (25)
      Meza (26) | Lo Celso (22) | Mascherano (34) | DiMaria (30)
      Messi (30) | Aguero (30)

      Avg age: 29 yrs 2 mon

      Not as high as you people make it out.

      • Fazio will be a starter instead of Rojo, and I think Perez will take Lanzini’s spot that will pump the average age even more. Still 29 average age is considered too high, and we probably have the oldest squad in the tournament. Usually old squads go with solid defence since their midfielders and attackers can’t compete later in the knockout stages, but our defence is weak and our goalkeeper just conceded 6 goals that made the world scratch their heads.

  29. While going through the comments i have found a hilarious & “Splendour” person/thing/bot/spam or something else…

    That ” thing ” Shitting under every discussions that, the team is going to loose Round of 16….
    If that hilarious “thing”, is indeed a human being, i don’t know what “that” is doing in the fans group of Argentina, a team, the thing believes will go out in Group 16..

    The “thing” should have tried the thing’s luck in some other camps, like Senagal or Australia..
    The splendour ” thing “would have get a better team than Argentina.. (good for the “thing”.)

    & We, the fans of this poor team could have do without that “thing”‘s bad smelling shit.

  31. Ideally only 2 out of Biglia,Mascherano and Enzo should have been selected but sometimes things don’t go as planned. Moreover Sampaoli didn’t want to risk with young DMs and couldn’t drop one out of Masch and Biglia for obvious reasons and Enzo was axed . I was very surprised when he was not in the world cup roster. Enzo Perez had an average season with River this year but he has never disappointed with the National team. With only 6 days remaining for the world cup there was no better option than Enzo. He can join the team and straight away continue his training from where he had left off.

    Enzo Perez whenever called has always given 110% and always been one of the best player (Miles ahead of Banega ,Biglia and also Macherano lately). When some one is back to domestic league after playing few years for Valencia in Spanish league its hard to keep yourself motivated with so less incentives offered to you (I could be wrong), but his national team form has been completely opposite. He is a complete CM and has never looked so defensive like Biglia or Mascherano . When ever he gets the ball he always tries to make something happen and most importantly he has a good on-field chemistry with Messi. I couldn’t care less how he performed with River as long as he maintains his National team form. Sampaoli was trying his best to make our midfield as creative as possible to assist Messi, Ageuro and Di maria but with Lanzini gone I won’t be surprised if he goes with Meza–Enzo–Locelso especially if Biglia and Masch don’t impress him in the first few games. Some of you are worried that Enzo will replace Lanzini in the starting XI and our midfield will be super-defensive midfield of 2014 all over again. I highly doubt Enzo will directly replace Lanzini. It will be Meza. Meza is a better CM than Lanzini only thing Lanzini was better was at finishing but we need someone that could create chances and provide cover to our defense by keeping the possession of the ball , Meza is lot better at it.

    I am more worried about Dybala here. He is far better player than Higuain is and I hope Sampaoli is not going to waste him on the bench like Messi was wasted in 2006 WC. Dybala has to be given some playing time in the group stages . He could be a super sub against the tired opposition team . On his day Dybala can run havoc in opposition half. Moreover we can’t continue with Higuain if he misses too many chances that could seriously dent team confidence. Dybala must be prepared to take over Higuain which will happen eventually .

  32. I think javier pastore would be natural replacement of manuel lanzini but he too is injury prone player. Nicholas gaitan would be better choice. Sampoli must have selected rulli as a goalkeeper.

  33. I congratulate Enzo for earning a place in the squad once again. He is a player I admire a lot because of his hard work and experience. Having him on the team means Banega goes far in the pecking order which is a good thing for Argentina.

    • I agree with. Banega in my opinion is the least important, with all respect to him, player (after unused goal keepers) in the squad..

      • “I was doubtful which side he played for, spain or us??”

        In that game he played neither for Argentina nor for Spain. He was just a spectator! 😂😂😂

        • Give the guy a break would You? In that game he had a hang over and came straight from the bar to the stadium. I solute his courage.

  34. sampaoli and messi already know AFA is not favourite then why did they choose these kind of shit players. he can use U19 players while selecting in this world cup they can get confidence through the learning which will motivate them to keep ready on next world cup.

    • Yes totally agree they should have built a team for next world cup because they can’t pass the Spanish test in QF.

        • You are talking about the best finisher in Serie A. Though you are right no one would ever give him a pass because he’s hated by all like stole their families fortune.

          • Yea.
            That’s why Enzo perez gave him the finest pass of the match to him to score an open goal against Ecuador.. when team had absolutely 0 pressure.. & your GOAT gave to World class keeper of Ecuador.

          • Bro sampoli gave icardi 6 chances but it was like playing with 10 players in the ground. In intermilan team was buid around icardi but in NT i think he would be useless.

          • @mrinal1235, 6 Chances?
            Icardi has 4 caps for ARG; 1 is under Sabella;
            1st match under sampaoli against URU, entire ARG team were below par; They hardly created any chance; Played just as if though they want to secure a point;

    • Haha. Nice joke. 😂😂
      Not being a favourite, & Not being a contender is very different friend.
      Argentina was not a favourite in 2014 as well, they reached final.
      That doesn’t mean, they were playing the final, for winning the next world cup. 😂😂..

      Same is here. Argentina is one of the best contenders for the cup. For me a team in top..

      • You are wrong. All pundits in 2014 nominated Brazil and Argentina finale so Argentina was top favorite in 2014 based on leading the qualifying campaign, warm up matches great results and big names at their peaks at age 26 and 27. This WC Argentina is not fav. For valid reasons: barely made it to WC, thrashing results of friendly games, washed out players, injuries at training camp, and circle of friends dominate most decisions, cult like environment.

  35. Feel sorry for Lanzini. But I think this is a sort of poetic justice. I count Enzo as one of the players who truly deserved the trophy 4 years ago along with Leo, Mashce, Biglia etc. It was only a few days ago I was thinking about Enzo and his performance last time. A dependable midfielder he is. Was good throughout the qualifiers where he got the chance. But, can he keep up with sampa’s high tempo game?

    • I had the same feelings, when thinking about our road to Maracana..
      & I missed him in the squad whenever i rewatch Ecuador match. He did a fantastic work in the match.

  36. Enjo is a reliable player. He is an all round footballer. He has attacking instinct on the other hand he is defensively very very disciplined. Messi also tells that having world cup experience is more important than form. I know nothing about his form but I want a player like Augusto fernandez of 2016 Copa America edition. He was at everywhere on the pitch. When Augusto got injured in the semifinal and biglia came in in the final all of a sudden our midfield disappeared. An inform enjo pères can replicate the same form of Augusto of 2016 copa America. I will miss lanzini, my preferable was paredes, and battaglia. But I am OK with enjo. Against Brazil in away match we conceded 3goals, but enjo played great in that match. Can you guys remember a brilliant pass of enjo to Icardi in the last match in qualifiers, Icardi could not score. Actually Ecuador gk saved that ball brilliantly. I still believe had Icardi been able to score that goal he would have been in the world cup team instead of “goal missing machine” worthless higuain.

    • I remember both those occasions but unfortunately, Perez did not play the entire match against Brazil. Bauza substituted him with someone else. I also remember in the same match how he punched on the ground when he could not convert a half chance! Biglia had a shot at the goal for the last time in a competitive game in that match which was saved by Alison! The through ball to Icardi’s was phenomenal! He is the only player with 100% passes completion in Last two games. In a way justice has been done.

  37. Replacing attacking midfielder with defensive midfielder, replacing a young with an old player, not sure that was wise. We have the oldest squad now, also perez passed his prime and he’s not same player 4 years ago. Though he’s wanted by the friends. Correa should have been called. Wish Banega was sent home instead of Lanzini because Banega is dead wood when playing for Argentina.
    .

  38. I don’t understand why everyone is talking about Enzo Perez starting all of a sudden? He just got named to fill the 23rd spot and all of a sudden he’s going to be in the starting 11 or he’s better than Mascherano, Biglia, etc? I don’t think so. My gut tells me that Meza is a for-sure starter now along with Lo Celso and one of Mascherano/Biglia. That just leaves open one of the wings and it’s most likely going to be Di Maria with Pavon as a sub to shake things up. Perez will be an option off the bench and/or if we have injuries.

    • May be correct for Iceland match.
      I was talking about the later stages of the tournament.. where tough n faster teams are waiting us.
      A midfield with 14/5 with Loc Celso & Enzo will be a not so bad Idea… Against teams like Germany.

      • He’s a good option to have for sure. I like the pick a lot considering the circumstances (short timeline and Lanzini being the hurt player) but whether he gets in or not IMO is going to depend entirely on how Mascherano and Biglia are playing (barring injuries to Meza/Lo Celso/Banega).

  39. Hi
    Am writing after very long time though not missed a single post. Gonzalo is my favourite here. Most knowledgeable. One point only I want to make. Everyone keeps harping on ^experience ^. Experience of what _ missed chances, defeat in finals. This experience brings along with it fear ,doubt. I would prefer somebody younger with no experience and no fear. One example of this was Meza against Spain. What experience does Meza have? He was the only player who played fearlessly against the big names of Spain. Younger men also bring newer ideas and energy. Another example is Messi himself . If he wad used in 2006 against Germany we would have won. Only Argentina keeps getting in aged players under the guise of experience. The selection should be based on 1.fitness2. Form.3 Ability to link with the other players

    Anyway I fully support the coach and our team. Vamos . Go Argentina go. We want the cup.

    • Vish,

      I don’t think I’m most knowledgeable. I just want to know as much as possible about Argentina players all over the world not only in Europe, about best players for NT at every position. That’s because I’m convinced we were too much concentrated on most famous players from Europe recently as if success were guaranteed by popularity. In local league (that’s 28 teams) you may always find lacking player, missing link, that you have not in Europe. Moreover European stars looks sometimes spoiled and blase while young and ‘trying to make a living’ player from local league shall gives you passion. THe Argentina clubs have much to offer. Not only Boca and River.

      My fav Independiente has already 3 players on WC 2018 (1 in Argentina and 2 in Uruguay) while Tagliafico was Inde player just few months ago. Also Bustos, Rigoni were near. Franco and Sanchez Mino were also on Sampaoli’s radar.

    • Friendship games are a lot different to competition, the pressure etc, so experience is important. Football is also reading enemies’ tactic, which experience players do have the ability to act in certain situation. But it’s a waste if those knowledge isn’t transmitted to the youngs.

  40. My team for WC
    4231
    Ansaldi otamendi Rojo Taglafico
    EnzAugreoBiglia
    Meza Messi Pavon
    Augreo
    Substitute
    Salvio for Meza
    Di maria for Pavon
    Dybla Higuain for Augreo
    Lo celso Masche for Enzo
    442
    Ansaldi Otamendi Rojo Taglafico
    Meza Locelso Biglia Di maria
    Messi Augreo

  43. How will be this kind of set up against stronger teams. ???

    ————-Mercado——Otamendi—–Rojo———-

    Salvio——Enzo—-Lo Celso- Masche—–Tagliafico

    —————–Messi————– Kun——————–

  44. It is the right decision because he knows very well the NT so no need to adapt to it. I remember he was one of the few players who played well when the team was in trouble during the last games of qualifications. People criticise his skill but his passing is always accurate and he doesn’t lose much the ball.

    Personally I want to see him with Lo Celso and Meza in the midfield. All of them can attack and defend well, mobile with high work rate.

  45. Well, wheter it’s good choice we will see. If Enzo was a bit younger I might be more convinced about the choice though it still may be completly good choice. I think one of the best of the possible pool.

    Interesting that thanks to the call up we’re just now the team of most players from Argentina local league (4 players) in WC 2018 as Uruguay and Colombia will have probably also 3 players:

    Uruguay – 2 players of Independiente and 1 from Boca
    Colombia – 2 players from Boca and 1 from River

  46. Ii will be interesting if he can do “a Biglia” to Biglia this time.
    I mean what biglia did to the regular starter Gago during 2014 campaign..
    He has energy n speed. And a better passer of ball.. have a good eye on forwards…. What we lack in Biglia & Mache is the energy which he can bring about…

    He has time till knockouts… He should try patiently.. he’s no doubt an asset to the team..

  47. We already lacked creativity in midfield and after losing lanzini and calling up perez we got even less creative. This team does everything to lose. What a waste of talent this team is.

      • Ghostdeini prefers Paredes I guess. I understand him. Paredes should be there instead one of Biglia, Banega. I have still some doubts about Paredes defensive skills but I’m sure he could not be worse than Biglia and Banega at least. That’s for sure. WHile more creative.

        • Truth is, Paredes couldn’t force his entry. He was not great. Nor Banega was average.

          If Paredes is not selected because along with Icardi, Beneditto, Kranevietter, A Correa and many others, its because he couldn’t convince Sampaoli enough like others omitted. I think moving to Russia didn’t help him much as far as development is concerned. Look at the level Lo Celso has come during the last season.

          Sampaoli went for Lo Celso & Banega in his position. I can understand why he didn’t go with two young players. Banega has experience of big matches and he would make less mistakes than Paredes in crucial moments, atleast that’s what experience must bring.

          Once the KO round starts, matches tend to get a lot more defensive. Our jouney would then depend on how many mistakes we prevent, not how many brilliant attacking plays we have made. If you have any doubts, watch Real’s CL campaign. Even LoCelso made a mistake against Real on which they capitalized.

          So young blood does bring energy, passion and clear ideas, but that doesn’t guarantee trophies.

  48. Fair enough and solve the problem. Enzo selection is wise and best, he is good to cover the mid .

    Unfortunately loosing Lanzini means we lost a good long shooter mid player. Meza will have a good chance to replace this shortage.

  49. Now Sampoli can go with…

    ——————-Willy——————-
    Marca:-Otamendi-Rojo—Acuna
    ———Biglia———Enzo————

    Messi——-locelso———Meza

    —————-Heguin————-

  53. please can someone tell me why enzo perez is a good choice, because I am thinking he is too defensive minded, and I believe we need to have enough creativity in the midfield… having enzo Perez, macherano and bilgia in the same 23 is unnecessary, we should have sacrificed one for a creative midfielder.

    • He’s versatile (played as a CM, DM and a RM), he’s got world cup experience, he was THE best midfielder in the WCQ (when he got a chance to play), he connects well with messi and lastly he’s an overall excellent player who is skilled with the ball, a capable passer and is defensively disciplined.

    • Enzo Perez is good both to his defensive and offensive dutyes. he is experienced player
      and quiet hard working player too. he has chemistry with the team already because he was part till recently.
      one new comer will need longer time to find chemistry with the team.
      unfortunately we have only one week till match against Iceland.

    • We have creative attackers enough in the squad.
      we have messi, Maria,Dybala,Meza,Pavon, Salvio,Acuna , even Banega.. all can play for any attacking spot minus No 9 (Dybala can play there as well)

      What we lack is proper defensive covers.
      We have Masche Biglia only.
      It’s good to have 3 such players…
      Especially when we lead for just one goal.

  54. Best and least disputable choice by Sampaoli. I’ve always been fond of Enzo especially due to the strength and tenacity that he adds to this argentina’s midfield. Let’s not forget his HUGE contribution in the last game that brought us here to this WC. I just wish Enzo ( if on form) could somehow get the nod ahead of mascherano and biglia and make our midfield tick. This is to ensure more attacking players like lo celso and meza could start. The only downside to his game is his discipline. He loves doing reckless challenges.

  56. May be it was unjust to leave him at the first place, the way he played last few qualifiers deserved to be in 23 men squad. Against big opponents his experience will help Argentina to dominate the midfield.

  57. It shows what we discussed here was right. When the team announced, most of us commented here, this team is loaded with attackers and less strength in CM/DM position.
    Finally, its sorted but my favorite Lanzini injured..:(

  58. In all fairness he shouldn’t ve been overlooked from the outset. A dserving come back and wish u a quick re-integration. his call is immense as he always gave his heart on top of his considerable record of matches.

  59. Messi is a brilliant guy you know??…if enzo has been selected at first in place of lanzini he knew he would have been blamed…
    But using his future vision and calculations he was sure what will be going to happen….
    Several reporters saying that messi and masche with the help of an astrologer worked out the whole scenario even before the preliminary list has been announced..
    He is mesmerizing…. Ridiculously mesmerizing….!!!!

    • I predicted Argentina’s chances of Russian glory back in 2014, and somehow, Enzo Perez is a very important protagonist in this story. Perhaps it is destiny that is causing things to happen this way

        • Enzo Perez will score an important goal in the quarterfinals, probably a powerful cannon shot outside the box.
          Brazil gets knocked out by France.
          Spanish defenders will have a nightmare against Messi.
          Argentina will finally have their revenge against Germany in the semis.
          Argentina will meet France in the final and Messi scores the winning goal.

        • Enzo Perez will score an important goal in the quarterfinals, probably a powerful cannon shot outside the box.
          Brazil gets knocked out by France.
          Spanish defenders will have a nightmare against Messi.
          Argentina will finally have their revenge against Germany in the semis.
          Argentina will meet France in the final and Messi scores the winning goal.

  60. So it is enzo perez…i have mixed reaction towards this. He is out of form for river for last few months but he always played well in argentina shirt.

  61. Perez will bring experience, I think Sampaoli has gotten this right. Congratulations on making the team. He’ll be booking the next plan ticket to Barcelona and so he should!

    • if you add riquelme he will get some experience. if you add veron he will also too.
      totally AFA wasted lionel messi career with useless managers.

  62. Nice addition to midfield role…….

    I think there are two options
    1.Enzo Perez starts in the mid field and lo celco post in the right midfield right attacking midfielder..
    2.Salvio starts in the right attacking midfielder with Lo celso in the usual Central defensive midfielder role and Enzo Perez is used as Central defensive midfield as a substitute…..

    • He is not very old but the most important he have big experience.
      one week only left to world cup so it was necessary to come one player that have chemistry with the team.
      no time for newcomer to find chemistry.

      • even sampa can call ortega, batistuta, zanetti, claudio lopez, riquelme. they have a exp than current team. sampa doesn’t have sense. he can use some u19 players they can get some exp which help them confidence for 2022.
        anyway this team will comeout of group16. best of luck

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