Paulo Dybala gave an interview with AFA Play where he spoke about the Argentina national team, playing alongside Lionel Messi and the coronavirus.
Dybala has been at Juventus for five years and has been part of the Argentina national team for the same amount of time. He spoke about when he got called up to the team. Here’s what he had to say:
“There was a lot of talk about me. I was 21 years old, there was a lot expected of me. There was talk saying “it’s now, in September”. I had just joined Juventues and when the list came out, I wasn’t there and there was some bitterness. Still, I went on and my family supported me. I was waiting, I continued to train and luckily things were going well for me.
“In October, it was the same. That I was going to get called up but I didn’t have any expectations because I didn’t want to get my hopes up and that month I got a call from Tata (Gerardo Martino). It was just immense joy.”
In regards to the Argentina national team, Dybala says he wants more while also putting pressure on himself:
“I would have liked to have achieved more. To be able to give more goals, more assists, better results, on a personal level as well. Because here at Juventus, I’ve always been able to do the things I wanted to do. And maybe with the Argentina national team, I haven’t been able to develop the same way playing the minutes I was planning on playing at the World Cup, at the Copa America. But I always tried to respect the decision of the coach because I know it’s a very prestigious spot where I always have to give the most and the coach puts who he thinks is better.
“I don’t know if I’m a perfectionist but I’m very demanding of myself. I try to see what I’m doing wrong to be able to improve on it. I like to talk to the coach, to give my best and they know what I’m missing. Here at Juventus, I’ve always played. I won important things, I reached a Champions League final, I scored goals. I think that what I’m doing here, I still have to do with the Argentina national team. I’m now 26 years old, I’m not 21.
He was also asked about his comments a few years ago where he said it was difficult to play alongside Lionel Messi:
“There was never any bad intention on my part but people wanted to see it differently. If we’re going to talk about football at a press conference, I’m not going to criticize a team mate. Even about Leo, what I meant is that tactically we are so similar, it’s normal that we find ourselves playing in the same position. I played five years there at Juventus, him 15 at Barcelona. We feel comfortable in the same position, the best is that the coach works on that. It’s obvious that I’m the one that has to change and look for space he isn’t occupying.
“It’s what happened vs. Chile up until they sent him off. We had worked on it with Lio Scaloni, I always tried to look at him, to see where he is, to find the holes. It was a question that I answered normally.”
The Argentina and Juventus man was asked about the coronavirus:
“It’s psychological. At the beginning, you’re scared. In principal, you try not to think that it’s that. But after that, one of my team mates had it (Rugani) and after that another (Matuidi) and I was the last one. Luckily we weren’t many at the club.
“I had a bad cough, I was tired and at night when I would sleep, I’d be cold. It was a bit of having to live with it, not becoming desparate and trying to be calm.
“Now we are good, much better. Those days, we didn’t have symptoms. Let’s say that she (his girlfriend Oriana) feels much better. I got tired quickly, I wanted to train and I would be out of breath after five minutes. From there, we knew that something wasn’t right and through tests they told us that we were positive.”
I do not see this Copa postpone as blessing we have a very strong team,nice coach and staff.Messi,Aguero,Lo celso,Otamendi,Pezella,Montiel,Paredes,De paul all were in good form.
Not saying it will be, just saying it Could be. The opposite is also possible of course, but we will never know. Had Copa been this year and Argentina would have lost it, Scaloni would likely have been replaced. If it happens in 2021, with only one year to the WC, would AFA still replace him?
We don’t know yet what football will look like when it returns, how it will affect the form of all players, the leagues, championships, finances and club decisions etc. Will be interesting to follow.
[…] ‘My words about him? I should have said it differently,’ said Dybala in an interview with the Argentina national team website. […]
This copa postpone could be actually good for Argentina. Messi has been a bit tired recently, struggling with an average team at club and need to carry Barca all by himself. Our problem on fullback and DM hasn’t been resolved yet, Paredes, Lo Celso, etc. don’t have enough playing time at club, elements like Buendia, Benitez, Lisandro Martinez don’t have any opportunity yet. Argentina has a good team for the competition but I think next year they will be even better.
It could be a blessing in disguise indeed. It will give the younger players more experience with both club and country, while some of them will be transferred to better clubs and leagues and develop further.
Lo Celso is a starter for Tottenham now and Mourinho has said he will be The key player of Spurs, and that the team will be built around him
Sry dybala u hv to be more energetic to start for us……there is no question about his ability however his off ball play is pretty mediocre.
We don’t hv good defence and we all know how Paredes is defensively hence we can’t afford our strikers to not press and not being energetic.
Dybala must be in playing 11, as a super sub Icardi will be more effective than Dybala
Messi Lautaro Dybala front 3 looks deadly on paper, it’s interesting to see how it works on the filed
At the moment, I can’t see a level higher than super-sub for Dybala. Lautaro and Messi should start with Ocampos playing a free role winger drifting to right or left depending on the circumstances. Nico Gonzalez can join Dybala in the sub list to add explosiveness and come in whenever the team begins to slack off. Palacios, Paredes and De Paul should maintain the midfield triangle and connect/complement with the fullback movements – offensive or defensive.
BTW, it’s been some time since we’ve heard anything from one of our dearest members ‘Gonzalo’. Hope everything about him is fine…
Instead of palacios lo celso or acuna, they both have done quite well uptil now whereas what palacios will do for us is remain to be seen.
Yes ,where is Gonzalo
Hope he is fine
Who should start along with Aguero upfront Lautaro Martinz or Dybla? What is your opinion?
With the better season dybala. He has 12 goals and 11 assists in all comps. Who has performed better in the national team then obviously El Toro
The objective is to never to compare with Messi; not a single player at this time can match Messi level of playing not even Dybala; first thing to accept by the coach that Dybala can be optimize and bring more exploration in the mid and offense when he plays alongside Messi. Need to run and penetrate more wider and create space for Messi and the striker
True
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