NEWS: Injury Updates

70

Hey everyone,

Wow what a game last night!  It’s nice to see us perform like that, isn’t it? We definitely deserve to be in this final again that’s for sure.  Anyhow, the news is that DI MARIA has practiced normally with the rest of the team this morning without any issues.  He actually scored a few golazos!   He is doing a lot better than GAITAN who may or may not be ready as he is still being evaluated.  AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ is out and will not return and it doesn’t look like PASTORE is available either.  The word is that MARCOS ROJO will recover and will be available for the final as well.  We all know what happened to poor LAVEZZI.  He was having a great game too!  It’s pretty much now just up to Tata.

VAMOS ARGENTINA!!

 

70 Comments

  1. BAd news for us : Di maria just limped off from the training session today…apparently from the same tear site…i dont think he’ll be available for the final 🙁

  2. Diego Maradona warned Argentina players “win or don’t come home”. I like this. Our players seem to be more determined to prove a point to Diego every time he runs his mouth, which makes me believe that Messi will be extra motivated come Sunday.

  3. Where are all the fat Tata haters? C’mon.. where are you? Sitting there.. waiting for Argentina to loose Sunday, then they will all come out of the shadows and say seee!!! Fat Tata. Hire a European coach. pfff.. We need to stay positive, always! Even if we loose the final, this team and Tata deserve respect. Getting to 3 finals back to back is NOT easy.

    • yep I’m a tata hater and we have done well so far but remember we have won nothing yet.
      ill also say to of the better players were forced upon tata as we would have has bil starting and di maria starting but instead because of injuries to them both tata hand was foaced to start others who have been better then what would have started, I cant give credit to tata for that but we had better win on sunday and I don’t care if a 90th min own goal from them as long as we win at all costs…vamos Argentina.

      • from golazo
        “Pre-tournament injury to Lucas Biglia is probably the only reason the Atlético Madrid midfielder got his chance but Augusto has been outstanding partnering Javier Mascherano in central midfield”
        but I will say it seems tata has learned to stop the possession play and is playing a different game to what he previous had the team playing.
        i did say before this copa with the players we have it is again ours to lose and i feel the same now, it is simply ours to lose!!!

        • what I’m saying is with our players only we can beat our selves by simply not turning up in the final as no team in this copa has the talent we have despite some very good players being left out like dybala, gar and icardi, rulli etc..
          I also don’t trust tata and a win on sunday will not change my thoughts yet as I expect us to win it and have from day 1 and that is on talent alone.

      • Even if we win still I won’t trust Tata for the WC. So far he has done well in this COPA. The problem I’ve with now Tata is his tactical inflexibility obsession with wingers. It painful if he doesn’t find a way to start Higuain and Dybala soon.

    • Yes, I’m too a Tata hater and I still want him gone even if we win. But we have to win it first.

      But giving credits where it’s due – he has shown some adaptability lately, for which kudos to him. He has also shaken off his boring control football with 4 CBs and 2 DMs. Again had Biglia been fully fit, I dunno about that either. He would have played a Masche-Biglia midfield most probably, which in every sort of imagination a poor poor midfield which only defends.

      The most improvement Tata has done with this team is the width and Banega’s positioning. When our CBs or Masche has the ball, Banega instantly comes down to provide a passing option, which is just what the doctor ordered for Lio to stay on the final third! Mercado has been providing width with great effects with the help of augusto down the right side, which also is another revolution in this tournament for us!

      So yeah, with all these improvement it would kill me if we fail to win on Sunday. Am I still a Tata hater? Probably. But that does not mean I don’t see what he have done well.

    • To be honest i am really happy with Tata in this Copa. Loved the way team played so far. This squad is built by him and they playing like the way he want too. Mundo is always weird on some players or coach. Now it’s Biglia.

      • Biglia is a fine player. Just not for this set up. He is great when we play a double pivot and we are defensive like Sabella’s system. Not so good when you need a midfielder who needs to do both. That is the only beef I have with Biglia…nothing else. I loved him during WC 2014. I just hate him in this team now!

        • Have you even seen Biglia at youth WC? If we play Banega same as he played last game than Biglia won’t be liability. It depends what Martino instruct to Biglia. Before USA game Martino had long conversation with Fernandez and Pocho. I am sure Biglia can pull off the typical Argentine number 8 role if needed but yes i agree with you that he is not versatile as Fernandez. But i feel really upset when people scapegoat our players one after another. But anyway i think we don’t have any true number 8 anyway

          • have I seen Biglia in youth world cup? no I have not. Do I have to? certainly not…he was a kid back then, but now he is probably 27 and plays as a super defensive midfielder for a defensive side for a while now. Even if the coach wants him to be more attacking he would not be able to. he just does not have that skillset.

            I don’t have any problem with him whatsoever. in fact I was a huge advocate of him back in sabella days. its just he is not good enough to be a proper central midfielder to be paired with mascherano. its an overkill to play both of them.

  4. Dybala on Copa America Final.

    “I wish that was the rival Chile and boys revenge taken. We are superior to Colombia and Chile, so no Sunday we can escape”

    Exactly! We are always superior than Chile-Colombia etc. But our lack of confidence & the amount of huge pressure before facing an opponent in final make us 1 step down. I hope, they’ll overcome that pressure this time more than ever.

    Vamos Argentina!

    • When I look at the attitudes of the players, you can tell they are in a better place than last year. Messi and Masch always look like they are mentally ready to win, but guys like Otamendi, Rojo, Banega and even Higuain seem ready. I think we are going to win this. (And hopefully we are in a similar mindset for WC 2018)

      • also after the matched finish we don’t see the players in wild celebrations as they seem so focused knowing the job is not done until we win on Sunday-nothing else but winning the final.

  5. I fully agree with those who say that Di Maria should start. Bringing him as a sub means the risk of taking him off again once he gets injured again. And the chance of that happening is pretty big. If others get injured we might end up with 10 men. If Di Maria is fit he should start, otherwise Lamela should start.

    Our mindset is completely different than 1 year ago. Players are determined to win, the form and fitness are there. We did it earlier this month without Messi, Sunday we should do it again with him.

    • Last year Messi was still playing as a midfielder. Remember the games where Pastore was further up the field than Leo? Now that everyone is in their best positions we are playing great.

      And you are right about Di Maria, he can change everything for us, but could also easily get injured.

  6. Hello friends,
    Argentina reached final again and the opponent is Chile.So the game is going to be very exiting i hope. Since 2004 to 2015 Argentina played 5 finals and lost. out of them 2007 and 2015 in copa america and 2014 fifa world cup they failed to score single goal in the final.So it is very impotant to score goals in the final match as quickly as possible. what ever the strategy Argentina will play or who will play does not matter only goal is the matter.
    Hope this time they will win and give a trophy to their motherland and the people who expecting and waiting since last 22 years(1994 to 2015).

  7. I think these are the reason why we are playing so well in this copa:

    1) Messi, Higuain and Banega are in superb form, where the other players are also having fine form.
    2) Martino has changed the style of play, we tend to press very hard after we lose the ball, even Messi is pressing, I seldom see a walking Messi in this copa.
    3) The players are determined and disciplined, I think they really do not want to come back empty handed this time.
    4) We are lucky. Our opponents are not tough and we got advantage from our opponent’s suspensions and injuries.

    In Copa 2007, we also won all the matches convincingly, but when we came to the final, Brazil defeated us 3-0.
    That Copa is very similar to this Copa up until the semi-final, but I hope the final will be different and this time our dream will finally come true.

    • Completely agree!

      We have seen this confident Argentina several times. Then something happens in the final. Last year we walloped Paraguay by 6 goals and then in the final it was the same story.

      I remember Basile’s team in 2007. Amazing performance till the final.

      I am really nervous about Chile. Hope they are not Germany of South america 🙂

  8. chile are a good team, they deserved to win last year
    the only final we may have deserved was 2004. we were owned in 2005, 2007, 2015. 2014 we choked with poor finishing

  9. Its a foundation for our 2018 WC campaign , its just 2 years more for WC. i think most of this crop will be fit for next WC also. Add to that dybala,correa will be in the roster too.

    Hope good days are coming on the way for albicelestes

    • Hopefully Garay,Musacchio, Lanzini, Rulli, Enzo and Perreyra will be added to the squad. The problem we only have Higuain as a pure #9. Icardi issue needs to be dealt with realism. If not Icardi then who is Higuain replacement? Aguero, Dybala, Correa are not a pure 9s for me. If something happens to Higuain eg he gets tired or suspended, then who is next best option for Argentina? Like now that Agustín is gone, Lanzini would have been an option.

      • Icardi is one of the best young number 9 of the world, probably the best age below 23, i think personal issues should not be considered while selecting a national side. this boy can serve our team at least for next 8 to 10 years.

        lanzini is one of the best CM of now days, yes i said best CM not young best CM, i followed every game hes has played with the hammers, sorry KID, but i mean that, if he was an Englishman, they would make him the most valuable young player ever or most talented as the now say about Alli, IMO Lanzini is far better, this boy deserve a chance

        Icardi, Lanzini, Perreyra and one or two young stars like celso or cervi will balance the team, will make us the top contender of 2018

  10. Of topics-
    There are a rumor that Garay could leave Zenit to join Arsenal. If it is true, that sounds very positive to me
    Ansaldi to inter is also pretty much confirmed. this guy is a jem of a player and could be the answer to the cry of our LB problem

    • I’m sure about Ansaldi being that much better than Rojo at LB. But I think I like him more as RB. I only saw him play RB only a maybe 2 games but he looked better than what I’ve seen of him at LB.

      • Yes his is very good to footed player, but i think we need him as a LB, but totally agree with you, i have seen him once as RB and he was awesome as good as he played as LB

    • I am sure this will be rumor only. Arsenal will not sign any Argentine player. They eventually will sign a French player. Its a French club.

  11. Thanks to Tata, his technic is lot better then Sabella. Sabella was defencive. Its showing that a team is building for 2018. Tata choosed only those who can play till 2018. The more I watch I like this guy 🙂

    Chille will be tough. They play physical game when needed, they counterattacks very fast, they have good strong individual players.And more, they played a game against us in group stage. There pressing is really good. Specially Vidal -he is good, he is clever, he is full of energy. Their defense is solid, midfield is strong and offense operates too. Ther not gonna give us much space like USA or others.

    But we r this time playing as a team after long long time. And I hope and believe we r goibg to win the final too 🙂 Because:
    1) Romero doing fine.
    2) Our defense is just awesome. I like Mercado, he is a monster with good offense & defense skill. He keeps running and he is there were he is needed all the time. Good one for 2018. Otamendi is awesome. He is like one we can depend. Keeps calm and doing what is needed, he reminds me Walter Sammul. Mori is good too, never leaving his position and not giving much space. Rojo is solid, he is full of energy. Just what we needed.
    3) Our mid is operating this time. I’ll miss Augusto. Against Chille he was needed. I guess Gaitan may replace him, lot better option then Biglia. Biglia is sloppy and not creative at all. Gaitan can pass, runs att the time, looks for chances, press hard and he is also coming out of injury. Benega needes to keep passing the ball and fill the blank spots as he is doing now :). Mash is superb, u cant ask more then him. Overall our mid is doing fine. No doubt 2018 WC is going to be good for us with Tata and hos team.
    4) Sorry for Lavezzi. Hope he get well soon. Dmaria is good except his sudden foolish waste of chances. Hope he remains calm and plays with team, its important to win then to play individually. But agains Chille he can be a problem giver. Gonzalo is getting goals, that’s tge good news. He is a very good finisher what we need. With him our offense is just awesome. Messi – for sure he is enjoying the game like he does in Barca. He is clever that’s why he brought Tata to Barca two years ago and now Tata is giving Messi what is needed to perform like he does and to win with NT. Messi is 100% fit that’s the great news. Team is supporting him and giving him space too. He is finding net, he is leading the team from front. He is playing offence, he is assisting in mid. He is just awesome. Chille will be frightened, no doubt, to give him any free kick chance before their penalty box. I only fear Chille may too rough to tackle him, hope officials will look after that.
    5) This team knows how to hold the ball.
    How to keep calm and wait for the chances. l
    This team is playing to achieve something and that shows in their attitude.
    This team can counter-attack very fast.
    This team always presses for the ball, not leaving oponent to play their game.
    This team flips side very fast and plays wide. Creats space and holes in the middle, that’s awesome.
    This team has subs we can depend 🙂
    This team is not frightened to any team.
    So we r gonna win Copa 2016 hopefully 😀

    • I think you have not recognize that Tata abandoned his original ideas of trying to make us play tiki taka but now he has brought back a few things from the Sabella era, like the quick counterattacks and direct play. That’s why we scoring a few more now and chance come more often now in the COPA.
      To his credit though, Tata has learned that scrapping everything of Sabella tactics was not wise. Now he’s mixing his own ideas with Sabella tactics.

      • Oh and the pressing and hustling is also from Sabella era. But I like Tata’s willingness to try new players more often. Sabella didn’t have any tournament to experiment do I guess his goal was to get the players who he thinks would have won the WC for him. I still think the inform Tevez should have gone to Brazil. And him removing Pocho who was our most threatening player in the final. Anyways, it’s all history now.

        • I do agree with u, yeah Sabella was good with counter attack and pressing too. But his team was defensive. Sabella started using wings too but Tata made them play both, tossing or passing to center. Tata’s technique is creating more holes then Sabella. Yeah I also agree Tevez deserved the chance.

  12. Hopefully, a team not individuals show up on Sunday. The problem is the psychological of our players they need to play like team possessed madmen and go for broke in the 1st 15 minutes.

  13. If Argentinas fans are nervous it shows fear
    I’m not afraid of chile we should win

    I’m afraid of our mentality weakness in finals which I mentioned here last copa and this will not change

    We will not score and match will go to penalties where chile have psychological edge

    You can be unhappy with my comment but after experiencing 5 final defeats (4 pathetic efforts) I’m sure you understand why I am not optimistic

  14. Di Maria shines every time we played Chile for an aparent reason. He is quick and destablizes them starting from Sabella era. If he is fit let him start the match in stead of awaiting him as a sub.

    Last time i check Biglia was not bad too vs Chile in qualification games. We didn’t even use Maschie. If Krane Biglia and Banega combo caused disastour against them then wyh not Biglia/Krane Maschie Banega?

    FYI, it was against Chile qualifying match that Banega started to be useful with his good understanding of the game by letting Maria scoring the equalizer.

    I still believe,though Aguero will be useful in this match too unlike other matches of tbe tournament. With his inteligent attacking skill he will even be more use ful than Higuein(my favorite argie 9). Let Di Maria Hig Aguero and leo play together not necessasrly for the whole match and then you will see how Chile be dis orgnized by the constant attacking forces. As such, they will have no time of playing their high pressing game rather than worrying covering their ass at the back.

  15. We start with mascherano and biglia holding and banega attacking in midfield…. With lamela higuain and Messi up front…. Then you bring in dimaria and Aguero in minutes 65 and that energy will seal the game for us. Augusto will easily be replaced by biglia, who as average has his passing is, it’s better than Fernandez’ with both defensively strong.
    My biggest concern is Rojo… He needs to be healthy to help out a “suspicious” funes mori who has gave up a few chances and a Goal to Venezuela due to bad judgement passing out the back.
    Romero is another concern with judging through balls and crosses…. I always find myself yelling at the tv telling Romero to “come out” or get the fu#% back!” Like against chile in the opening game goal.
    I’m headed to New York to root for Argentina and I will be reppin for all you guys here… I’m confident we can bring la Copa home to Argentina.

  16. I don’t know but I am little scared about Augusto. With Augusto, our midfield was compact on the right wing. My only problem with Biglia is he is not agile as Augusto. It is up to Tata whether he decides to start Biglia or Kranvitter.
    Overall, I think we should beat them comfortably.

  17. Di Maria will be useful and suitable style against Chile in the final, a starter to fill the space and play more wide with his long shot and passed ; although some Mundo’s fans did not like Biglia but i think he can replace Augusto as long as he is fit and in form. Lamela should be given a chance to play as he is now have grown and can score for n/t.

    Let the winning team do their last job, no radical changes as team is very solid with its leathal attacking force; continue to play with wide and possession football ; the war will be in middle field.Vamos

  18. Since Augusto is out, so I would suggest we start with both Di Maria and Lamela. Also, NOT use Arguero in final even. In the last two tournament finals, we never score and lead. I hope this time we can have an early lead.

  19. So, it’s Argentina vs Chile all over again. This time though Chile don’t have Sampaoli, they are not playing at home and most importantly our boys seem very hungry and motivated to win the tournament. Messi is on form and on fire, Banega is playing well, Higuain is scoring goals, as a matter of a fact almost anyone in this team can score. I am cautiously optimistic about the final. It will be nerve wracking but we will prevail. Vamos Argentina!

  20. Wow Chile pressures a lot. Really sucks we don’t have augusto, who has been really strong. I just don’t think biglia will be able to perform the same. But I don’t really know who else could take the spot except kranevitter but don’t think he has the experience

  21. Hopefully we do not do deffencive errors as chili is lethal on those like colombia did.the whole game chili got 2chances and 2 deffencive errors goals

    • I’m nervous about that too.

      I have to keep reminding myself that they didn’t score lastbyrarnon the final either. I think with the way Banega is playing in the midfield, we are going to win this final. But it’s still nerve wracking.

  22. look like the rematch final will be sure, let’s hope our boys will be ready this time. i have more confidence this time since our boys character is growing up and show they’re more ready for this final.

    • this time they will have no “HOME” refs to help them big time as it did and no crappy fields that are not good for our style of play unlike the u.s fields they are perfect for our running, passing game.

  23. No team defense for Colombia. No cohesion offensively. They are all playing like a bunch of individuals, not a team.

    Bravo has his confidence back now though.

  24. Also, we really have no depth at the central midfield position now. I mean if Biglia is not fit we will have trouble. Hopefully they are able to conserve some energy throughout the match with good passing.

  25. It would be risky to bring DiMaria on as a sub because if he aggravated his injury he would be off right away. It’d be better to start him and sub him off if needed. That way you don’t have a player limping around/play with 10.

  26. Having augusto miss out is a huge blow. Not sure what pastore role in this tournament was but whatever. I really didn’t want to see biglia starting. I know a lot of you think he is great, but I just finished watching all the games back to back and I didn’t see anything I can really say he excelled in. IMO

  27. People talk about ARG playing in the finals of the last 3 major tournaments and that is quite an accomplishment, but the circumstances for all three tournaments is quite different. I think it’s safe to say that this final on Sunday represents our BEST chance to end the drought while the other 2 finals presented some very unique challenges. Here are some factors why this is our best chance.

    1) WC Final we had played an exhausting extra time game in the semi-final vs. Netherlands and had 1 full day less rest than a German team that played just 30 competitive minutes against Brazil in their semifinal.

    2) Copa 15 we played all the way to penalties in the quarterfinals vs Colombia and again had 1 day less rest against an opponent who was playing in front of their home crowd.

    3) Copa 16 for the 1st time, ARG will have the extra day advantage for the final as Chile/Colombia are playing tonight and hopefully it will be a grueling, physical match

    4) Messi Factor: Messi is on form AND well-rested for the 1st time going into a final. He is supremely motivated to end the trophy draught, lead his team to victory to ensure his legacy and do in in front of the biggest market in the world for commercial purposes. Maradona has added to the motivation by popping off about leadership and there may even be an added revenge factor is we get Chile in the final. Messi really wants this and he is not going in to the last match on dead tired legs.

    5) Luck: Besides the injuries in the last match, luck has been on our side for the 1st time in these tournaments. We avoided Brazil (which sucks but plays their best against us), Uruguay and Mexico leading to the final. All three of those teams have big weaknesses but present unique challenges that VEN and USA do not. Maybe it was lucky that Messi was unavailable early in the tournament and Barca got knocked out of the Champions League before the semifinals. That’s 3 less grueling matches that Messi would have had to play. Maybe it’s lucky that DiMaria got injured early in this tournament instead of late. He can come on in the 2nd half of the final and give us a big boost if needed…and God forbid if the final goes into extra time again.

    I think it’s finally our time. This Sunday will be different AND it will be a springboard to the 2018 World Cup!

  28. You guys would really play Di Maria right off of an injury? I would opt for Lamela. And I think that Biglia might play OK, but I would love to see Banega drop deep instead of having him play.

    • agreed it should be lamela for 2 reason
      1: hes not injured or coming back from an injury
      2: we are playing much better and as a team without di maria and why change that.

  29. today we fuck one of the enemy of our team…a truly german…1990s klinsman…it is a reveng…in the final i want another revenge….d maria ok,that is big dil..
    biglia will serve wel …if we have…
    let peperate for the party….

    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,banega,,,,,,,,,maria….

    —messi———-heguin………

    enough for any team….

  30. Proves that taking pastore was a waste
    Enzo Perez would have been perfect replace for Augusto
    We needed our 1st team to win
    enzo would have been perfect on the right

  31. It was a great game last night.

    Augusto is a huge blow for us. He does a lot of covering and is full of energy.
    Good news is that di maria is back.

    IMO the final should be a 4-4-2

    ————————–Romero————————-

    Mercado—-Otamendi——-Funes Mori—-Rojo

    Lamela—–Banega——Macherano—–Di Maria

    —————————-Messi—————————

    —————————Higuain—————————

Comments are closed.