Marcelo “Dady” D’ANDREA: “He’ll play the World Cup”

By
Roy Nemer
-
38
Marcelo "Dady" D'Andrea
Marcelo "Dady" D'Andrea

Marcelo “Dady” D’ANDREA, the National Team’s masseur spoke about Lionel MESSI and the National Team.

D’ANDREA, who works with the National Team, talked about seeing MESSI on the pitch after the final, his retirement and the team itself. Here’s what he had to say:

“I have no doubt that he’ll play the World Cup… You have to leave him alone. He loves the National Team, he gives everything for his country.”

On seeing MESSI on the pitch after the Copa final:
“I went to go look for him on the pitch but there was no consoling him. His face destroyed me. It was the biggest hit MESSI’s ever taken with the National Team, no doubt about it. The look on his face when he looked at me, killed me.”

About MESSI’s retirement:
“No one knew anything about MESSI’s retirement. He didn’t say anything in the locker room. We found out about it from his interview.”

“When we got (to the back),my daughter was there waiting for me, crying, telling me to tell Leo not to leave the National Team. Then Leo hug her. She cried, inconsolably, though MESSI tried to contain it.”

About the National Team:
“It’s a very strong group, very united, they were in three finals. I feel proud of these players. It’s easy to talk, but we were 50 guys together for 30 days and there were no fights.”

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38 Comments

  1. I’m watching Italy vs Germany and all I can think about is Argentina. This final has hit hard, sucks. I really hope they change coach after Olympics, I wish even before.

  2. can’t this be true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzr8IJSsgc0 ? the way we keep loosing is strange, from the tactical point of view, players selection, missing chances.. it seems that the NT is under a curse and people in argentina must look seriously about extra sportive stuff,argentina better prays… it is beyond understanding, i have never seen something like this before…

  3. You know what the wonderful thing about Argentine football is the seemingly never ending tidal waves of talent *knocks on wood*. So much so that if lio does indeed carry through with his decision (he won’t! I guarantee all of you that he will be back for Russia) then it’s not the end of the world.

    Just look at the up and coming talent:

    Banega wants to go? No prob cos paredes is a very similar type of player who can take his place.
    Biglia wants to go? good riddance cos Ascacibar is far superior IMO
    Mascherano wants to retire? I won’t lie I would be sad to see him go but Kranevitter is more than ready to take his place.
    kun, pipita and dimaria should all leave whether they want to or not and Dybala, Icardi and correa are more than capable of filling in their shoes respectively.
    And lets not forget that there is lamela, lanzini, cartabia and perotti who are all NT material in my book and all deserve a chance, especially the latter 3 since they haven’t had that chance yet.
    Also I can’t wait for the olympics because I want to see Gomez and possibly celso and calleri in action on a bigger stage than Argentina and brazil’s leagues. Calleri has been killing it at the copa lib (coached by Bauza!) and he might be an even bigger talent than Icardi (still too soon to tell though).

    At the end of the day Argentina doesn’t have Brazil’s problem, namely the lack of talent, which is something that cannot be solved in a day but rather the big question is the mess with the AFA and whether a competent coach can be found in such a delicate time and for such a delicate situation.

    • Very true. Our current youngsters are not as popular as before because didn’t win U-20 WC. This is a big diference but I think that Pekerman was crucial difference.

      • Pekerman did not get the honour he deserved…
        .
        Still AFA can try to bring Hugo Tocalli for the youth teams so that we can build our future NT.

  4. That generation of players and coaches managed to succeed at making Chile a winning team… Seriously, Lionel and co., for the good of everyone, please retire. Losing twice against Chile is unforgivable as far as i’m concerned.

    • Hi MSI2,
      I can feel your frustration but I don’t agree Messi retiring will help our cause. However if Messi is hell bent that he is going to take choker Higuain and glass Aguero to another tournament then it is best he takes retirement. I will wish him best of luck for his future.

    • I remembered last time when I commented about the team must be completely replaced by new players (like Passarella did in 1994), you mocked me.

      Now you can see the result. 🙂

  5. The simple truth of Messi’s effectiveness will come to the fore in 2018. And that’s his new midfield role. He will occupy a number 10-8 cum 6 role. Very old fashioned with glimpses of fast dribbles.

    He will be the link between the strikers and his midfield.

    It’s not a question of if it is the question of when Dybala and Messi will play together.

    Mark my words that will be devastating to watch.
    An experienced world class midfielder and the kid in the limelight in 2018. The fact that Dybala, Correa will take the limelight off of Messi, folks will say by then that ‘messi is the greatest of all time but he ain’t the best here in russia at present’
    That will suit messi to a T

  6. The positives – Making 3 finals in a row which is a great achievement; The negatives – Obviously losing 3 finals in a row but if we dissect this, the 3 losses have come from bad coaching, plain & simple. Tata is an idiot because he has not learnt from his mistakes.

    The hate on Higuain is unfair. I’m as frustrated as anyone here because his misses have cost us winning at least 2 of the 3 finals. But Higuain gives you 110% every time. See the problem with Hig is he is purely instinctive. If he has time to think about a goal opportunity (like the open goal in the final), he completely stuffs it up. If he doesn’t have time to think, then he scores.

    As much as each final loss hurts, I really hope this one is the catalyst for change – change in AFA, change in coach, change in squad etc

    I’ll take 3 final losses for a World Cup win in 2018 🙂 hopefully!!!

    Vamos Argentina!!!!!

  7. I understand the huge disappointing result as I have already posted about that but a fan never gives up or surrenders.

    Maybe this will weed-out all the nonsense that started before the last copa and continues til this day.

  8. This was the most disappointed Argentina lost I have seen in a long time. From the 2004 Copa to the 2016 Copa, nothing changes, it’s the same weak minded mentally we get from the Argentina national team in every tournament.

    Against Chile, all Argentina needed to do was to score because Chile was never going to score against Argentina. Chile had ZERO shot on our goal in the first half, Otamendi kept Alexis Sanchez in check for the entire game. That Higuaín miss was just hard to digest, from that moment you knew we are back at square one once again. The funny thing is, it’s not like Higuaín was coming into the final in bad form, he started scoring all his goals in the knockout stage, two goals a game, which was good timing heading into a final, but unfortunately, Higuaín like always has no guts when it comes to scoring goals in a final. Higuaín was in the exact same one v one situation against Bravo like what he had against Venezuela in the quarter final game. I mean, he kept his nerves and score in the one v one situation against Venezuela yet fail miserable to deliver the same outcome in the final against Chile. This is pathetic man, Bravo committed himself to the ground which gave Higuaín plenty of option to score rather than trying a training ground chip which was never on.

    1. There was no need for the chip shot, all Higuain needed to do was pull the ball around Bravo left side when he went down then shot at goal or he could have earned Argentina a pk in the same play by letting Bravo dive into his legs.

    2. Higuaín had a second option of doing a fake left foot step over which would’ve put Bravo off balance because he (Bravo) was already committed on going down on his left side. That fake left foot step over would have make Bravo think twice of going down so early to his left, he would have been in two minds on which of his goal side Higuain was about to shoot from. If Argentina had a player like Ronaldo de Lima in that same one v one situation the outcome would have been an effortless goal.

    This was Argentina chance to be call champions, winning Copa would have release all the burden on the current national team. Winning give you confidence, this means; the team will pass the ball with more confidence, shoot at goal with more confidence, and play as a team with more confidence. Also, winning would’ve make life easier for the new players coming into the team, their confidence level of playing for a championship Argentina winning team would go through the roof. Now any new player coming into the Argentina national team faces the same problems like all the other players before them, ‘’20 plus years without winning a senior title,’’ as you can see, this is not easily shaken off, the players are choking every time they go into a final. This was the best moment to end the ‘’20 plus year’’ jinx. Even if Argentina play Tahiti in an opening game at the world cup, the first words you will hear are ‘’20 plus year without a senior title.’’ This burden makes Argentina games even tougher than they should especially in tournaments.

    This Biglia guy shouldn’t be playing for Argentina. The moment Augusto got hurt and was replace by Biglia the whole shape of the team changes. Argentina scored in every game with Augusto-Banega-Mashce, and then the one time Biglia start the team fail to score. All Biglia does is jog on the pitch, he can’t run, he can’t pass in close areas on the pitch, and his link up play with Messi is the worst of all our midfield players. Augusto is everywhere; he is midfield, he is on the wings, and makes forward runs which always create an outlet for the attacking players around him Like Messi, Higs, Banega and the wing players. You don’t get this with Biglia, the guy can’t move, even an old lady move faster than Biglia on a football pitch. Tata should have gone with his conscience and go with Guido PIZZARRO instead of waiting on an injury Biglia which was not worth it. Guido PIZZARRO would be Augusto Fernandez like for like substitute, Pizzaro is even more technical with the ball than Augusto.

    And why was Pastore on the team? Tata selected a player whom he knew was never going to kick a football all tournament. Why take that risk when there are plenty of other players who could have replace Pastore without the drop in quality? Biglia and Pastore spot on the team cost us the Copa America. Dybala, Pizzarro and Garay should have been on the Copa squad especially with two of the three players being pk expert.

    It’s clear Di Maria wasn’t fit, why Tata start him is a mystery. Why Tata sub Banega instead of his favorite Biglia is another mystery. All of Tata poor decision came back to bite him in the final. Tata on a coaches

    prospective was doing fine at Copa, I don’t care what anyone says here, he was doing a good job until the final. What came back to haunt Tata and Argentina in the final was not his so call ‘’tactical decisions’’ on the pitch. What cost Argentina in the end was leaving out Dybala and Pizarro for two unfit players in Pastore and Biglia. The team was playing at a disadvantage for the entire tournament with Pastore and Biglia on the team. The risk was not worth keeping Biglia (who can’t score a pk for a senior player of his statue at both club and international level) and Pastore who was vacationing all this time at the Copa America. This is what I fault Tata for, he made the same mistakes as all the other coaches before him going back to the 2002 world cup. The team overall tactics was good at Copa America, what doom us was a few dumb player selections. People saying Argentina did not create many chances in the final; well, nothing is a given, irrespective of having the best attackers in world football. Sometimes you just need to take your one chance, Higuaín had that chance and blew it. Iniesta took his chance to score and won Spain a world cup. Mario Gotze the same thing for Germany. All Argentina needed to do was just score one goal, they did not need to create a million chance, we had a great chance and the team flunk it big time. ONE GOAL, THAT’S ALL WE NEEDED. And this Aguero guy kick the ball as if he was playing American football, this dude has one of the best goal ratio in the history of the EPL could not keep on a shot on target from inside the Chilean goal area.

    Onto the penalties which I did not even watch. Ok, Messi missed his pk, this was the time for the other guys to step up and keep Argentina in the shootout. Biglia is Lazio main pk taker yet he has now miss back to back pks in a final. You’re telling me that Biglia wasn’t practicing pks in training for this whole time? Just like how a goalkeeper study pk shooters, the kickers also study the goalkeepers, it seems like none of our player’s bother to do this except for Romero. You had a final in 2015, all these guys needed to do was to watch the tapes and see what’s Bravo strength and weaknesses instead of going into the shootout with a defeatist mentality. This is nothing new with Argentina, we had this same problem going all the way to the 2004 Copa America shootout. Up to this day, Heinze horrible pk miss is still in my head. So this is why I never watch Argentina take pk shootout since that time.

    I love Masherano and he is one of my favorite players of all time, but he like all the current other Argentina players have a weak mentality in tough situations. After Messi missed is pk, Mascherano should have had the guts to step up as one of the most experience players in world football and put away his spot kick but instead we got a timid Biglia who breaks down before he even kicks the ball. Messi missing wasn’t the end of the world given the two teams were basically still even. The players are too easily caved when they play for Argentina. Just look at how teams like Poland and Switzerland take pks with confidence, why our players can’t do the same?

    Argentina have now lost three senior major finals in a row on the Americas continent. This tell me that the chances of Argentina winning in Russia is at 15% at most. No way Argentina is winning in Russia of all places. Just look at the mentality losing teams like Poland and Switzerland showed at the Euros, if Argentina had half the mentality and GUTS of these smaller European football nation they would have won the Copa with their eyes close. We can have all the best players in the world but as long as ‘’20 plus years without a trophy’’ rest on the player’s shoulders both new and old, the drought will forever continue. I wasn’t going to comment, but this is my last and final comment with regards to football. I DONE with Argentina and football altogether. Chile have now won two trophies in two years, and if they play the European champions (as is rumored), it will be a one off tournament like the European Super Cup. So Chile will have the opportunity to win three major trophies in two years while Argentina haven’t won any in 20 plus years and counting. Sorry, I’m done with this, I’m officially retire from taking football passionately again. I’ll stick to my track and field. Supporting Argentina is not worth it nowadays, and the new players coming up gives me no confidence. The Olympics will relax and take my mind off everything that has to do with football especially the track events.

    Greets and God bless!

  9. 1. We will have to leave him alone.
    2. Let him enjoy his vacation and think what to do.
    3. Russia is the last chance. He has to demand what he wants. Coach for example.
    4. Build a team. Not one man and 10 others. He has to play in a team.

    I have literally seen every game of Messi, both for Barcelona and for Argentina. This is what I see and have to say

    1. He works harder for the NT compared to Barcelona.
    2. He has come out open too frequently and strongly saying he “only” wants to win with the NT. He has said this so shamelessly so many times that any club or club team members can think he is not giving his 100% for the club and saving himself for NT.
    3. I do personally think he has not given 100% always for Barcelona to be ready for Argentina in since 2012.

    You cannot question the commitment of this guy. He went to play in India and Bangladesh and other far off countries to represent the nation. Its just his bad luck and Gonzalo Higuain. People forget that Maradona took Argentina to the final of 86, but did not score any goal. Had an ordinary game compared to his other games, the Germans shut him down. The team still scored 3 goals. 3 goals in one final my friends, without Maradona scoring. Here we cannot score 1 goal in 3 finals.

  10. At first Tata have to go. This guy just disgusted the NT football. He didn’t learn from sabella’s mistake. He just took a branch of injured players in which some were totally out of match fitness and some were getting match fitness. You may take risk for player like messi but pastore,no? Time for call of a European coach. Argentine coach are just dickhead but nothing else. Please don’t give me Simeone, he is definitely a fighter but not winner. (lost 2 UCL final)

  11. He will be back… but hope he doesn’t bring his so called friends called Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain etc.
    .
    We want only Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano for 2018 World Cup along with the next generation…

  13. he shouldn’t be back to play under tata… and when he is back he has to convince our lion masch to be back for one last time…

    • Tata doesn’t know how to use Messi effectively. You can tell from his body language that he is not comfortable with NT system but he just comply for the sake of unity. We all know that he needs 2 strikers to draw defenders to make space for his defense piercing runs but Tata after more than 2 years in charge, still hasn’t figure it out.

      So yes I don’t to see him and all other excellent we have players to be wasted by Tata anymore. I hope he does some real soul searching and comes up with some terms & conditions for AFA in order for him to return.

      • exactly tata is clueless, 2 strikers are needed and that creates space. we have played 1 striker for to long an its very obvious that all this does is isolate the striker and few chances get created.
        your number 9 should not be coming back to the half way line to get the ball.

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