Argentina in World Cup trouble after Peru draw

By
Roy Nemer
-
256
Lionel Messi Argentina Peru
Photo courtesy of Twitter

For a third consecutive match, it’s another draw and Argentina are in trouble.

No Mauro ICARDI, no Paulo DYBALA, no Sergio AGUERO as it was Dario BENEDETTO up front with Lionel MESSI. The talk of La Bombonera hosting the match took center stage and while the atmosphere was there and the fans were (for the most part) into it, the goals still lacked.

Argentina created several chances, most of which came through Lionel MESSI. The number 10 set up BENENEDETTO (after the former received a pass from his Barcelona team mate Javier MASCHERANO) right before half time but the Boca man’s header went over the bar. Seconds into the second half, MASCHERANO knifed a ball in to MESSI who found BENEDETTO but his shoved was saved by the goalkeeper. MESSI pounced on the rebound but the ball hit the post.

Second half brought more mysery. After RIGONI came in for Angel DI MARIA at half time, Fernando GAGO was substituted on for Ever BANEGA. GAGO has to be up there as the most unluckiest of players when it comes to injuries because minutes after coming on, Fernando was substituted off due to injury. The ultimate substitute was Enzo PEREZ coming on for him.

The team huffed and puffed but no goals. Peru had their first chance and it was a dangerous one in the 91st minute as they had a free kick which was saved by Sergio ROMERO, who had nothing to do all match.

The current table leaves Argentina in 6th place, outside of a playoff spot. Here’s the table:

CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers
The current CONMEBOL South American World Cup Qualifiers (Photo via Bleacher Report)

Here are the possible scenarios for Argentina, heading into their final World Cup Qualifier against Ecuador on Tuesday if they want to qualify:

An Argentina win against Ecuador would automatically guarantee them at the very least a playoff spot.
An Argentina draw would mean Paraguar would have to lose and there would have to be a winner between Peru and Colombia.
An Argentina loss would mean Peru has to lose by at least 2 goals and Paraguay would have to lose.

Those are the three scenarios. Should Argentina win, they guarantee at least a playoff match against New Zealand in November. Here are the matches for Tuesday:

CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers
Matches for Round 18 of CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers (Photo via Data Factory).

It’s now do or die for Jorge SAMPAOLI and Argentina.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

256 Comments

  3. And on another note, I think it was a mistake to have them travel 2 days before to Ecuador, The altitude might not be as high as Bolivia, but it is up there. I would’ve gone immediately after the Peru match and have them get use to the altitude like Bielsa use to do. It’s not a walk in the park to play in high altitude.

  4. I’m a little late to comment, due to still hurting and in disbelief about the last match. Still feel like it’s a nightmare.i had high hopes for this team and coach, and it’s all starting to crumble down on me. I don’t see a WC without Messi and or Argentina out, it’s a definite shocker.
    To think Ecuador is already out the door, like every team in South America I know their goal is to keep Argentina from qualifying even if they are out already. Personally I don’t see Brazil beating chile, I see them handing it to chile purposely along with Ecuador playing hard. It’s really unfortunate due to the fact of what Messi is and what he has done for the last 10-12 years for the soccer world. Truly the only one that deserves the World Cup. Everyone sits here and blames Messi for not performing like he does at Barca, but in reality we don’t have the same players/style Barca has and unfortunately no one to connect with Messi like Barca has, we honestly can’t ask for more frm the guy.. I’m s firm believer that the South Americans teams have taken a huge step forward and correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe South American teams are stronger then most European teams nowadays.
    Masche was a shocker to me, the guy played his freakin hard out and was the man of the match IMO.
    I don’t like the fact that Sampa continues to routate the players, and personally maybe Di Maria should be benched for now. Most of Argentina wanted Benedetto to start, but the few chances he had he didnt do shit. 2 clear goals that should ended hitting the back of the net. Once Gago got injured, I would’ve put dybala in instead of Enzo even if he did say it’s difficult to play alongside him cus they both play the same position. At least dybala has the power to kick from out side the box.
    At this point I really think it’s psychological with the whole team. How do we go from losing 3 finals especially a WC final (which lets be honest most of us didn’t even think we’d make it to the final, and we did) to now possibly missing the next WC?!? I cannot except this.
    At this point I really pray for some kind of miracle for Tuesday, if thy don’t score in the first 20 min of the match, I see the same thing happening like it do in the last 3 matches. Like we say in Spanish, “se apagan todos”.
    As mean as it sounds, i hope Ecuador doesn’t care at this point, and Neymar scores for Brazil to help his “friend” out.
    This honestly has to be the craziest WC qualifier I’ve seen in years, seems like most of the teams are all right there and have the same points. Every match matters at this point.
    I agree with everyone asking for paredes to be put in, really? If the guy was as great as they think he is for one he wouldn’t be playing in Russia (no offense) and 2 he wouldn’t have been sold/transferred so many times. Same with Rigoni, too soon for these guys to be put in especially with the pressure that they have to qualify. Mentally it can destroy u.
    I just think Argentina needs to grab their freakin balls get in there and do what they do best kick fuckin ass!!!!

  5. Is Icardi’s injury confirmed!! or just hearsay? I don’t know what was said exactly for or by Dybala if any but I know the chemistry is lacking between him and Messi or at least they both occupy the same space!

    There is still time before the game and nothing is really etched in stone yet.

  7. Polish striker Lewandowski scored just as many goals in ten qualification matches than our entire team in 17 matches.

    20 years from now people will still wonder about our stats.

  8. Good bye Argentina with that line up.
    This will be one of those decisions that will take a few days after before it blows up. After we fail to qualify, everybody will want Sampaolis head for starting that lineup. Let’s try the exact same thing pretty much that has led to 0 goals.
    Let me bench Dybala and Icardi and play Mr sideways pass Biglia so we can get another draw.

    • San Isidro, going by past/current Argentina press hot & cold behavior towards the national team, Sampaoli will be out the door if Argentina doesn’t qualify for Russia. Even if the AFA doesn’t come out and terminate Sampaoli, he will leave the job on his own because of the backlash that will be coming his way from the media and the people in Argentina. Sampaoli is gone if Argentina doesn’t qualify!! I’m calling it now; Roman Diaz will be given the nod to rebuild the Argentina national team if all goes sour on Tuesday.

      • Kid
        You are 100 percent correct on Sampa. He will leave as there is nothing to play for. Who knows who will take over though. The entire AFA is screwed up. The U17 U19 U21 did not qualify either for their World Cup if I am correct../that is a big indicator of problems as well.

  9. what makes me more angry is that Bauza who is partly responsible for our current misery , will be there in russia 2018 with Saudi Arabia national team.

    • As ineffective as Buaza was as a coach, his Argentina team scored three goals against Colombia, two goals against Venezuela, two goals against Peru, one goal against Uruguay, and one goal against Chile. We’re still waiting for Sampaoli Argentina team to score goals. I was optimistic about Sampaoli, but what worried me the most about him was that Sampaoli teams in the past struggle to score goals. Chile wasn’t a high scoring team under Sampaoli, lots of possession with high pressing but few goals. The same at Sevilla, in the second half of Sampaoli La Liga campaign, Sevilla struggled to score goals while going out of the UCL to Leicester City of all teams.

        • add to it the goals that messi scored, that is the problem if messi does not score we super struggle and we have having absolute shite luck in-front of the goal, from brilliant saves, to defenders just getting their foot in the way(like the messi open goal that just came off the defenders foot onto the post) or quite simply dreadful shots.
          the mids are also but not until the 2nd half of the peru game, are finally taking long range shots but this is a 1st for a long time.

      • That is right all those goals were scored in Bauza era, but the team was very boring and our midfielders couldn’t string two passes at all. When Sampa was appointed we already were in trouble and he did his best to restore the team’s quality but sometimes things go to the wrong direction. I still believe Sampa is the right man and already the team have chemistry and the goals are on their way. We will see some of them in our game vs Ecuador. Keep supporting and never lose faith guys! Vamos Argentina!!

  10. They say what doesn’t kill you make you stronger. All these tough times the team is going through it will make the team even stronger once we qualify.

  12. I do not think that Sampaoli will change the formation specially the defense line,
    hey may replace Banega, dimaria and benniditto only. and why not putting dybala as a striker so Messi and Dybala can exchange their positions during the courses of the match. and the use of wingers who can defense against the skillful Ecuadorian wingers would be more efficient defensively and offensively.

    regarding the midfield, Biglia and Enzo are the best solution we have for such a battle like this.

    decisivenes in front of the goal is the key we missed at the previous matches, consequently the coach must start with the two players who have the ability, skill, capability on the ball to create the chances, to disperse any possible defensive mass and to end the ball properly inside the net.

    Romero

    Mercado Otamendi Mascherano Acuna

    Biglia Enzo

    Salvio Messi/Dybala Papu

    Dybala/Messi

  13. MMH: The problem is not Banega, he played solid against Peru making some nice passes and link up play going forward. Maybe you guys are asking for way too much of our midfielders to do things never seen before in Argentinean football in the last 20 years. If Argentina created 22 goal scoring chance against Peru they should score at least one of them. All Argentina needed to score was one goal against Peru, not five or ten goals, but one goal! Why is it so hard for this team to score goals at home? The whole Paredes argument is flawed; you guys are only assuming things judging by what you see from him in the Russian league. Do you really think if Paredes was as great as you and many others here believe he would be in Russia playing right now? Peru national team play at a level higher than anything you will see in the Russian league. Now, I’m not saying Perades should never get a shot at playing, what annoys me is the way how people are presenting this guy as some super hero who is going to save Argentina. Ok, let’s say Paredes start against Peru, what now? Argentina already created 22 chances during the game against Peru, how would Paredes inclusion change the fact that Beneditto (had two great chance), Gomez and Messi (his chance was deflected by the Peruvian defender) all miss what should have been a goal?

    You guys asked for Gomez inclusion and nothing happen, his Atlanta form never benefited Argentina in the game against Peru. I’m not saying Gomez played bad against Peru, it’s just the standard you guys set for the players are ridiculous. Note: I do like Gomez, but he like many other Argentina players before him was put in a pressure cooker situation in a game where the margin of error was ZERO.

    Banega should’ve never been the one that got substituted against Peru. Biglia should have come off the pitch given how static he looked during the game. This is Biglia problem, if he passes the ball in midfield to Messi/Banega or Di Maria/Acuna on the wings, instead of him making a run forward and pulling at least one of the opponent with him, he (Biglia) tend to just sit in midfield and watch the play. unlike Biglia presence on the pitch Banega always try to move the ball forward in a positive manner. So taking Banega out of the game was a bad move by Sabella while leaving the yellow carded Biglia on the pitch who was one card away from a second yellow.

    The Gago substitution was calculated and poor, it seems like Sampaoli already told Gago before the game that he will get sub on for Banega at a certain point in the second half. Where did we see something like this again? At the world cup final, Sabella making a bad substitution by taking off Lavezzi and bringing on Aguero for no reason, but that was the plan before the game, no matter how Lavezzi was playing, Aguero would come on for him the second half. So much for the Gago return party, football should never be dictate by emotions. If Sampaoli had sub on Dybala or Icardi for Banega that would have made better sense because the team needed a goal. Gago wasn’t going to do anything different than Banega at the time he came on during the game, so what was the point of his substitution? It was the same against Venezuela, Argentina needed a goal yet Pastore came on instead of Aguero. Again, Pastore must have been promise some minutes before the start of the game against Venezuela.

    Sergio Batista

    ‘’For years we have been hitting the selection against the walls for the desperation to win”.

    In an interview with Clarín, he added: “If you have your factory disorganized, the employees are going to work badly. There are players who have been in the national team for ten years and already had seven coaches. If you change the chip to the player every five games, as happened in this Eliminatory, it affects the performance of the team. With Martino you play in one way, with Bauza, in another. Sampaoli arrives, it’s completely different and there is no time to work. ”

    I totally AGREE with this 100 PERCENT because this is everything I have been saying for years with regarding to the Argentina national team. Argentina always play as if they’re in a desperate situation, it’s always a constant panic and the throw everything at the wall and see what sticks approach. Now Mundo favorite is Paredes, let’s throw him at the wall and hope he sticks.

    • I am sorry brother, I strongly disagree on Banega. He is slow, he lacks stamina and mobility, he looses pocession every other play, both Biglia and Mascherano as defensive duty players had better through balls to the front line and controlled the tempo. Banega was a ghost playing like it didnt matter. Every news commentary I have seen agrees he was our worst performer, and he is supposed to be our creative axis!

      he is a good sub nothing more. from what I read this morning Sampoali is already planning to put Paredes instead, which I agree.

      Also supposedly, Dybala for Dimaria on right flank, which I also think is best. Dimaria is turning into another underperformer.

      • We had two tournaments with Biglia and Mascherano in midfield and the Argentina team barely score goals. Fast forward to the Copa Centario 2016 with Banega- Masche-Augusto in midfield where you had Argentina scoring goals at a 2.7 goal ratio per game until the final, and guess what? That was the only game Biglia started during the tournament and Argentina couldn’t score a goal in over 120 minutes.

        Biglia is just an overrated player who need to be toss from the team. Look at Sevilla right now compare to AC Milan? Look how Banega single handily transform the game for Sevilla against Malaga last weekend when he came on. How many finals are we going to watch Biglia on the losing side? He lost every single final with Lazio and Argentina. Biglia is as average as they come.

        In Xavi recent interview on Argentina, which Argentina midfield players did he mention? Mascherano and Banega!! I’ll take Xavi word over yours or any of those Argentina reporters/journalist who are nothing but a bunch of hyenas.

        • All i am saying the Banega Xavi refereed ain’t existing or performing. No arguments he is talented but we need someone perform right now

          • MMH Before the Peru game, you said Mascherano was the one that worried you the most in the lineup. Well, it turned out Mascherano was head and shoulder above everyone else on the pitch.

        • I agree with you on this. Biglia shouldn’t be in the starting eleven. I dont know how every one prefers him. He doesn’t move the ball fast. Against parked buses every time he receives the ball he allows the defense to get organized by taking two or three touches before passing the ball.

          Dimaria and Biglia shouldn’t start. Papu should be given another chance, he was decent if not terrific. Atleast he performed better than Dimaria for now.

    • Naaah man. Banega is one of my favourite player but i am not over criticising him. I think all of the guys will agree with me. For whatever reason he isn’t performing his potential. I understand you saying Russian league is crap but you can’t ignore the talent. I don’t know if i watch the same but i didn’t see anything good came out from Banega. He could do better than that. Gago would add more quick and mobility in the game. I don’t know if you saw even 3-4 minutes he was passing and moving around quicker. Yes he was making forward run but sometimes he was late to pick the ball from midfield and looking for killer pass. I think only you who didn’t saw our double 5 isn’t working as it supposed to work. No i am not talking with emotions or favour any players but Banega performance was bellow average in last game. We don’t have any good midfielder aswell in this place but if this thing happen as it was with before than we are in serious trouble. Like i said before Peru game even started that our midfield will be dull. Something has to change

  14. Once again Biglia is in the possible line-up. Why Biglia all the time? Sampa has introduced many players in different positions but it seems he isn’t ready to give Paredes even a little chance to show him how he is superior to Biglia. There is no excuse for Sampa to give Biglia the lineup spot ahead of Paredes. Peredes has everything Biglia has and more, so what is the point of having such an amazing player on the bench all the time? I have been following Paredes for almost two seasons and he is one of those players when I see I say this guy is the real deal. He is an amazing footballer in every sense of the word. VAMOS ARGENTINA!!!

    • Biglia is and was excellent in my opinion. judge him for what he is, a smart one-touch defensive midfielder with excellent positioning and discipline. He is also capable of long through balls and outside shots.. he keeps things safe, clean, simple on offence, he is always in space to receive a backpass and defensively, while slow, he is a hardworking pitbul.

      people expect him to be a dribbling, assisting wonder box to box player akin to a cambiasso, he is not.

      he also has a ton of heart, grit and keeps cool under pressure.

      the main issue with Biglia is that coaches keep surrounding him with other slow and defensive midfielders (pizarro, banega, masch).. double 5’s. what Biglia needs is a fast and more offensive counter part, aka Paredes.

      Biglia is tactically one of our smartest players.

      Banega on the other hand.. most overhyped player in the NT since Tevez.

      • It is true that he is a good pssser, but is that enough to give him the lineup spot? I think it isn’t enough. Bigia can’t move the ball forward and that is a very big problem for us. I am not saying we want him to be a dribbler like Modric or Verrati, No No that is not what I am expecting from him. Look at France’s midfielders for instance, they all can distribute the ball well and can take part in attack. When the team’s midfielders go forward aggressively the opponent will have a hard time to keep their net clean. Biglia is slow but that isn’t his biggest issue in my opiinion. Paredes can distrubute the ball better than Biglia and his shot accuracy is way better than Biglia’s.

      • Like or dislike Paredes I don’t think Sampaoli risks anything by taking Paredes instead Biglia. To be honest, both are not fast players, Paredes is not kind of physical, running and fighting midfielder (I’m not mean his physical conditions) and do not perfect in defence but I don’t see risk here. Suppose, Ecuador will score but if game will be open we are obliged to score more if deserving for WC. We should throw all our offensive potentiall (Paredes is potentially much more usefull in attack than Biglia) to have atleast peace of mind we tried all options. Ecuador is not that specialized on parking bus team like Peru or few others nations in South America. I’m far to see in Paredes our savior but he might be any alternative for Messi’s playmaking monopoly unless he will become another Messi’s attendant by providing him by 5m distances passes.

      • You are spot on. I could kill for player like Cambiasso now. Plus about Biglia? He was given anchor role to play. He did what was he asked to be honest. Plus that guy is proper destroyer for us since Masche ain’t playing as DM anymore. Look at moment how he grabs Gago and asked him to get up and play as he thought injury was minor! I have no complain over him as he playing what was he asked too. I am little bit disappointed with Banega is because he is second playmaker after Messi amd he is underperformed in last game. You can’t compare Biglia with Banega (Refereing to Kid example). Biglia has one of the highest tackling rate in Europe so he is proper tackler and DM. He doesn’t offer us much attack because he is simply a DM. It is depend on us what our coach willing to play. We might see change later but not next game though because I feel like Sampaoli will start with Biglia again. Maybe Enzo or Paredes will Replace Banega. I do not mind Banega to start but i want him to Perform and distribute the ball and giving pass he used to do before.

      • leandro: i agree and well written and im am a ban fan but he is just not able to produce quality of a regular basis and for me he has to go.
        im not the biggest bil fan but you are correct and he does exactly what is asked from him, its players like ban who are supposed to be creating “the magic” and they are not.

  15. Sometimes I feel sad for Messi. He may be only once in a generation of player who might end his NT career without World Cup.

    If Argentina can play as a team around Messi then Messi is the solution else unfortunately Messi is the problem in many areas even though Messi is not even relevant.

    – Coaches always want the team to play around Messi just to make their job easier, so for opponents it’s like Stop Messi, stop Argentina.
    – Others hesitate to take their responsibility or feel shy to take the responsibility when Messi is around.

    For Messi, he should forget his love over his friends (if at all there are any) reason why Di maria, Banega, Kun, Bigila etc always in the team.

    In Barcelona kids like Danis Suarez, Sergi Roberto never hesitate to take their charge when Messi is around whereas in Argentina bunch of superstars are looking for Messi magic. I am honestly surprised with such attitude if our players. If Messi gets support with the kind of talent we have we would have World Champion by now.

    2 guys always give me bad feelings…

    (1) Di Maria – as I know he will either play bad or will be out injured.
    (2) Lucas Bigila – whenever I see him I think what the difference he can make… no energy, no passing ability but occupied the most important position of the team, the central midfield position

    Having said that midfield is the biggest worry for Argentina. Slow and pathetic. Lucas Bigila, the Argentine Xavi, integral part of the team for the last 4/5 years. Killing the midfield fluidity..Whenever he receives the ball take 4/5 touches always.. then make sideways passes. Simply because he is not capable enough to penetrate any defense. He is only useful when we are defending but no way a starter material.. but he is playing matches after matches without any significant contribution. Ever Banega once considered as one of the finest midfielder in his position…during 2008-11 when he used to play for Velencia. Big clubs like Barcelona, M.United, Real Madrid, Inter (that time was superb) were behind him but all our coaches ignored him but now he is getting called when he is shadow of himself.

    All I hope to qualify by any means and may be after WCQs Sampoli think about completely new midfield.

  16. Any update from the recent training? Is Antonio Valencia out against their clash with Argentina on Tuesday?

  17. Do you know what is the mentality of a champion? They never accepts a defeat even if win looks impossible, they try until the end and eventually win.

    A Cricket fan could confirm how many times we have seen team Australia of last decade to win from an unwinnable situation. When West Indies cricket team was great…Once they we were all out with just 125 runs in the scorecard, then Malcom Marshall said that we went to the dressing room, talked a bit and then decided to win the match and they won that match.

    I have seen this Argentina team to turn bad moments around…remember we were loosing under Sabella?Then a miracle happened in Colombia… Remember Tata’s bad start in WCQ? Then against Brazil we had a good performance and from that match we went to win consecutive matches.

    Let’s beat Ecuador.

    • Well said. Never back down. Team didn’t playing bad atall. It just bad luck goal ain’t coming. We are bad situation and it got worse. According to Ole there will be rain and storm before the game. One by one everything going against our way

    • mafiose: im with you on this and ive written and said it many times and
      ill never give up and nor should the players and correct.
      also add the 1st 3 matches in the w/c we are awful and were very lucky it was not a total disaster but they did not give up, the rest we know after that.
      Vamos Argentina

  18. About last match I said we still can draw , despite their absent players, someone said to me he wants to see my reaction after the win. It did not happen.

    But Argentina did better than my expectation. Really they did…attacking play was good. During the time of Bauza, I have never seen such link up play…look at midfield to messi, messi to beneditto or Messi to Gomez. Beneditto had 3 clear cut chances, Gomez had one, Messi had one…There was one incident when Messi dribbled past everyone in left wing, only nobody could catch the pass.It was unfortunate we could not score a single goal.

    Winning in Quito is difficult but 3 teams won in this campaign. They are in bad shape. Their main and only strength is Monterro and Valecia in both wings. I have watched all previous Ecuador – argentina matches, Argentina suffered due to those two players. Their defence is shaky and their goalkeeper is shaky…

    And most importantly I have never seen Ecuador playing with 10 man in defence. They always attack, from the flanks and there are two strong but average strikers waiting for their chances.

    Even with just 3 defenders Argentina did well defensively, did not they? I mean 3-3-1-3/ 3-5-2 or any 3 man defence formation is actually played with 5 defenders , 3 CB and 2 wingbacks. We had 3 defenders , Peru had no chance until that freekick.

    Things to improve:

    1. There must be a goal scoring threat from midfield.
    2. Chances created must be taken.

    Yes it is difficult to win against Ecuador in their home. It was also difficult to win against Uruguay 2009. In that match Higuain had a debut, bolatti scored while there was a crowd of Uruguayan and Argentinian players in front of him.

    One such goal and no goal conceded , we are out of danger.

  19. I don’t think Casco would start, Would come in as a sub if we are to take the lead (Hmm Hmm). It is almost certain that both Perez, and Salvio would start.
    The reason Casco came into the picture is because Sampaoli and co. realised how Ecudorians, tore us apart from both flanks when they beat us at home in the opening qualifying fixture (Those first day dropped 3 points have come back to haunt us, and what an irony now Ecuador have the final nail in their hands to put in our coffin). More importantly, unlike against Peru, and Venezuela, Sampaoli has his hands full in their fast and brilliant forwards Caicedo and Valencia, who have 7 and 5 goals each in these qualifiers.
    Perez would replace Benega and Salvio would replace Papu Gomez (Strange Since Salvio has been either a right winger or forward). If you are guessing, why this pair. It is the fruit child of the Sampaoli think-tank. They realised both these guys had worked successfully together at Benfica and hence they feel the chemistry would help.
    It’s not over, these guys are going nuts, and probably running out of ideas, becos, there are rumours, that they are thinking about replacing injured Icardi with Hernan Barcos!. Yes, u read that right, Barcos. Why? He has played at altitude in the Ecuadorian League, he is also a fan favourite at Quito, where the match will take place.
    Wow, don’t know how true is that news, but, Sampoali is nervous wreck. I don’t think too uch thinking is gonna be of any help. All we need from Sampoali right now, is Ancelotti style Calmness.

    • I don’t like the idea of putting Salvio on the left flank and it’s obvious he can’t perform well in that position. I think it is better to be used Papu in that position and his performance vs Peru wasn’t that bad. Salvio and Perez didn’t play with each other for at least four years, so their chemistry is OVER. Since Ecuador game is very vital Sampa must use every player in his natual position to get the best out of them.

      • Salvio will play in right flank the place where he plays, Di maria in left flank …I am concerned about Benedetto..Icardi should be there for Benedetto..If Icardi was injured why he was called and why he is not replaced..we have so many promising no 9’s in Europe..God Forbid we go through this Tuesday..Sampaoli needs to learn from these team selections

  20. Rumour has Casco might start as LB and Acuna in place of Papu. Personally i think it is good move. We need pacy players to cope with Ecuador pace and neutralise them and aswell attack them too. I won’t lie Acuna did impress me in last two games. I hope he does cross and hustle same way as he does normally. Comparing how clumsy Ecuador defence are he might gets some assist. Ecuador most likely start some new faces in their defence. I hope the height factor doesn’t scare our players before even the match start. Since Banega is non-existing so far it won’t harm much if Paredes start in his place. I don’t think he will do much worse than Banega. We cannot attack all the game than we will be dead in 45 minutes,Sampaoli knows that already. Paredes could do some deep play-making and some crisp passing. Sampaoli thinking apparently replacing Banega with Paredes too. I still believe he should have started in game against Peru. For 4-2-3-1 he is perfect for ball distribution at the moment in our Squad. Banega failed big time so far. Anyway don’t care who start,all i care a WIN.

  21. Pablo, great to hear from you as well amigo. It would be wonderful to meet eachother one day and chunt together for our beloved team!

    All the best amigo!

    • That’s so true. The fact that we’ve been terribly unlucky for the past few matches will just make our subsequent and last match’s victory even sweeter. We’ll have to see what ensues hereafter. Vamos Argentina ! In Sampaoli i trust !

      • Yup, I’m for Sampaoli. I think all the players just needs more time. I mean the new players bcoz most of the experienced exploit the trust. I’m sure every of the three Dybala, Icardi, Benedetto is great forward. To fuck up 1,2 or 5 games is not the same as to be impotent on 30-40 games in NT. You can’t apply the same standards to rookies.

        • i am totally for Sampaoli. The problem was the coaches before him. Some idiot here wanted Maradona back as coach. Unbelievable

          • Anyone who criticizes Sampa for what happened needs to rethink and rewatch the game. Sampa is a great coach and has enough experience to manage a very big team like Argentina that is no doubt. Maybe he didn’t bring in the right subs vs Venezuela but that is very normal coz, you know, when there is a big pressure on you you become hesitant and can make little or even big mistakes. Look at the team and how they were organized from Romero to Benedetto; that is a sign of establishing a very strong side that can beat the best with ease. The only thing that remains is the final touch and I am more than sure that the goals will arrive soon just try to be patient. I don’t know why some of us don’t have any patience at all.

  23. good to read the comments. dont lose confidence we will win it. the win is enough to qualify. we had very bad luck. some people supporting higuain coz of him we lost a world cup and 2 copa america. he is good finisher i agree.but what he did in important matches. we will win it we can win it. but I am expecting the line up against Ecuador is Romero there s no other choice so
    Romero, Mercado, Otamandi, Mascherano, Fazio
    DI MARIA, Paredes, Banega, Salvio
    Messi,Dybela, Icardi this team will really wins games mixed age group definitely support against the home team playing the altitude. so please dont criticise the team. all players are good. but we had very less time. now we had 5 days practice . so we will. we will ‘ve in russia

  26. Netherlands 7-0 vs Sweden… omg… a world cup without Oranje looses the colour. I want Oranje to qualify.
    .
    Brazil thinks we are beggers and plans to give some alms to Argentina… they are foxes never to be trusted… neymar one person is enough to know about that team.

    • Our chnace of qualifying doesn’t depend on other results, it solely depends on us. If Argentina wants to qualify then the team must beat Ecuador. There is NO need to get help from Brazil or any other team. Hands down!

  27. The Brazilian press and expert are already debating about How Brazil should approach their last game. Some are openly arguing about testing a completely new side against Chile, not only to try new players and formation but to indirectly help Chile and eliminate on their rivals from their World cup. Even though their coach has promised to play for a win even if he were to try a lot of new players.
    In another interesting news, an astrologer from Indonesia (famous for predicting sports and political results) had apparently predicted that 2 of the top teams from the World Cup won’t make it to the next World cup. People would have laughed that off, but this morning they have dusted that news and started talking about it after last night’s results from European Qualifiers, yes, Netherlands are almost out (they need to beat Sweden 7-0 in their last game to qualify). With Argentina in a such a predicament, they are hailing the notorious astrologer.
    In another news, even though, Sampaoli has a contract with the AFA till 2022, there is clause in the contract that says World cup qualification is a must for 2018, if not the AFA has the final say.

    • I don’t believe in astrologers in anyway, but if there is a second big team, despite the fact that the Netherlands almost missed to book their place in Russia, it could be either Italy or Portugal, if Switzerland finishes at the top of the table, since they will play a playoff. Prior to the game vs Peru one astrologer said the game will end 2-1 in favour of Argentina and we all saw what happened.

      • I don’t believe in astrologers myself, it was just a fun news that I shared. In any case, she had predicted 2 teams that had finished top 4 in the last world cup won’t make it this time around (Germany, Argentina, Netherlands and Brazil were those top 4), and she did her predictions in early 2016.

        The AFA is stressed out as hell, as they are set to lose millions if Argentina don’t make it to Russia, as only now has the reality and the real possibilty of the worst happening hit them.

  28. Any insight to the training sessions??
    When do we leave for ecudor?

    And for Lord’s sake somebody tell me biglia is not starting..
    Here is my lineup (4-4-2 diamond)
    Romero
    Mercado.otamendi.mascherano.acuna
    Paredes
    Enzo Perez . Di maria
    Messi
    Dybala.icardi

    In possession i would like masche to join the midfield and acuna to go up the field, i don’t think mercado should have attacking duties.
    Your thoughts abt the lineup?
    Vamos!

  29. Sampaoli is another captain who wants to sink with his ‘now’ failured tactics-ship. Again 3-4-3?????????? (no wonder he is Bielsa’s disciple)
    .
    Why does he still persist with Benedetto?… pathetic decision by Argentine coaches are killing NT time and time again.
    .
    If Icardi was injured then why was he selected? His place could have been given to a deserving fit player.
    .
    I actually thought Sampaoli would come in and we start winning again… but he is just another ‘ARGENTINA coach’ who wastes our lifetime (to see our loved team win)
    .
    Di Maria again?? Omg… he is just going to kick the ball high up in the air where he thinks an invisible goal post is.
    .
    God please make Argentina win… so desperate the situation is.
    .
    Sampaoli’s 3 man defense will not work in the world cup if we qualify. We would be drummed.
    .
    Argentina and Messi need a playmaker like Riquelme to tick things off… (Mascherano did a good job the other day in supplying… but thats a real joke, isn’t it for a ‘defender’ to do it and midfielders don’t know where to pass or how to unlock the opponents defense)
    .
    Whole team needs to be replaced. Which should have happened a long while ago… still ain’t happening.
    .
    Hope we won’t be discussing Biglia, Banega, Mascherano, Di Maria, Aguero, Higuain, Romero, Gago, Tevez, Ottamandi, Garay, Fazio, etc. etc. during the 2022 campaign.

    • Chalz, you are criticizing Sampa way too much. For me, he did a good job till now and slowly restoring the kind of football Argentina used to play. They say Rome wasn’t built in one day and I think that is enough for a wise person to know how much time it takes for good job to be accomplished. Sampa can’t score goals; it is the players’ duty to utilize the tactics well and score goals. Sampa deserves a big applause for his sacrifices to train the National Team when other Argentine managers, Pochettino and Semione for instance, preferred to pocket their huge salaries. Argentina fans around the world should be grateful to Sampa even if the team fails to qualify.

  30. The Team already started training for the Ecuador game. Our coach is very confident of Argentina being in the next wc. But for that he needs to try our best team. We cant afford to have Dybala and Icardi seat in the bench. So what if Dybala cant find rythm playing beside Messi? Its Sampioli’s job to make sure they click together.
    If he dont play them enough how would he know? Players like Dybala and Icardi needs few seconds to change the outcome of a game. And they are already tested. Have to stick with them and we have to stick with the coach. He started at a very dangerous time for Argentina. Thank You Sampioli.
    Instead of bashing our team lets look at few things.
    1. Last time Argentina won a WC – 1986
    2. Last time Argentina was in a WC finals before 2014 – 1990.
    3. All these years we The Loyal Blue and White fans were hoping (dying to see) for a final berth. – 24 years. And This team delivered. (Thank you Sabella)
    4. Our best teams (2002 -2006) could not deliver what this team did. 3 Finals in 3 years. Thanks to Higuain for not winning (j/k)
    5. This team has everything we need beside Higuain.
    6. If we could be patience for 24 years whats wrong with us now? We are doing much better.
    7. About the qualifiers. I dont read too much into it cos our previous teams did amazing at the qualifiers and failed measurably at the WC.
    8. We need 3 points and I dont care if we play NZ.
    9. Playing NZ would be a blessing as Dybala, Icardi, Messi and whole will get to play more together. Bett3r than friendly games. We need it.
    10. Lets stand behind our team as we have done all our lives. Its worth it. This team has the experience of 3 consecutive final that non other had. This is our best shot.
    Vamos Albiceleste.

    • It took us 24 years to create this team. Young players are good for future. If any team can deliver than this is the team with the blend of young Dybala and Icardi. Or else we have to wait another 20 years. Lets back this team up.

  31. Some Mundo people will keep posting Argentina Primera has good players for the NT and there are young talented players to change generation. It looks like that they log into Mundo to promote Argentina League players and show hostility to Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano.

    Argentina NT players do not have football intelligence except Messi and Mascherano.
    Good News is that these two players will retire from international football sooner or later.

    There are hundreds of professionals looking for skillful and talented football players for big clubs and the national team. If your favorite player did not have a contract with big club or was not called for national team, that means he failed to attract the professionals because he isn’t really something.

    I don’t think Argentina football has a bright future and expect the Russia World Cup trophy will go to one of the four teams; Brazil, France, Germany and Spain.

  32. Rumored starting XI (found in Twitter):

    Romero; Marcado,Otamendi,Mascherano, Acuna; Bigila, Enzo; Salvio, Messi, Di Maria; Benedetto.

    I heard that Bigila is suspended. Even if he is not suspended why the hell he is always in the starting XI? I never hate any Argentine player but I have started to hate him…..I really wish he had a knock… Papu one chance – failed to impress OUT, Icardi failed to impress in one match – OUT but how Bigila, Di maria etc playing in every match. Still I can understand that despite Di Maria is nonsense still he is match winner and can change a game. But what Bigila is adding to the team? If we failed to qualify then this entire silver generation should be kicked out of the national team…..

    Some nonsense logic keeping Dybala out of the team that he can’t play with Messi. They played 45 minutes against Uruguay in 1st leg before Dybala sent-off and I have to say they were good together. Then they were bad against Uruguay away match but against Venezuela they were not that bad together. Infact they created 2 chances together.,
    It’s either Sampoli’s fault who is clueless about how to accommodate 2 players or it’s Dybala’s fault who hesitate to play 2nd fiddle of Messi as he is egoistic player or this could be Messi’s fault who is failed to guide a young but talented felow Argentine…or because of Dyba;a’s anti-Barcelona remarks?

    Sampoli is talking about Chemistry between Dybala and Messi. But they played few minutes together what about Salvio? I have never ever seen playing with Messi. How Sampoli is confident that they will work together? I don’t have any problem with Salvio’s inclusion. he is a good player but just thinking about Sampoli’s logic…

    • Biglia diMaria and Banega should be kicked out of the team forever. They are all midfielders and are responsible for the weak midfield. Salvo, Parades and Acuna look better

  33. Admin kind request, can you please change the background color from Black to White and the fonts to Black?

    Do not worry guys a World Cup without Argentina is not possible, we will surely qualify. Nervous few days for Argentina fans.

  34. Argentina take part in a competition,they perform miserably match after match and we resort to blaming one single player repeatedly,Messi. Its a vicious cycle. 9 outfield players and none can score even an ugly goal. Eder scored for Portugal when it mattered. Columbia, Chile, Ecuador… all of them carry a threat on the counter. they can score if u give them a clear opportunity. but not Argentina. Okay, Messi is bad for Argentina. But where are the other players? why do they hide behind Messi after missing 1v1?why cant they juust put the ball into the net? everyone turns into a Higuain when they get a clear chance.unbelievable!

  35. One side the senior team is struggling to qualify, other side under 17 started without Argentina……Getting nervous whether it is an indication of our future.. How much a fan can be asked to suffer🤐
    Anyhow the Juniors missed to have a chance to play in a home environment outside the country ,and the yellow team is getting the same👺

  36. Many football analysts have criticised Argentina and branded as “the one man team”. Have you seen Portugal vs Andorra? It was a narraw win with two second half goals from Ronaldo and Silva. The Portuguese coach didn’t put Ronaldo in the lineup and till he came on it was 0-0, and I strongly believe the weakest Latin American team, Bolivia, can give Andorra a hard time if they played against each other. Unfortunately, Messi and Argentina have become the easy target of football analysts nowsadays but they never focus on Portugal or Italy or any other country that much when they perform badly.

    • South American WC qualifiers have always been the toughest of all qualifiers and not just because we are all ARG fans but because its a FACT.

      European Qualifiers have always been the easiest for the big countries because they stick each in a group with a bunch of other countries that you never heard of, I knew of the Rock of Gibraltar but never knew it was an actual country until recently. Occasionally, you’ll have two big countries in one group but that is about it.

      ARGENTINA deserves to be shamed for their performance no matter how you look at it for the obvious reasonS we all know.

      • agreed dfox1942:
        not only the fact we have the hardest to qualf over the easy European groups because so many of these nations dislike each down this way for over over 100 years and this means a lot of “derbys”, the refs are crap and don’t see a lot, the pitches are quite ofturn 2nd rate, our players don’t get to play week in and week out together, but we also have massive travel times for our players that over half of the nations down this way don’t have, we have 95% of our players who have no idea how to play the Argentine way any more and look like a bunch of strangers when they do play together but just like you dfox1942 this currant bunch should be shamed for their performances barr a very very small and select few players.

  37. I think I’m just about sober enough to pen my thoughts after the last few days of pontificating.
    ill start with who to blame…
    blame: this for me falls big time on tata and bozo who failed to bring in new players and never having a plan “B” we are now left with so many of the old tried and tested players by default and all because of this time is not samps friend at all but I’m not absolving samp totally as I feel his subs are generally poor choices.

    luck: this plays a big part in football and what the hell have we done to deserve such rotten luck in front of goal, the last 2 games we have had 22 and 26 shots at goal and how many have been great saves, or the defenders just gets his foot in the way/clears and of course their has been some dreadful finishing.

    The team: this team should have been slowly dismantled after w/c 14, even more so after 15 and defiantly after copa loss 2 2016, that generation has had its go and sadly its time for half of them to be gone, if we do make it to Russia I feel their will be quite a few of the incumbents names missing and rightly so.

    Last game: I have not nor will I ever back us to draw a game I always want a win, this is our cup final and I expect nothing but victory and it will be all hands to the pumps, I don’t care about superstitions like our crap record up their as no European team was going to win the w/c in sth America, all records are made to be broken.

    this is our luck” we can count our lucky stars that other teams have have lost and drawn vital games or we would be gone by now, the luck is we are still able to actually qualifie.

    simply put I don’t care if we win by 1-0 just as long as we win and perhaps this time we can have some luck in front of goal as id watch a game easier if it was 2-0 or more.

    as always Vamos Argentina but I cant say I’m not super nervous but ill never give up supporting our Blue and white.

  39. In the past we used to ask ourselves this question: When will the team win an international trophy? But nowadays I am sure a new question has come up and every Argentina fan is asking themselves, when the team will score a goal? I feel sorry for Leo and the team as a whole. Back in 2006 the day Argentina played Serbia & Montnegro I was watching that game with a friend of mine who was an England fan, do you know what he said me when Cambiasso scored that amazing beautiful goal? He said Argentina is the scariest team playing this world cup and if they don’t deliver this time it will take a long time for Argentina to get a generation like this and win the world cup. The team tha used to put 4,5,6 passed their opponents are now struggling to score a single goal😡
    It shows how far we have come to this bad situstion!

    • Dadir10, i totally agree with you, Argentina was the scariest team not only in 2006 but prior to wc 2002 where we blew up everyone in the qualifiers and made a south american world cup qualifying record of 45 points. We were the scariest team prior to wc 2014 as well but unfortunately had all of our best players out of form due to injuries but still we were better than the Germans in the final but luck rarely was by our side.

      I hope i am wrong my friend and you are right.

      VAMOS ARGENTINA!!

      • Waveride, my friend you are right and I completely agree with on the points you talked about. That 2002 WC argentina team was full of stars and prior to that world cup almost everybody was predicting that it was Argentina’s time and NO team could stand in Argentina’s way. But it all came down to luck and the strugling team, Brazil, won the trophy and the high flying team packed their bags after 3 games. When I look back at those times I realize that it doesn’t matter how strong a team can be if luck isn’t on their side then it is OVER.
        Vamos Argentina!!!

  40. It is way to unfair to blame Sampaoli. We must not forget that the guy has HUGE balls simply because he was one of the high profile managers in Europe but still he decided to leave Sevilla and take over Argentina with much less salary and especially while Argentina is a broken team which has hit the bottom and being at the worst state possible with only four games remaining. All ofthese while Simeone and Pochettino prefered to enjoy their big salaries at their respective clubs. For this only he has my total respect.

    Blaming Messi is way to unfair as well, because as a fellow Argentina fan has stated here, he has given his all despite all the problems, the pressure and the media not only from Argentina but from all over the world.

    We must stick with Sampaoli in order to build a true Argentina team for world cup 2022 because as much as it hurts saying that i don’t think we will make it to wc 2018. Don’t get me wrong, i love this team like everyone in here and failures make my love to this team even stronger.

    I hope we keep Sampaoli otherwise our team will remain a circus that will be changing managers like t-shirts.

    Argentina forever. No matter what.

      • well said bro waveride…. they should be applauded not criticised….. think you are one of the player… then you will know their difficulty…. critising is easy… support them they will deliver

    • waveride: amigo great to hear from you in these very very dark times and yes I agree with keeping samp no matter what.
      for me I’m not blaming messi as he has been one of the rare ones to stand up and fight where as 80% of the others are committing some close to treason.

      don’t forget to save you money and if we get 5th ill see you here in n.z 🙂
      all the best amigo,
      Vamos Argentina
      n.b I still feel we need to go back to 4.4.2

  41. As an ARG fan it has been the most difficult week for us . However, I am amazed to see how many of our members are trying their best to console others and
    keep the hope alive till the last match. I have been supporting this team since last 25 years but some how I am more attached to this Messi generation . I find
    it sort of crazy that I have so many problems in life ,but still I am dying to see Messi at the pick. It will be very hard for me to recover if we don’t make
    it to the WC. I am trying my best to divert my attention and look into other aspects of life. Anyway here my point is I would like to appreciate all the efforts people are making to lift the spirit.May be in near future Argentina will revive and come back stronger.But football will never be same again without Messi/Masche..

  42. Any rumored line up ?

    I was watching the today’s training video.

    https://www.facebook.com/AFASeleccionArgentina/videos/1941604369385670/

    From 1:31 to 1:40 of the video it looks like all Di Maria, Messi, Icardi and Dybala is playing together. Also at 1:45 looks like Sampoli having a discussion with Messi, Di Maria, Enzo, Icardi, Dybala etc. Fazio is not there along with Mascherano.

    Hope Di Maria (if fit and play his with his potential), Messi, Icardi and Dybala will start. They are our best players and all ouf best players should start in this do or die match.

  43. @kid
    You make some valid points. But I have my doubts and I think it’s too late. The only thing I would tell you about Sampaoli is he should have gone with a younger faster line up. In the future post Messi, I would play this team. This unfortunately can mean starting Wednesday. I’d even play this in the World Cup.
    Romero
    Mercado Mammana Funes Mori
    Kranevitter
    J Correa LoCelso Lanzini
    Dybala Icardi/Alario A Correa

    If we make it in the World Cup I would replace LoCelso with Dybala and play Messi at wing. If you can’t score with this team or formation then forget it. Notice in my formation nobody plays out of place…not the mish mash nonsense we have

  45. Mama, this is not a team; it’s a bunch of individuals. Honestly after watching the game it’s imperative to have marcherano in midfield he brings a creative spark, biglia and benga are flat, maybe try to fit in pastore. Can’t rely too much on messi, other players need to step up..

  46. After Sampaoli took over Argentina, I can watch the game at least..the players are passing the ball..pressing..the only thing left is scoring goals..it will come and we need some luck..Sampaoli’s Substitutes were not great but still i think Sampaoli will take this team to next level…he is flexible and Argentina can play 3-4-3 and also 4-2-3-1…this coach has all the tactics in his bag…I hope Luck favours us on tuesday and we qualify..we will definitely be a formidable force for WC 2018…

  47. Ecuador nowadays playing at home is not what they were 10-20 years ago. The reason for this is that almost a third of the Ecuadorian national team players are plying their footballing trade overseas outside of Quito altitude. Years ago, majority of the Ecuadorian national team members were playing with their local clubs compare to today whereas Ecuadorian football have exported more professional football players to overseas clubs than at any time in their history. The altitude is not a big advantage for Ecuador like it was 7-15 years ago hence the reason why they have lost three games at home this WCQ campaign. The good news for Argentina is that none either Antonio Valencia or Jefferson Montero (Ecuador two best players and wingers) will feature in the game. Unless the Ecuadorian coach go with an inexperience local starting XI (who will be more accustom to playing in Quito), the altitude will affect the Ecuadorian foreign base players as much as it will affect the Argentinian national team players. Let’s take Bolivia for example; only maybe two or three of their national team players ply their trade outside of La Paz (Bolivia) which is why they continue to be such a formidable team at home. Whenever Bolivian football start exporting more players overseas (which I doubt they will anytime soon) then maybe you will see the Bolivian team losing their home field advantage in La Paz.

    The Ecuadorian defense is shaky and their goalkeeper make a lot of blunders whenever a ball come at him with pace. The Argentina players just need to shoot whenever they get a chance to instead of trying these silly one-twos around the 18-yard area at altitude. Messi, Dybala, Di Maria, Papu Gomez etc. all need to shoot at the Ecuadorian goal if they have a clear look, don’t try to pass all the time, shoot some times. Remember Di Maria long distance shot some years ago in Quito where the Ecuadorian goalkeeper spilled it in his goal area and had to foul Aguero on the rebound which led to a pk. So the guys on the team need to shoot at goal if the chance present itself on the pitch. Ecuador defense and goalkeeper are really underwhelming, so scoring goals against them shouldn’t be difficult.

    • If Ecuador played their usual attack minded football (like they did against Chile), then Argentina has a very good chance. But, if the coach decides to test their young players things can get complicated. Those players would be acclimatized to the local condition and will also have something to prove. They will play for atleast a draw then (knocking Argentina out would be a big achievement for them) and may play a compact defensive game heart out.

      As long as they play attacking football, we will have a very good chance of beating them. Altitude won’t be that much a problem. It’s not anything like La Paz. Other teams had won at this stadium in this campaign. We also saw Brazil performing good attacking football at Bolivia, if Altitude didn’t affect much at Brazil when they have already secured the place, Argentina should not find Quitto that much difficult.

      • They will park the bus mark my words. The only team I saw that didn’t park the bus and managed to play an open game with Argentina in the entire game was the 2014 Germany team. All other teams parked the bus, even Brazil though they defeated us 3-0 they somehow were parking the bus. Nobody can play an attacking football with Argentina. Who could have that courage? NOBODY simply NOBODY and this is no exaggeration.

        • Agreed…every opponents parks the bus and plays counter attacking football against Argentina…Equador doesn’t have the players to play an open game..they will also play counter attacking football..

        • Dadir you said it right. One and only disadvatage having Messi in your time is opponents will always play defensive game with counter attacks, worse some teams park the bus. This occurs almost always with Barca and Argentina. Spain & Germany are much better as a team but I don’t see teams playing as defensively against them as vs Messi’s teams. Neymar, Isco, Ronaldo et all are all great players, but opposition teams don’t come up with close the shop strategy against them.

          Which makes watching the game tedious for us fans of Barca and Argentina. Fortunately, Barca always find some ways to unlock the game and once a game is unlocked, goals will start pouring. Unfortunately, Argentina hasn’t found a way to unlock the game as yet.

  48. WHO IS TO BLAME?

    SAMPAOLI? NO! He’s our hope.

    At long last, we finally got a coach who is tactically brilliant and passionate about the game. I would say he must continue till 2022 WC even if Argentina doesn’t qualify for 2018 WC which I definitely hope doesn’t happen. He only got a few weeks with the National Team players. Remember, Guardiola lost the first two matches (or one loss & a draw) when he came on board to coach barca in 2009. Barca won the next match and the rest is history. That means, it took 2-3 couple of months training and 2-3 competitive matches for Guardiola’s Barca to get going.

    I am not saying this Argentina can get to that level, far from it (We don’t have Budquets, Xavi & Iniesta). But we can get somewhat close to that level. Once Argentina qualifies for the WC, Sampaoli can plan about the tactics and work with the team between now and the beginning of WC. By that time, I am pretty sure he would have found a way where Messi & Dybala can work together. Where Messi can play 1-2 with his team mates in the final third to unlock tight defense. As you could see, none of such moves did work out against Peru as Messi didn’t get the ball back where he wanted.

    Sampaoli has not done everything correct. Some of his team selection/substitution has left us wondering (like bringing on Rigona instead of Dybala). He has not still got subs who can bring some changes. The subs generally made things worse (like Enzo for Banega). But he got a lot of things correct. Team is pressing well. Defense looking solid. At times, the team is playing fast paced game (unlike Tata & Sabella – later esp in 2014 WC). Sampaoli has to decide his preferred 11 and squad which will understandaly take a bit more time and get the team work on team moves and 1 touch football.

    MESSI? LOL, YOU MUST BE KIDDING!

    Messi has been the only source of imagination for this team. They were horrible without him. You can check the points won with and without Messi (as he didn’t play in around 8 games due to various injuries which was very unfortunate and the sole reason why we are in this stage now). All the attacking movies came through him. Rest of his team mates didn’t have any idea what to do with the ball. He sent in wonderful key passes and the attackers missed atleast 4 chances in the match against Peru itself. Others also didn’t have any idea how to return the ball where Messi wanted with one touch football. Only Dybala and Aguero is capable of this. Unfotunately these two can’t play with Messi unless they change their game as they are similar).

    For sure, Messi has not been at his other worldly best for Argentina. But that’s what happens when you play under tremendous pressure. He and other players can’t enjoy playing Football with the NT. Although this could be true for some other teams too. The public has been too demanding (a la RM fans at Bernabeu) and the media added spice and tried to fish in trouble waters whenever they had the chance. If we want to see the best from these players, Argentinian public and press will have to help them take some of the weight off their shoulders.

    So who to blame?

    1) #9 Curse. The ball just doesn’t seem to want to go in. It seems Argentina is cursed so that their #9 can’t score a goal. Various people came in, but no one scored. They were either damn unlucky or uncharacteristically poor most of the times.

    2) Lack of Mental Strength & Spirit – Argentina players do not seem to have the best of mental strength. It seems the pressure is getting under their skin. They need one or two players who can motivate the rest and cheer it up. Someone has to be daring and start having fun on the pitch. Whether they get such players or not, the AFA must have to bring a good psychologist on board and get the players’ mental strength increased and keep them motivated.

    3) Slow or less attacking players – Most of their central midfield play slow football and are not good enough in moving the ball forward. They are too pragmatic and predictable.

    Issue #1 can’t be fixed directly by the coach or players. But fixing issue #2 may also fix #1 as well. With regards to #3, not sure if they have the players who are capable of doing this. I hope Sampaoli find those from somewhere.

    • We have an exciting squad. One thing we all must applaud Sampaoli is squad selection. he has been equally brave and brilliant in that aspect. Fresh faces like Paredes, Rigoni, Acuna, Papu Gomez, Acosta et all seem to have a very good future ahead. Dybala is already a star.

  49. The last time we won in Ecuador was in August 2001. The line-up of that team was Burgos; Zanetti, Ayala, Samuel, Vivas; Kily, Simeone, Veron, Sorin, Aimar; Crespo. Subs were Ortega, Almeyda and Claudio Lopez.

    Compare that line-up to today’s team and we are not a shadow of that team. Messi is the only one that is better than the player in his position in 2001. Mascherano and Romero could be equally good, but the rest pales in comparison.

    Despite that fact, I hope we win on Tuesday.

    • Richard, I stopped using these kind of comparisons long ago. All possibilities are open to occur. Argentina can WIN, draw, or lose in Ecuador. Let me show you how football has changed these days, who on earth thought that one day Luxemborg, as far as I know a team that doesn’t have a SINGLE football professional in the best 7 European Leagues, will tie a game with the talent-rich country, France? Ofcourse Nobody did. Argentina didn’t win in Ecuador for quite a long time that’s right but, you know, that has nothing to do with the final result of the upcoming match. I believe Argentina will win this time in Ecuador and the team will be in Russia. Vamos Argentina!!! 💪💪💪

  50. Hi all my name is Abhishek and I am from India.Even though this will be my first post but i have been a keen follower of this site since the last 5-6 years.Just like you all I have been an Argentina fan since 1994 when I was a kid.Since then I haven’t seen Argentina winning any major trophies in international level.Especially considering the rich talent we have one legend was replaced by another in the team we had Maradona then Batistuta,Crespo,Aimar,Riquelme, now Messi and in future maybe Dybala. But one thing which we didn’t have is trophy we lost 3 finals in a row and then this shitty qualifying matches we played throughout.

    Like everyone here I also want Argentina to be in Russia more than anything else so much of plans were already made. But truth is we all know what herculean task we are left out with now winning against Ecuador in Ecuador above all we will be playing in 2850 meters.All odds are against us we didn’t win a single match in Ecuador since 2001 14th August.The best result we have achieved in Quito is a draw. A team which didn’t score against Peru/Venezuela in their own backyard very difficult to believe they will score and win in Quito.I don’t see any problem with the coach here after all its the playing 11 who has to play and win. We checked with Augero/Higuain it didn’t work Dybala/Icardi even though only 2 matches but atlas 1 goal would have changed the fate for Argentina but they couldn’t find either. Now likely Sampaoli will bring Dybala and Icardi combination in Quito but will they have the gas to play 90 mins is a big question?

    Does anyone have any update from the recent training which they are preparing against Ecuador?

    I guess Messi and Dybala should start and Sampaoli must define their role so they don’t occupy each other place.

  51. Guys watch the highlights of Chile v/s Eucador(Result 2-1) game you all will be optimistic just like me about chances of Argentina scoring and winning the game.I know Eucador will be at their home ground and we are playing at altitude but I think we will win their because of 2 factors:
    i)They have new coach and many new players who are adjusting which is a good chance for us to do well
    ii)Antonio Valencia is not playing due to suspension and according to me that is too good news for us coz he is their best and important player.
    I am optimistic about our chances of winning the game.The players are all motivated to achieve the goal.Vamos Argentina

  53. OPTIMISM INCOMING!!!!
    Argentina played a flawless match against Peru apart from the much needed goals of course. We are getting in to Sampa’s tactics slowly. In quito Ecuador likely to try attack us but luckily for us our defense is one of the best in the qualifiers unlike our attack and we have the players to comfortably contain them and Ecuador is one of the worst teams in SA currently so Messi, Icardi or Dybala likely to get few chances for sure, This could be the easiest match for us under Sampa. The reason?? Ecuador is be the only team that is guaranteed to not park the bus

    My Team
    Romero
    Mercado Masche Otamendi
    Rigoni Paredes Biglia Acuna
    Messi Gomez
    Icard
    Prediction: Ecuador 0 : 1 Argentina (Otamendi from set pieace)

  55. hey guys I am up with a very interesting news. I heard peru and colombia got three and two invalid bonus points with regards to the nelson caballero incident. That means even if argentina loses on tuesday they are gonna be sitting firmly at least in the playoff position if the bonus points are in fact taken away from those two countries. I heard the lawyer who got messi acquited of the five match ban he had imposed on him is going to work in this case. what update can you provide with regards to this circumstance?

  56. In my opinion, Sampaoli fits better as our manager AFTER the World Cup 2018, not 1 year before. The timing is the issue here.

    Sampaoli got cojones.

    He is a risk taker. He is the complete opposite of a coach like Hitzfield or Iran coach, Quieroz who would do anything at all cost to get a win including playing a 10-0-0 formation if needed.

    Sampaoli likes major haul. I am trying to be balanced here. I am not saying that our oldies are super heroes or something, but I disagree if a coach makes a major haul on a team that has gone to 3 consecutive finals on 3 major cups.

    In order to go to 3 consecutive finals, a team must win at least 16-17 games against strong teams. That is not an easy task.

    If a coach wants to make a tweak, make a minor tweak. Losing 3 consecutive finals is a prove that it is not a winning team, true, but it is NOT a sign that we are a “loser” either. There should not be much to change.

    Look at this:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%9316_Sevilla_FC_season

    That is Sevilla’s 2015-2016 season under Emery

    Then this:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016%E2%80%9317_Sevilla_FC_season

    This is Sevilla’s 2016-2017 season under Sampaoli

    Sampaoli sold 17 players in one season and bought 15 new players! Incredible…. that is more than half of the team. OK the result was satisfying.

    Sevilla finished fourth, but he is trying to do the same thing to Argentina now. A team who have stayed the same pretty much since Maradona’s era, so that means the same team have been playing together for around 7 years already.

    … and he is trying to break that chemistry.

    I praised his willingness to call new superstars like Dybala or Icardi; or new talented players like Correa or Paredes, but, just like what he did in Sevilla, he got rid of half of the team for some new players. The team chemistry is badly affected.

    And another problem is that some of the new players he called are totally inexperienced and mediocre. Sampaoli somehow tried to please the bombonera crowd who sang “ole ole ole ole…. Gago…. Gago.” during the match. He played Bombonera’s 2 major heroes, Benedetto and Gago with the hope that the crowd would be the 12th player.

    The likes of Benedetto, Gago, or Rigoni were all playing in local league just 6 months ago. Rigoni had one great game for Zenit St. Petersburg, all of a sudden, Sampaoli gave him major minutes in a win or go home match?

    Maybe one day he will be a successful coach for Argentina (if he does not get sacked), but he must realize that the World Cup is just around the corner. He must realize that against Ecuador will be one of the most important matches in his coaching career.

    He can’t take the risk anymore.

    Just put anyone who Messi is comfortable with. Just at least for this one match. If we still can’t go the World Cup, at least he is putting our best soldiers there.

    In World cup 2010, Maradona’s team lost badly against Germany. But at least he played his best team there. It was just a purely bad coaching.

    If we manage to get to the WC, there will be a lot of friendlies after this in November (2 times), March (1 or two times), and unlimited numbers of friendlies in June right before the World Cup. That’s where he wants to try if the likes of Rigoni, Benedetto, or whoever he likes from the local league is good enough or no.

    Aguero isn’t there now. Higuain isn’t there. Those two know Messi well. Icardi and Dybala are proven stars. Then start them.

    The likes of Gomez or Benedetto never play with one of the most difficult player to play with, Lionel Messi. So try them only in friendly matches after the Ecuador game.

    After the WC, whatever the result will be or whether we will participate or no, he can make changes to 90% of the team if he wants. That is fine…. because that is his style.

    The friendly against Brazil was a prove that it was a good coaching. He kept most of the veterans: Romero, Otamendi, Mercado, Biglia, Banega, Di Maria, Messi, and Higuain. And he started 3 new comers: Dybala (superstar), Gomez (our most talented right back), and Maidana (just purely an experiment).

    He should do it that way now in my opinion.

    Sampaoli likes to do it his way.

    Bauza, or Martino were criticized for having no cojones to change the team.

    But Sampaoli makes too much changes. He needs to be balanced a little bit.

  58. We need to play with all stars the last game. If rules allow we should call Angel Correa from athletico and Higuain.

    Forward 3 : Angel Correa, Higuain(or icardi), Dybala
    Midfield : DiMaria, Messi, Banega
    Back 4: mercado, otamendi, mashe, left wing not sure (prefer Rojo but not sure he is fit)

    No more any second grade team players in the starting 11.

  59. Here I always see people praising home league based players and claiming how good they are! but I always found them less than average.
    if they are that good then they would have been in europe by now! what’s the point of playing them? just that you will have to take them anyway quota or what? someone please explain this to me

  60. I am not at all surprised about the result against Peru. I said some weeks ago that the game would end in a draw. But I am surprised that Sampa played Benedetto from the start, surprised that he decided to give Rigoni his debut in stead of Dybala on for Di Maria and surprised that he opted for Gago and Enzo when we desperately needed a goal. It looks like Sampa is really nervous and is getting all sorts of crazy ideas because Messi and Dybala didnt klick right away. I still believe Sampa is the right man, even if we dont qualify, he must be given time. We are in a period where our strikers miss every chance they get….these periods happen to all teams….and it is not only the coach’s fault. He can not score the goals. Paraguay beating Colo really surprised me….and even if it means that Colo have everything to play for in Peru and can help us by beating Peru, it also now means that Paraguay will finish above us if they beat Venez, which I believe they will. We will of course not win in Ecuador, a draw is the best that we can get there….when was the last time we won in altitude? 2001, I think. If we fight like hell we can get a draw. Then we need Peru to lose OR Colo to lose by two goals combined with Brazil beating Chile by two goals….because Paraguay will beat Venez…will Brazil help us? What do you think? I think Ecuador-Argentina, Brazil-Chile and Peru-Colo will end in draws…and Para will win their game. Hope to God I am wrong!!

    • And we won in 2011, the time we had almost two years without losing a single game as far as I remember! All players at their peak, Aimar, Veron, Crespo, Simeone, Janetti, …

  61. WHO THE FUCK(COUGH COUGH SAMPAOLI) KEEPS AN IDIOT LIKE DARIO BENEDITTO AND PIZZARO IN FRONT OF WORLD CLASS PLAYERES LIKE HUGUAIN, ICARDI, DYBALA, AND GARAY? BENEDITTO KEEPS MISSING CRUCIAL SHOTS. HE CANT SHOOT, RUN, PASS DRIBBLE, OR DEFEND!!! nOBODY GIVES A SHIT IF MESSI AND DYBALA ARE NOT A GOOD PAIR, WHICH THEY ACTUALLY ARE IF YOU DID’T KNOW!!! MASCHERANO HAS SCORED MORE GOALS FOR BARCA THAN BENEDITTO FOR ARGENTINA!! SAMPAOLI JUST KEEP THE BEST PLAYERS ON!! THE COPA AMERICA 2015 SQUAD WAS THE BEST!!! STOP SWITCHING THE SQUAD EXTENSIVELY!!

  62. Salvio, Pizarro, Paredes, Nacho fernandez, lanzini, Joaquin Correa, Alario.

    All have played and at least made a great impression in their little amount of time given, but yet Sampaoli refused to put trust in them. Bt Sampaoli rather invest his trust in Biglia, Banega, Papu, Di Maria, Acuna and Benedetto.

    So far Alario and Correa has been the only strikers to score since Sampaoli started. And yet, Mr Sampaoli wanna listen to the Argentine press and pick Benedetto.

    Pizarro, Paredes, Nacho Fernandez have proven that they can bring much more to the team than Biglia, and Banega and yet Mr Sampaoli choose to invest his trust in the latter.

    Same can be said about Lanzini.

    Salvio has also showed his potential as rb/rw.

    God has been showing Sampaoli a sign but somehow he’s being hard headed. He waiting for a miracle to happen with the wrong players.

    Now looking at the player’s rating from golazo argentino and guess who flopped? The same old guys that Sampaoli choose to trust.
    https://golazoargentino.com/2017/10/06/argentina-player-ratings-v-peru-messi-unable-to-lift-argentina-to-victory/

  63. Bloody hell!!! With all respect to everyone i wanna say it as polite as possible i can “SHUT THE FUCK UP”. Post something that helps not frustrate or demoralising analyse.Only analyse i saw after game was our double 5 system doesn’t attack at all now this is the miracle our coach has to do.
    Now where were we? Ohh Ecuador another player got suspended. Apparently first team striker who was abusing towards official. With all these goalless draw we didn’t give any attention towards our defence that playing well. I think we received less than 5 shots on target in last 2 games or so. I know it is high altitude but it is certainly not in Bolivia and we won in Bolivia with almost same players in last qualification. 1 goal and every stats will change. Support the team.
    Vamos Argentina
    (I am waiting for some fury reply lol)

  64. @San Isidro

    I get what you’re saying and you made some valid points. I do agree with you on Messi, and I even wrote about this sometime ago on Mundo about the whole Messi effect on the overall team. Even Carlos Tevez said it’s never easy playing with Leo Messi.

    What I don’t agree on is the fact that Sampaoli snub Higuaín, this has nothing to do with the world cup final that happen in 2014, but everything to do with qualifying for the 2018 world cup. At the end of the day, you want everyone available to contribute for the remaining games in the latter stage of the 2018 WCQ qualifiers. With the dire situation Argentina find itself in, there was no way Sampaoli should have left Higuaín out of the team for the games against Uruguay, Venezuela and Peru. I’m no Icardi fan, but selecting Higuaín for Argentina would not have affected Icardi chance of being called up for Argentina. Instead of trying Messi-Dybala-Icardi together, I think Higuaín and Icardi would have been much better in attack with Messi and three other midfielders behind them. Higuaín dropping deep in midfield throughout the game will eventual turn what is a four-man midfield into five-man midfield making the attack less predictable. Higuaín also has the ability to drop deep which would make playing alongside Icardi less predictable for the opposing team. Moreover, Higuaín is also good on counter attacking moves which this current Argentina team truly lacks. I like Dybala, but him and Messi playing together is always hindering each other on the pitch; this was the case against Brazil in the friendly and the two most recent qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela. The coach has to decide on whether to bench either Dybala or Messi, it’s that simple. Higuaín and Icardi playing together would have worth the risk taking in such a short period of time compare to Messi-Icardi-Dybala.

    I wasn’t calling for a new coach; all I was suggesting is that Maradona got us over the line in the CONMEBOL qualifiers. So of course I would take Maradona situation in 2009 compare to the one Argentina find itself in right now. Imo Argentina not making the 2018 world cup is worse than Argentina losing to Germany 4-0 at the 2010 world cup. Seriously, I can’t even contemplate about a world cup without Argentina. I would take losing 4-0 at the world cup than seeing Argentina missing out, at least when you’re at the world cup, even if the other team is better, you’ll still have a chance to make progress. Now with the team being possible out of the 2018 world cup, they won’t even get a chance to win it.

    The AFA is the sole problem here, we throw all these inexperience young players in tough situation and expect them to perform at a high level. How are the young players going to have the confidence playing in this incoherent and ever changing Argentina senior team? When a team has confidence and is playing at a high level usually every shot they take goes in the net. When Germany or Spain introduce young players in their team they barely struggle, it’s like they have been playing with their respective teams for years and this is the contrary with the current Argentina national team. Argentina doesn’t have a suitable playing philosophy and every young player being introduce on the team always look as clueless as all the other senior members on the squad. It all comes down to youth football. Argentina haven’t had a reliably successful youth team in the last several years that could make a serious transition into the national team. We have been depending on the same players for years because of the lack of youth success. You know this and I know this to be true. I use to love Argentina youth football more than the senior team because they were the only one winning, now that well has been dried up to no good effect on the Argentina national team.

    Everyone that walks and move on a football pitch should play for Argentina according to many people on this site. Any player who had a good game for a mid-table club team in Europe should be in the Argentina national team whether they’re mediocre or not, they should be given a tryout. For me, it shouldn’t be easy for some of these players to be cap by the Argentina national team. I’m all for having better options than the likes of Di Maria, Mascherano, Biglia and Banega, but let’s be honest here, do you see any other Argentina players out there who are better than these guys? And I hope you’re not one of those Mundo Paredes fanatic, the guy who plays in the Russian league. The Russian national team will be fortunate to get out of the group stage in 2018. None of our so call most talented young players are good enough to start or make the bench of any of the elite clubs in Europe yet on Mundo they’re good enough to play for Argentina.

    The teams that perform well and have a great shot at winning the world cup are teams that are loaded with players from the best clubs in Europe. You can’t blame the Argentina coaches for using these same veteran players over and over again because the lower tier of the national team is really thin when it comes to quality players.

    Like you I always knew the Argentina Primera was average. I just never get the hype here when it comes to the Primera. The Argentina Primera was great back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, now it’s just mediocre football being pass off as quality football here on Mundo. Enzo Perez had to leave Valencia this summer and now look at them, Valencia have made one of their best start in La Liga since the early 2000’s. Now after several games in the Primera and Copa Lib you would believe Enzo Perez was this new big thing here on Mundo. The same thing for Gago, injured ruin his career and moving back to Argentina should never warrant him a call up back to the national team. At Roma Under Luis Enrique, Gago was losing his spot in the starting XI to USA international Michael Bradley. The fact remains that the players in the Argentina local league are not that good. And it’s not only the Primera, all the other leagues in South America/Mexico right now are a joke. The level of football is really low on the America’s continent.

    If Argentina should miss out, then it’s an 80% chance the world cup stays in Europe. Without Argentina, Brazil will be the only team outside of Europe who will challenge for the world cup. With Argentina and Brazil, I would still give Europe 60% chance of keeping the world cup on their continent.

    • hey guys I am up with a very interesting news. I heard peru and colombia got three and two invalid bonus points with regards to the nelson caballero incident. That means even if argentina loses on tuesday they are gonna be sitting firmly at least in the playoff position if the bonus points are in fact taken away from those two countries. I heard the lawyer who got messi acquited of the five match ban he had imposed on him is going to work in this case. what update can you provide with regards to this circumstance?

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LplMk4xqPU0
      remezcla.com/sports/chile-peru-bolivia-world-cup

      • yes I hope so…Brazil should beat chile at home if they play 80%…Columbia beating Peru will help us and also Paraguay draw with venezuela..now Paraguay has a great chance with venezuela at home, i hope venezuela plays well

  67. Start the match with a surprise – Messi as false 9
    ————–MESSI——————
    DYBALA————A GOMEZ
    DIMARIA—PAREDES-BANEGA
    ACUNA—–MASCHERANO-OTAMENDI—MERCADO
    ——————————–ROMERO———————————

    Dybala should play a little withdrawn (a la Messi) and should focus on creating the play rather than finishing it.

    Substitute DiMaria with Icardi after 45 mins if things do not work and get back into 4-2-3-1.

    ————–ICARDI——————
    DYBALA——MESSI——A GOMEZ
    PAREDES———BANEGA
    ACUNA—–MASCHERANO-OTAMENDI—MERCADO
    ——————————–ROMERO———————————

    Sampaoli has been fearless to try new faces, yet not enough to go all out attack. He also went for miracle rather than going with the best 11. Starting Beneditto over Icardi. He could have started Paredes instead of Biglia against Peru as it was obvious they would defend with 10 guys.

  68. Last night was not a terrible game. Average at best. I think that is one of those shots that Benedetto took or if Papu would have scored we would be saying something differently today. Banega needs to just sit out moving forward…he it not a good option and certainly not the motor/brain of the team. Gago was a good choice over Banega and I wanted to see him out there but of course he became injured within 3 min of play. I would have opted for Dybala though. At this point we have no creative mids that can be the engine of this team and placing the expectation on Messi to distribute, attack and score is alot while most of the team stands and watches. Our gameplay has become pretty redundant as well, we play from the center to the wings, wingers play back to the middle, back to the winger etc. When you have 10 players defending against 7-8 on offense just circulating the ball the same way over and over again and no one creating, eventually you will get what we have now, a predictable and redundant gameplay.

    Do you guys remember what Sabella did when our defense was weak? He threw the team further back, made us more compact and we hit teams with the counter and we won many games like that. My point is, instead of doing what we have been doing over and over again with no goals or win…maybe let the opponent have the ball a bit and try to counter and hit them that way. I think for this last game we need to forget Icardi as he is injured. Bendetto as well. Let’s just play Messi upfront as a CF or false 9 so he can drop a little and place Dybala as CAM as he is the only player I see that can create on the pitch. I think this lineup can work against Ecuador. Defense was good last night so I would leave them alone:

    ——————–Messi
    ——–Gomez – Dybala – Salvio/Rigoni
    ————Paredes – Biglia
    Acuña – Mascherano – Otamendi – Mercado
    ——————Romero

    Let Messi be the finisher with less defenders around him. He drops too far where we place him now and by then has too many defender eyeing him. With his speed all we need is a decent pass to him and for him to get past 1-2 defenders at best.

    • We may want to see Messi at the top, as finisher only that lets create play his teammates but that is impossible now (maybe at all). You can’t change DNA of this team and Messi in a few days.

      • You have to do that. If we don’t we will be stuck in the same redundant play. Ecuador will sit in the back with 9-10 players defending and we will have to try and break that. Make Dybala more a playmaker which he is used to doing at Juve. We have to go in differently or Ecuador will play for a tie.

      • Gonzalo…take a strong breath. U think all our worst nightmare will really come true or u still think Argentina will somehow make it?
        I have watched football for a long long time, especially my beloved Argentine team and loads and loads of Argentinians play for years. But I have never seen anything inexplicable like what is happening to our team right now. How can a team fail to score for such a long stretch? We can understand if the opposition goalkeeper makes tons of saves and we keep hitting the post but nothing like that happened either against Venezuela or Peru and at home. The opposition did their job on us without any difficulties or huffing and puffing. And at home and it’s Venezuela and Peru.
        Ever since Sampaoli took over, we read about how his team is working over time in analysing everything to the minute details and things like that sound very positive, but when it comes to the action nothing shows, infact I have never seen an Argentine team so low on confidence and timid. At no point in both our last 2 matches did i honestly feel, we were gonna score, infact my only fear was we are gonna fall prey to a quick counter.
        I have given up any hope at this point, and just praying all other results come out in our favor miraculously.

        • @saant

          “U think all our worst nightmare will really come true or u still think Argentina will somehow make it?”

          “But I have never seen anything inexplicable like what is happening to our team right now”

          in fact thesedays I’m more metaphysic than practic and empiric. Normally, just like you, I try to understand all things on concrete, analyzing level. But Argentina have had 73 shots on goal since their last goal in qualifiers. That’s hard to explicate without any resort to metaphysics. I am believer in the end.

          All is possible. I wouldn’t be surprised if Argentina suddenly will beat Ecuador by few goals, I will not be surprised If they will beaten by Ecuador. Only idiot may give assured predictions now.

    • good to read. but I am expecting the line up against Ecuador is Romero there s no other choice so
      Romero, Mercado, Otamandi, Mascherano, Fazio
      DI MARIA, Paredes, Banega, Salvio
      Messi,Dybela, Icardi this team will really wins games mixed age group definitely support against the home team playing the altitude

  69. Muscherano’s horrendous back pass against Peru away…Messi’s friend Aguero’s penalty miss…Romero’s stupid goalkeeping whole WCQ …Messi’s stupid foul mouthing toward a referee (for nothing actually) hence few match banned…Loosing to Paraguay home…draw with Venezuela home..urggggghhhhh this is not a football team…circus

  71. The only thing that can save Argentina qualifying hopes for the 2018 world cup is FIFA. FIFA will likely pull off some hand wringing behind closed door just to make sure Messi is at the world cup. It all comes down to if FIFA want a world cup without the biggest player in the sport. Argentina gets through because of Messi importance for the game of football in general. Given that Ecuador have no chance of qualifying it won’t be hard for FIFA to make a deal with the Ecuadorian FA on making sure Messi doesn’t miss out at the world cup. Look for a pk win for Argentina in a 2-1 or a 1-0 victory over Ecuador. This is the only way Argentina makes it to Russia with the help of FIFA (and this as more to do with Messi than the Argentina national team). On a normal day, Ecuador would be motivated to take Argentina out with them, but given the circumstances, I hope FIFA get Messi to the world cup, I don’t care about Argentina and the AFA at this point, not seeing Messi at the world cup will lose FIFA a lot of fans, money and viewership.

    Although what I wrote may sound wrong, I do have a feeling this is what going to happen next Tuesday.

    People here and on many other websites tend to hate on the Argentina defense but it has been the best thing in the last several years about the overall team. While our attackers have been the most overrated bunch of guys put together, it’s usually the criticize Argentina national team backline and Romero who have been the most consistent aspect about the team. As I’ve said before, you can’t expect Romero and the defenders to show up day in and day out keeping a clean sheet and preventing shots on goal while the attackers keep on failing, at some point something will have to give. Argentina overrated attackers have let them down; nobody else but the attackers. 22 shots on goal against Peru accumulate to ZERO goals. 21 shots on goal against Venezuela accumulated to ZERO goals if not for a Venezuelan own goal. So whose fault is to blame here? If you put Busquets in this current Argentina midfield nothing would change. If Argentina had a pk against Peru yesterday I wouldn’t be surprise if they bottle the chance.

    The disrespect showed towards Higuaín from Sampaoli was uncalled for. Aguero is not available due to injury yet Higuaín wasn’t good enough to play against Peru the same team he scored against in Lima? Higuaín wasn’t good to play against Venezuela the same team he scored against twice at the 2016 Copa America? At least with Buaza Argentina would have gotten an ugly win against both Peru and Venezuela at home, with Sampaoli he has done little to improve on what Buaza did for the short time he was with the team. Higuaín never deserves to be snub for Beneditto or the over Icardi, none of whom are anywhere close to Higuaín level. Yes, Higuain missed at the 2018 world cup final, but what about his goals against Belgium, Peru and Venezuela in 2014 and 2016? What about his link up play and even assisting ability? Why was Pizarro drop? Please, please, please answer these questions Sampaoli. Sampaoli is nothing but a radical unstable coach. I can’t support Sampaoli anymore, I would take Diego Maradona back at this point. Sabella is the best coach Argentina had in over 20 years, if he was given the support and financial help the team would have been at a high level right now. The AFA and Sampaoli is all a JOKE. It’s just sad to see guys like Messi, Masche and Romero have to go down with this cartel of a football organization.

    • Hi Kid. I am yet to understand the recent relationship between FIFA and AFA. Starting from Messi suspension, giving away points to Chile and Bolivia and other few things, looks like it is a cold relation right now. Although the Messi angle is rightly pointed out and there is a serious threat of revenue loss.

    • Kid,
      I was waiting for your comments, and once again you are about 50 percent correct. You want another coach now? Thats the problem? Sampanli missed all the shots? What is another coach going to do? You want Higuain back? The piece of shit that cost us 3 cups because of his choking? Where are the comments like last time about how great DiMaria is?
      I am a huge fan just like you are. But when is enough enough? Lets be honest and talk honestly instead of hoping and dreaming. This team is the definition of dysfunctional. Yes the back line has saved our ass. But we keep recycling the same pieces of shit in midfield, and we expect some miracle results. At least 6 coaches, and 13 years, and nobody can figure out how to win it all with Messi. You know why? Because they act as servants on the pitch around him. Messi is great, but let me tell you the guy is NO leader. He is an introverted hermit that still isn’t the captain of his club team after all those championships. You know why Iniesta is the captain? Because he knows how to lead.
      Dybala said last week its hard to play with Messi. Translated that means everybody on this loser team is here to give Messi service. Couple that with a weak psyche and you have a bunch of draws with shitty teams.
      From a footballing standpoint, we have nobody in midfield worth anything. Banega, Biglia, Gago, DiMaria, Pastore, Gomez, and all the other retreads all suck. There is nobody that can generate a play. Biglia is so shitty Messi needs to play back in midfield. I will even take it one step further. There was hardly a play in the first half where someone even took the ball to the penalty box. All we had was lateral and backward passing. Besides the fact that they can’t be creative, they are the slowest bunch of players I have ever seen. They look like middle aged fat men running instead of young men. Even when a play develops it is so slow and predictable that defenders get there.
      There may be some funny business to get Argentina to the world cup, but it certainly isn’t from the product on the field.

    • “Sampaoli is nothing but a radical unstable coach”

      I don’t think Sampaoli is radical coach. He introduced some new names but also still keep core the experienced ones. Look, both you and me (and most of people) wanted to see Papu Gomez. What did Papu? Very little if not nothing. Who could have predicted that since he is so great in club. Great in club as well as Messi, Higuain, Aguero Icardi, Dybala, Benedetto. All they are great in their clubs but not in NT. What is the disease that captured our players. Are they sick of NT? The problem is deeper than one called/uncalled player.

      Of your old players still many were there yesterday Romero, Mascherano, Biglia, Gago, Di Maria, Enzo Perez, Banega, Messi and they didn’t scored. Referring to all these that were absence makes no sense anymore while most of them had enough starts in current qualifiers. I would also argue now for Nacho Fernandez, his absence as reason, someone other argue for Paredes and his absence as reason, and someone other for Higuain – but it doesen’t make sense. The problem is deeper. Maybe even of metaphysical nature.

      Another thing is in few days we may be once again cocksure about Sampaoli and our team if they will beat Ecuador by alleged new panacea tactic or for example because of Dybala/Icardi scoring winning goal. I mean, people are too self-suggestioned. Sometimes a hair makes them prone to judge a player or whole team in two radically different ways. If that own goal of opponent player was Icardi tap they would be assured that Icardi is best for us and will change everything. But Icardi didn’t tap and they rashly forgot about him. Just like forgot about Dybala. All this is too shaky and emotional. Sampaoli needs time (even if he will not qualify), Icardi needs time, Dybala needs time, Papu needs time, Benedetto needs time – all they are great for their clubs.

      All the players (and the older as well) may do better if they will got more time. With one exception – none of our great goalscorers will find a net if we will have heavens against us. Either heavens want to get us through whole the ordeal to more happy end or they want to doomed us. That is the question.

      • u want to know the problem

        i will tell you… if juve barca mancity loose their match… no one blame dybala messi higuain icardi auguero… but here they dont play one match… every body criticising.. that pressure makes even hard they have in their in mind… smille will deleiver great performance.. but no one had smile while playing for argentina… the answer is pressure no body can cope with that… even messi had extra pressure… because maradona won it they want messi perform every match… even they dont know he was marked by three or four players when he touch the ball… if messi was born before maradona he would have lifted three world cup for them… that presure maradona dont have that time… they supported maradona but not in the messi case… everybody in argentina want messi to perform… but he was the main target for opponent.. and other have presure too but not same as messi has so no one ready to take that pressure from him… in the world cup final and two copa america… no one ready to take that pressure from..him.. now in the qualifiers… last 17 qualifiers messi played around 10 matches argentina never loose with messi… this is for messi doubters..; with out him no one performed… thats the problem… argentina have… argentina news papers and most of the fans ready for critising… thats why gomes parades your nacho higuain aguero dybala icardi… have mental stress while playing for argentina… they never going to same as the club level untill fans show some respect and support.. support them one last time… if still some of them want to critise them and the coach… argentina dont deserve to be in the world cup…. because football is beautifull thing… if argentina fans dont understand that… they wont deserve world cup… not the players.. i hope someone take that presure from him and perform against equadar finaly help him and we will be in the world cup… other wise i dont watch football again… i never going to critisise anyone… vamos argentina

    • Fifa or adidas helping messi is myth. Fifa gave peru and chile undeserved points.
      i still believe we will qualify and play new zealand but it will be the other results that will help us go through.

    • i dont about some of your comments but yes the AFA is the biggest joke and laughing stock in the world. you have the best forwards and best player yet you could not hire a decent coach until the last few important qualifiers? WTF and Y and how come Tata had to step down after 6 months or 9 months of no pay? that scum of the earth should have been fired right after the copa america, same with the batista and so on and so on, THE AFA needs to have balls to fire coach if he doesnt get the job done, this sends a message to the rest of the players and coaching staff as well. but for once sampaoli is a real coach like sabella, pakerman and bielsa. So he needs more than 8 games to be judged just like bauza has had more games. for once we have a coach who is working his fuckin ass off and that is a rare thing in argentine national team for the last major part of the decade, and like people who say messi wants only to play with friends, jesus u people are smoking some crazy crack, like come on make some other BS excuse for the failure instead of that. we need a fuckin system simple. if one player gets injured you have others to replace him. i dont know about you guys who has played what postion when it comes to football, but i played as a MID, and no matter what u win or lose the MID will always be talked about because its the engine room of the team and it can always improve. MID needs to be strong and fast and techincal and full of leadership and ownership of dominating a game. here u have fuckin shit mid who cant run if there life depended on it let alone dominating it. the passes from MID are shit safe passes to the side or back no real treat of take on and through balls or even vertical passes, WTF and this MID makes the Classic argentine MIDs feel like its an insult when guys like bigila and bangea start the match together. i had lots of hope for benega when he played for Boca but since then and his alcohol problems and so on and his form is not uo to the standard of argentine MID, trust me i have been watching argentine since 1986 and this mid is as bad as the 1990 mid. i feel i can go on a fuckin rant for ever but no point of this shit, i have been reading comments religiously every morning and evening since 2006, and some times i read and wonder wtf am i doing this for, like we as fans need to support the team and be intelligent enough to know the fact which is a good coach and which isnt, we also should be smart to know the level of competition is going up each day. so our team needs to be competitive, the entire structure needs to be rebuilt, hopefully we win on Tuesday and can rebuilt from scratch. rest lets just be positive and hope and pray

  72. Deb here, writing something first time after 2014 final. Have been following all posts though. Hi all.
    Well… 1 match left, and perhaps Argentina are not going to Russia. UNTHINKABLE. Don’t know who to blame. Team playing good possession game. Creating chances every game. Forwards are all in sparkling form in club football, somehow not finishing with NT. Not even Bombonera atmosphere could stimulate the team enough. No luck in any of the games. We kept asking for Icardi, he came and yet no success. Dybala can’t combine with Messi. Higuain and Aguero couldn’t revive their NT career. Di Maria gets injured when he plays well. Same story, again and again. Sampaoli has got 5 games so far, yet there is no starting 11 in his mind. Keeps rotating like crazy.

    Argentina can still win the last game and qualify. OR the worse will happen. A bad match, team loses, end of an era. Messi and co. call it quits. What do you think we are going to witness next week?

  74. We were hopeful when Sampaoli got appointed..
    We were hopeful when we drew with Uruguay..
    We were hopeful when we drew with Venezuela..
    We were hopeful when we drew with Peru..

    The result will be the same. There is no reason to believe Argentina will score against Ecuador. They will not even draw. They will lose, if going by trend and performance.

    The only way I can see Argentina going through is if FIFA (or other governing body) intervenes and somehow asks Ecuador to lose, since they are already out.

    Have Argentina ever scored or won at altitude?

    • “The result will be the same. There is no reason to believe Argentina will score against Ecuador”.

      That is true. We need miracle. The same miracle and supernatural intervention that made Argentina didn’t haven’t been scoring action goal since November 2016. We are in hell. This is our “Katabasis”. But we must remember that Descension pecessed Ascension. Notice irony that in Tuesday we still may be the happiest team on the world. We may be even more happy than Brazil for his 1st location or any other team that qualified on WC.

  75. Any way you dress this pig, it is still a pig..There is NO indication, ZERO indication, NOTHING, NADA that this team will score in Ecuador in that altitude. The only thing I will say is everybody on this team is beholden to Messi. They treat him like Jesus Christ. They all think their job is to get the ball to him and let him score That is not a team. We are not a team. Dybala even said it. That is why he is not starting. The game plan is get the ball to Messi. Get ready for a long summer everyone. We are going no where. Open your eyes.

    • messi needs a system that he slots into, he also needs to be put in check. every player needs roles and if one is injured the others should be able to replace him quickly, players need proper guidelines of roles and again starts at the top to the bottom it makes everyones job easier that way and players play with more responsibility and joy

  76. Gago is a high quality player but unfortunately his career is full of injuries, did you guys notice within 2 mins, gago just put a long ball to rigoni which rigoni just got offside..we need a midfielder like gago and his vision…i will not predict any line up, only hope Argentina puts the chances they get..they will again create chances against equador..someone needs to put it into the net..thats it…and we need some luck..

  77. I THINK THE FOLLOWING LINEUP IS THE BEST FOR NEXT MATCH 3-3-3-1
    ————–ICARDI
    —DI MARIA—-MESSI—-A GOMEZ
    —ENZO PEREZ—PAREDES—-SALVIO
    —MERCADO—-OTAMENDI—–MASCHERANO
    ———–ROMERO

    A GOMEZ,SALVIO CAN VITALISE RIGHT SIDE BOTH GOOD AT DRIBBLING AND SHOOTING.PAREDES GOOD AT DRIBBLING AND INCREASE CREATIVITY IN MIDFIELD.
    DI MARIA BETTER ATTACKS ON THE NORMAL LEFT SIDE WITH MERCADO SUPPORTING HIM.ENZO PEREZ IS STRONG AND ABLE TO DEFENSE SO THAT HE CAN COOPERATE WITH MERCADO ONCE MERCADO GO FORWARD TO ASSIST DI MARIA. OTAMEND AND MASCHERANO HAVE EXPERIENCE AND BIG HEART .

    DIMARIA ,A GOMEZ,SALVIO AND PAREDES ALL CAN LONG SHOOT. I THINK SALVIO+A GOMEZ IS BETTER THAN ACUNA+A GOMEZ

  78. It’s not that tough as i thought. Teams are actually adapting the high altitude factor. After watching Ecuador last few games seems like they are really clumsy. If we could neutrolize Uruguayan and Peruvian counter attack than i am sure we can stop Ecuador too. We just need to be sharp on striking. They missing their striker who scored against us and Antonio Valencia too. Good news that is. I hope they don’t start proving anything against us. Report from Ole that all Players will stay at camp untill Ecuador game. They won’t go home or anywhere. Their relatives can visit them. Get serious guys

  79. I don’t see a one player to blame here. People who want to blame Benedetto (first time starter for NT) are just hypocrite. He lost 3 chances. Now try to count how many starts and minutes in this qualifiers had players like Higuain, Aguero or Di Maria. And how many goals they had? 1 togther during whole the qualifiers. If Bendetto is blame try to multiplicate his guilt x the minutes and games the three above had in this qualifers.

    Symbolic is that people want to see Benedetto choking in 45:30 second (they shoot right at goalkeeper) and they don’t want to see Messi choking most just one second later (he didn’t scored at open goal without goalkeeper). Benedetto had his opportunities, Messi had his opportunities, Papa had as well (maybe best opportunities of whole the game in ’56). Di Maria hadn’t rather, he was quiet most of the game.

    I don’t see one player to blame for whole the qualifiers. All this just looks like we are really cursed and the heavens don’t want to see us on WC.

    • comedy of the century..you hide somewhere then come with stupid cmt.. messi not no 9 here benedetto… he missed three clear chances… messi shot went to goal… but peru defender had slight touch with this shot…. thats why the ball hit the post otherwise it would have been a goal.. and you again blaming higuain aguero or dimaria…. i dont get it… gomez played he missed a chance also… no body is cant able to handle the pressure… you still come up with cmt to critisise messi… first match… or last match.. if he wont score in his homeground with three clear chance… no local players wont cappable of handling the pressure thats for sure.. what i have learned this match… he wont get another chance… team played well… stop making blaming the players… i hope we can qualify… but no more local players…. thats for sure… there stupid.. then i thought…. please dont make useless cmt… best player: mascherano and messi in this match… you still wants to cmt about messsi… and worst player full match: your benedetto and gomez.. but blaming benedetto is correct…. u are hating other players.. your loveable players had poor match….

      • Arjunamessi, if youu really thing Messi did only well
        just check Messi in the minutes below (nuda facta). His performance was ambiguous. I see he created most chances but on the other hand you see in too much holding the ball and dribling, losts, you see missed opportinities, wrong passes and even 2-3 times problem with ball controll :

        5:11
        7:00
        13:03
        17:12
        17:51
        19:02
        19:52
        20:40
        21:32
        23:03
        26:52
        27:04
        27:25
        34:42
        36:18
        36:24
        38:42
        40:03
        40:05
        44:56
        45:30
        51:34
        54:50
        81:40
        86:09
        86:27
        86:36
        88:54
        90:00
        90:40
        92:04
        93:10

        • And? He played with all of these mistakes a completely different ball game than the others as usual. And Benedetto simply a clown, after his horrible touch against Venezuela I see this guy is hopeless, and of course I was right. The best player of the PD just a local hero. 4 big chances. I hope he will not play against Ecuador or we are dead. Aguero injury was simply Karma, he would score from these clear cut chances at least 1 goal. Argentine fans simply deserves these Benedettos and co. (Rigoni, Acuna, Gomez and the other unappreciated genius) be glad with them out of the WC.

          • “after his horrible touch against Venezuela I see this guy is hopeless” – haha after one touch wise, visionary Csabalala saw him hopeless. He knew that! He knew! after one mistake. Oh my goddness. Please, piccolo, stay in your childish categories estimating player after first game in starting eleven. First start!

            What Aguero you are talking about? I thought you are buchhalter. But you even can’t to count. Now, piccolo, please to check and count how many starts and minutes had Aguero in these qualifiers. And how many goals. O. Null. Sorry but numbers are still for Benedetto. You may even take 3 your favoutite plaers – Higuain, Aguero and Di maria – and count how many minutes and starts they had together in this qualifiers and how many goals. I think 1 (sic!) goal together!!! Am I wrong? That is just horrible.

            Injury of Aguero was Karma? First, what do you understand by Karma? Piccolo, You’ve been saying as if Di Maria injury months ago was Karma and something like ‘if only he was there’ till the end of the game… Now he has played full game against Peru. And what? Rather invisible most of the game. Who is next in this relay of “if only he was there”. Higuain?

            So stop manipulations with talking as if Aguero or Higuain never played in current qualifiers. As I said they had their chances (much more than Bendetoo) and they fucked up – more times than Benedetto, dear piccolo.

          • Piccolo thats your whore mother nickname Psychopath? I will laugh hard if Argentina won’t qualify with these mediocre nobodies, these idiot fans deserve it. Dybala and Icardi on the bench and Rigoni or Benedetto playing, Monthy Python. Karma is a bitch. Since Maradona cheatings

          • Csabalala I just saved your post

            “I will laugh hard if Argentina won’t qualify with these mediocre nobodies, these idiot fans deserve it”

            that’s tell us all about you. And just don’t try to pretend for Dybala and Icardi supporter now. Everyone knows you were biggest critic of the two always.

          • “I will laugh hard if Argentina won’t qualify with these mediocre nobodies, these idiot fans deserve it”

            if Argentina will not qualify you should thank your favourites first of all: Higuain, Aguero, Di Maria because they scored 1 goal together while had played many, many, many, many, many, many more minutes than Benedetto or Rigoni.

            Now your problem is also Rigoni. But he is not local league player actually. He is in the same club as Paredes. So what is your problem with him. The guy had few minutes in NT and you already deleted him. That is pure idiotism or just jaded child.

        • reply to gonzalo

          yes he is not a machine he will make mistake… but he can create chance for others… how many chance benedetto created.. yes i know he is also human… he missed not one chance three more…. watch the match again… banega chance created none gomez none rigoni none dimaria none acuna none marcado none: messi… three chances to benetteto, one to gomez: one to rigoni and he had one chance but defender got slight touch other wise he will score… if messi had those 5 chances he will defenitle score 3 of those… but argentina dont have creater…. and messi will make mistake because he is sourrounded by three or four players… other player dont have that attention… understand messi look the match again… watch gomez dimaria when two players come to them they will back pass easily…. but messi wont… he knows he can cope with that presure and create the chance…. understand the game lol….

    • Argentina didn’t scored action goal since November 2016 (only 1 goal of Messi penalty and 1 own goal of opponent). Enough said. Now just try to explain this without any metaphisical involvement.

  80. Okay you guys need to stop with the messi didn’t play well just watch this people https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJarSa5sRu4, yes he missed an open goal but look what he did, he gave 3 or 4 finished balls ready to go in the net. Seriously stop blaming everything on him. Sampaoli is a great coach but for perus match it could of been a better formation by far, i dont like biglia and benedetto oh where do i start. If you guys take the wc qualifier match and it’s importance out of your head, we played a great game lots of chances guys with possesion, we could of been better by one scoring goals, and two get more creative in the midfield, if you guys notice our midfielders dont play any vertical passes, and i read a comment that said all you people saying the midfield is an issue you dont know what you are talking about or something like that. Well i have something to say for you and you all know its true. Mascherano plays as a cb and went he went to the midfield he delivered better passes than all of the midfielders that were on the pitch besides messi of course, and dint forget he probably attacked a couple of times only during the match. So yes for me to see a cb deliver passes better than our midfield then yes we DO have a PROBLEM in the midfield. Mark my words if we qualify the argentina that we know today is going to be a different argentina in the wc, because after we are done with the qualifiers, we then have 8 months to focus on one formation because we have tried so many different formations and players and only sampaoli did that, now i agree that he shouldn’t change so many formations and players at this stage, but dont remeber this guy took a job that no other coach in the world dares to take at this stage. Since the uruguay match then venezuela and now peru i have seen alot of chances created and i mean alot. But one thing that is not working in sampaolis favour is the execution aka goals. And that is why he is being critized alot, but honestly from batista to the last coach bauza i haven’t seen argentina in control of the ball as much as now even under sabellas era and do not forget the chances. So let me tell you why sampaoli is a good coach, because out of all the formations and players he called at this crucial stage he still managed to create aloot of chances and have huge control over the ball, i think we all agree that all we need is the goals, and if the striker misses then dont blame the coach. Bendettos header should of been in, that’s one chance, messi’s open goal miss was a chance, the tap in by the sub was a chance and many more watch the highlights guys. Ik how angry we all are but imagine how angry sampaoli is with our strikers, i actuallay say this and i am convinced, all argentina needs is luck. Players like messi dybala aguero higuain icardi who ade dominating in their leagues but for some reason cant score, and do not tell me they did not have the chance to because they did, they all did. Okay some more than others but they all did. Higuain 2014 final and 2015 and 2016 just reading this is enough to know that something is wrong when the strikers wear the argentina jersey, look at this match, look at the open goal for messi i can score that, we are ralking about messi here and many more by all of them dint forget icardis tap in miss last match. Come on guys we are talking about a frickin tap in and it’s not me or you guys who have to excute it, it is world class strikers who dominate in their leagues.

  81. So some of us here wants to Sampaoli to come out and say,”We are doomed and we not gonna go world cup. We cannot win against Ecuador”. Is that what you guys think a Coach should say to a team that fighting over confidence? Team that trying to score and can’t just get a goal. Team that under immense pressure?
    Man i am not takin his side but he did absolutely correct. Came out and said that we will win vs Ecuador and didn’t criticise his players. Our players need to believe their self now and keep trying the same they did in last two games which is make opportunity to score. Imagine what is goin through in dressing room after the game (i hope you at least play football in your life to feel that). IF Sampaoli came out and criticised his team and said’ “it is hard and we need only luck to beat Ecuador. We will try blah blah”. we would’ve already lost and packed our bags before even kick off. We still has chance and he is the coach to motivate his players to play for win. I know it is BS situation for us. But i am with my team and coach. They need the fans now more than ever. I believe we will win vs Ecuador and we will qualify. It’s not time for blaming. It is time for regrow and bounce back and score some goals. Depend on you now! Are you with the team or you just a another FAKE PLASTIC MADRID FAN (sorry if i hurt anyone)
    Vamos Argentina

  82. You guys only put the blame on Sampoali forgetting that Messi demands the starting line up, he plays with his buddies. Dyballa and Icardi won’t happen in Messi’s era, there is a sensitivity issue between him and Dyballa and lots of hatred with Icardi, we all know. So expect (if we qualify) Messi will take his buddy Aguero to WC along with Diva, Banega, Biglia and so on. By the way he played terribly last night by holding the ball too long or passing erratically. Messi prefers playing with buddies and that was the main reason that he doesn’t have a decent imprint on the national level.

    • Man you guys look so pathetic to come up with something so stupid. If that the case than why Banega was left out in 2014 world cup? Banega is Messi one of best best friend! Team played better without Dybala. There is not much time to make it happen with Messi-Dybala idea. Icardi was coming on if you didn’t notice but Gago injury changed everything. Icardi didn’t start because he had nod. Please think before you speak. Don’t just come up with something doesn’t make sense

  83. I thought let me do little bit of research on game against Ecuador. And now i am thinking why did i do that for? After seeing the stats i am afraid as heck.
    Negative:
    We won with them only once recently and it was 2002 (Bielsa). They have lost only 6 games in their last 37 home games i think. They one of the most successful National team in their home ground.
    Positive:
    They have lost 3 games in this campaign against Brazil,Colombia and peru. They sacked their coach recently(if i am not wrong). They already out of race for world cup and lost last 5 games. They having some issues inside their dressing room too.

    So far i could come up with this. I was looking for Sampaoli’s away record against Ecuador but couldn’t find any. We are in big trouble and only we can get out from that. If we can’t win this game than maybe we are not mean to go Russia. From all the scary stats i feel we need a miracle. Because we just can’t score for some reason. We had enough chances and created a lot too. We have 4 days and 2 training session in one days. So 8 training sessions in 4 days to get some goal and do whatever but we need to win. I don’t mind to play-off against New Zealand too. For me this gonna be extra 2 more games for team to gel. I could’ve taken last 3 games results in the beginning of the campaign but now ending time we are fucked. I hope Ecuador players doesn’t care if they loss or win. Save themselves for their clubs. But it will be a open game than last 3 games that for sure. Do you guys have any stats?

    • Correction: If we can’t beat both Venezuela and Peru at home, then we don’t deserve to go to the WC before even putting Ecuador’s in the equation which is an away game, we suck big time playing away games, we are not Brazil.

      • Your Brazil had same situation in 2002 bro. Spain lost first game in 2010 world cup. It is completely in our hand. Let’s try hard or die hard.

  84. Everything looks better in the morning.
    We will qualify if GOD is willing but the proper steps need to be taken in order for that to happen.
    You have got to believe and I believe will make it and this bad dream will be left in the past to learn and grow from.

  85. After Gago came on, before he got injured we were dominating and creating a bunch of chances. I think Sampoali was smart to bring him on, Gago just has rotten luck with injuries.

    As I watched the game, we created a bunch of chances. Sure, having Benedetto instead of Icard or Dybala didn’t work out. Perhaps one of them would have finished a chance.

    In the end, I think we would have had a 1-0 score if Gago had not been injured. 15 minutes more of the play we had going when Gago was on the field and something would have gone in.

    I think we are at least going to scrape by in Ecuador. And I’m looking forward to the playoff against New Zealand.

    The positive we have going for us is our defense. Only Brazil has less goals scored against than us. We just need a tiny bit of luck and we will go to the World Cup.

  86. We are all supposed to be football fans. Does this look like a quality team to ANYONE? I will tell you what this is.
    We have the best player in the world and 22 other guys that are interchangeable as they are all AVERAGE players on their best day. Sure, our forwards score for their club teams but SOMEONE ELSE is doing ALL the work. Our forwards are what we used to call in the day GARBAGE MEN. Meaning they clean up. But they don’t buy the ingredients or cook the meal.
    Without Messi, we would be Venezuela with this bunch of shit. Its time we face reality. The AFA has been in trouble for a decade. Messi has saved their asses for a decade. He is killing himself out there, and he has no help. 3 coaches in 20 months. 2 new heads of AFA, no style, player development, and douche bags like Veron sticking their bald ass heads in everything. Not to mention the fucking losers from the 78 and 86 generation like Menotti, Maradona, and Bilardo constantly criticizing us to relive their past glory and this dumpster fire is what you have. If we don’t qualify and I was Messi I would immediately retire from the national team. The man has given everything and we have surrounded him with trash.
    One last thing, I mentioned yesterday Benedetto was a bad choice. And some people over here thought it was a good idea. Get this through your head people. THERE IS NOT 1 SINGLE WORLD CLASS PLAYER PLAYING IN THE LOCAL LEAGUE. AS SOON AS THEY HIT 2O OR 21 THEY ARE SOLD. AND PEOPLE HERE THINK BENEDETTO IS ANY GOOD BECAUSE HE COULD SCORE ON SOME FUCKING GUATEMALAN PLAYERS IN LA PRIMERA. INCREDIBLE.

  87. My team for Quito vs
    Ecuador

    Correa Icardi Messi

    Acuna Paredes Enzo

    Mammanna Masch Ota Mercado

    Romero

    Dybala to come in as sub

  88. After the match Sampaoli once again said “I am sure we will be in Russia”. I don’t know what makes him so confident since we couldn’t manage to beat Peru in La Bombonera. I still have faith in Sampa but, you know, the team’s situation has gone from bad to worse and maybe the only thing that makes vs Ecuador ralatively easy is that Ecuador are OUT of the race BUT there will never be a gift from Ecuador, so the team has to work harder than ever. Vamos Argentina!!!

  89. Relax friends.its not over yet. We will win the next match
    I tell you why
    1.Ecuador does not possess the best of defences.
    2. We have fresh legs in j Correa, Icardi Parades Dybala enzo Perez and Pablo Perez. So lets hope for the best. If we qualify then we will do well in wc. There is no correlation between qualifiers and the wc. . I still love my team and boy they do need our support right now.

  90. Where is San Palermo At? Jk guys I was so fruataed last night. And I love what sampa did. But we just have a black cloud over us right now. We will win in Quito. If we make it trough where winning the world cup.

  91. “Messi has created 17 chances in his last 4 World Cup Qualification games with ARG (including 6 big chances). Zero assists!”

    “These games ended: 0-0 vs Peru, 1-1 vs Venezuela, 0-0 vs Uruguay, 1-0 vs Chile (goal by Messi).” (Opta)

  93. Fuck me – worst coaching performance I’ve seen in a long time!! Even worse than Diego.

    I’m speechless as to how bad Sampaoli coached that game. Topped off by bringing Gago on. I mean. seriously, what the fuck is Gago doing in that team anyway. His body is so unreliable and Sampaoli should’ve known this. Totally unacceptable .

    Argentina don’t deserve to qualify. Second worst scoring record in Conembol. They’re a fucking joke this team.

    Total clean out of past players needed, even Messi. Bring on the new generation

    • Gab, you are speaking based on emotion…I re-watched the game with sound off, I think this was the best performance I have seen in a long even though there were no goals, Argentina controlled the game…in fact Romero had only a single save from long range…the ball some times does not want to go in…so, sorry.I feel the same but to say the worse coaching is way over the top…let’s calm before the Ecuador game if Argentina does not win then we can criticize Sampaoli

      • Emotion is the sole attribute of a fan, yet some people take it a bit too far.

        I was pretty satisfied with the team performance. They were unlucky and Peru defense played the game of their life. There was no way through for Messi. And yet we created a few excellent chances for the target man, but unfortunately he spilled all of them. Some of them were well defended by their defense.

      • George, I appreciate your comment but I stand by mine and still believe it was a shocking coaching performance for the following reasons:
        1) Again no creativity in midfield – Given we needed goals, Parades should’ve started instead of Biglia
        2) 1st sub was Rigoni – a player making his NT debut. Sorry but for such a crucial and high pressure game, you don’t play a debutant. There were much better players on the bench like the the world class dybala, correra
        3) And then the biggest mistake of the night was bringing on Gago – no comment needed here because we all saw what happened. It was a total waste of a player selection because Gago should not be near the NT and his selection prevented a better player being selected
        4) We have better strikers than Benedetto and selecting him was a mistake

        I never said it was the worst team performance, only coach. Sampaoli chocked under the pressure

  94. as Ecuador is out of the competition i hope they wont put in a great effort and wont make the last step or the last tackle in this match….this is do or die…stick to the lineup who played peru and let them Show what they r made of….missing the wc would be like hell for me…even though we wont Play any role there…messi has ruined his legacy and wont be remembered for too much after he quits…he will become just another johan cruff or zico or socrates….well thats how rare the really great Players are…wonder if i ever will see someone greater than diego was…my clock is ticking…i am 37 already

    • Manual, I agree with you 110%, for those are saying worse performance are just their comments on emotion, I just watched the game from my recording the sound off, this team was superb…I like the high pressure, intensity–it reminded of Pep days…the goals will come…hopefully in Ecuador…let’s pray and cross our fingers…by the way, I also like the line up…everybody played well

  95. Disappointed by the result but we played well for 80 plus minutes. The curse of luck has hit the team again. Sampaoli needs to be appreciated for making structural changes and getting young blood. But again for a crucial match playing Bendetto and Rigioni was not a great choice. Bendetto is very average be it in terms of strength, accuracy, power and movement. Unfortunately the key chances fell to the two of them. I was expecting DiMaria to be substituted by Dybala and Bendetto by Icardi after the first half. Substitutions of Sampaoli was quite bad. Unfortunately Gago getting injured complicated it. Considering that Peru parked the bus, there was anotehr opportunity for Sampaloi to bring in Dybala instead of Enzo Perez.

    Taking a step back and looking at the SA WCQ, where Argentina has suffered most is park the bus strategies by teams.I had written two years back the gap in quality of South American teams has narrowed down so much that we have literally 7 teams still fighting for 5 slots till the last round. Peru was close to perfect today in terms of park the bus and the defense shape/Keeper through out was excellent. Inspite of that Messi did create atleast 4 chances but just that the goal did not happen. You need luck against park the bus teams. The positives today were:

    1. Mascherano and Messi put in their all to lift the team
    2. Multiple chances were created
    3. Quick pressing for most part of the game
    4. Defense was quite tight and there was hardly any work for Romero

    Now looking at what we did not get right:
    1. Movement of players around Messi. Banega and DiMaria had an average match. Pappu Gomez is a player for the future but his chemistry with others was not great. This was his first match with this group of players and he will surely be a great asset to the team considering his ability to score
    2. Mascherano was the only one who was able to connect with Messi and play quick passes. This is the real issue with the team. Moving the ball quickly from midfield was lacking. Masherano who played in defense moved the ball quickly while Banega, DiMaria and Perez hardly created chances.
    3. Wingbacks were outright pathetic, Acuna and Mercado. There was hardly any contribution from them

    The above shortcomings have been present across coaches. When you do not have good wingbacks, having a striker like Icardi or Bendetto will not help.I am hoping that Ecuador plays an open game. To succeed I will go with the following line up:

    Romero
    Mercado Mascherano Otamendi Mammana
    Pardes
    Banega DiMaria
    Dybala Pappu Gomez
    Messi

    We need to play the ball quick and hope to get a goal early on. Ecuador are quick and we need to play 4 at the back. Unfortunate part is there is no backup for the Banega role.

    In both the matches against Venezuela and Peru, Argenina were really dominant except for the scoreline. I really hope we have some luck against Ecuador.

    Coming to the posts lot many folks are now talking that Argentina does not deserve a place in the World cup. I have seen many world cups where we topped the qualifiers and lost in the group stage or PQF. WCQ in South America for me is more difficult than the World cup itself. The reasons are Refree quality, altitude issues, players travel time, physical game and so on. This can be debated and folks that have been following SA WCQ in the last 20 years will understand this. Once Argentina qualify, the world cup is going to be a different challenge. We need to qualify for Mascherano and Messi. They deserve the cup. Folks that crib about Messi and Mascherano, need to understand why they play for top clubs. There is a gulf of difference in talent between the two and the rest of the team. Mascherano is aging but his commitment and footballing IQ is what has made him a class player of the last decade.

    Keeping my fingers crossed.

  96. Argentina played well in this match. Any other day, it would have been 3-0. They were solid at the back. Played a good possession game. They still lack the movement of barca or Madrid against tight defense, but it is understandable, such movements need a lot of training sessions. Messi was unlucky to score while Benedetto fluffed a few chances, Argentina’s #9 curse continues.

    But let’s give the credit where its due. Peru defense has been other worldly. They made crucial interventions time and again. They had a divine intervention, Messi’s shot was just missed on goal as it had the slightest of touch from one of Peru defenders.

    Team is progressing well under Sampaoli. I’m impressed with the back 4. Acuna is a hard working guy. I think he can be the Jordi alba of Argentina. Mercado also played well. Argentina simply were too unlucky as Gago’s injury testify. However, I wonder why Sampaoli brought on Rigona instead of Dybala. Even if there is no chemistry between he and Messi (there were not much between Rigona and Messi either), it si always good to have a player of Dybala’s ability on the pitch as in Football a moment of individual brilliance can turn the match upside down.

    Messi was the best player on the pitch by far. On another day, he would have got 2-3 assists to his name and atleast one goal too. But he still was not that extra-terrestrial-player we see in Barca. May be that is what too much Pressure, having no team cohesion and to a lesser extent the combination of playing against a compact and organized defense cause to a player.

    If Argentina can win the next match (Hope and pray we win at Ecuador), I’m pretty sure we can go a long way in the world cup and play attractive football. Sampaoli need a bit more time to build his team.

    Hoping for the best and a quick revival of our fortunes. Vamos Argengina!

    Regards,
    A die hard fan of Argentina from India.

  97. Ifanything With Sampaoli the team has regressed. With Bauza atleast when Messi was there we used to win but now even with Messi we don’t win. He has completely destroyed the team with million changes every game and he knows nothing about how to setup a National team.
    Acosta was so bad against Venezuela, so was di maria and so was that garbage Biglia. But all of them were in the squad including that loser Benedetto who couldn’t even control a forward 1-1 chance vs Venezuela.

    Why would you start him when there are strikers like Icardi. Bring in Angel correa who has been brilliant with atletico this season. This bald fuck has no clue about anything. He kept playing the bastard who missed like a milliong 1-1 chances and stayed all night.

    Who brings in a nobody like Gago who plays in midfield and has been off Europe since 2010, When they need a goal? Is he a Ronaldinho who is going to dribble past everyone and score? or a xavi or iniesta? he is a fucking nobody.

    The subs were absolutely shit and its all on this bald fucks head. he bought in Gago who is such a loser that he got injured and didn’t do anything.

    Paredes should have started and so many changes shouldn’t have been made to the starting XI. the shocking of all was dropping icardi who had a 50/50 hand in that goal vs Venezuela. If icardi was their on the pitch he would have scored 1 of those 4 1-1 chances.

    FUCK YOU SAMPAOLI!!!

  98. If we lose in Quito, the next competitive match is in June 2019 at the Copa America. That is 20 months with only friendlies…

  99. We were unlucky on the pitch. However we should be thanking our stars for other results going our way and thus still being in the reckoning.

    Our record against Ecuador away has’nt been great. Its indeed a cause of worry. I don’t have a great feel about this match. Hope Sampaoli can turn the tables and give us a victory.

    04 Jul 1989 Argentina v Ecuador D 0-0 Copa America
    25 May 1994 Ecuador v Argentina W 1-0 International Friendly
    02 Jun 1996 Ecuador v Argentina W 2-0 FIFA World Cup
    30 Apr 1997 Argentina v Ecuador L 2-1 FIFA World Cup
    11 Jun 1997 Ecuador v Argentina D 0-0 Copa America
    01 Jul 1999 Argentina v Ecuador L 3-1 Copa America
    19 Jul 2000 Argentina v Ecuador L 2-0 FIFA World Cup
    14 Aug 2001 Ecuador v Argentina L 0-2 FIFA World Cup
    30 Mar 2004 Argentina v Ecuador L 1-0 FIFA World Cup
    07 Jul 2004 Argentina v Ecuador L 6-1 Copa America
    04 Jun 2005 Ecuador v Argentina W 2-0 FIFA World Cup
    15 Jun 2008 Argentina v Ecuador D 1-1 FIFA World Cup
    10 Jun 2009 Ecuador v Argentina W 2-0 FIFA World Cup
    21 Apr 2011 Argentina v Ecuador D 2-2 International Friendly
    02 Jun 2012 Argentina v Ecuador L 4-0 FIFA World Cup
    11 Jun 2013 Ecuador v Argentina D 1-1 FIFA World Cup
    15 Nov 2013 Ecuador v Argentina D 0-0 International Friendly
    31 Mar 2015 Argentina v Ecuador L 2-1 International Friendly
    08 Oct 2015 Argentina v Ecuador W 0-2 FIFA World Cup

  102. Honestly… I don’t think there are any problem in the team game of Argentina.. It’s sometimes luck is not with you.. Even God move from our side and saying this time I will stop you no matter what happens… I feel very sorry for Messi… still hoping to see him in the world cup

  103. I think Biglia is suspended for the final game due to yellow card accumulation.Ever Banega was not in form today and I think for the final game Paredes deserves his chance.According to me this should be our line up for the final game:
    Romero
    Mercado-Mascherano-Otamendi-Acuna
    Paredes-Enzo Perez
    Dybala-Messi-Papu Gomez
    Icardi
    This is the best possible line up to win the game.
    Note:If Mascherano is not fit then Pezzella should start.
    VAMOS ARGENTINA:)

  105. Doesn’t seem we can score but I BELIEVE
    WE BELIEVE. …
    TILL THE LAST QUALIFIER. ….
    WE HOPE FOR THE BEST. …

    IT’S NOT JUST HARD TO QUALIFY FROM LATIN AMERICA. .
    BUT ITS VERY VERY TOUGH AND LUCK NEEDED. …..

    IT’S NOT ASIA OR EUROPE. ….

    WE CAN ONLY HOPE -SUPPORT-PRAY TO GOD. …WE HAVE KEEP FAITH ON MESSI FOR THE LAST GAME
    …..

    KEEP SUPPORTING FRIENDS IT’S A WIN AWAY
    A GOAL AWAY

    WHOLE mentality will be changed. ……
    Wish sampaoli keeps his head cool

  106. I have not been posting for quite some time, but I must express myself in this critical situation.

    Sampaoli has been poor so far in these WCQ matches.
    First of all, just look at what he said in the press conferences before the matches. Before the Venesuala match, he emphasized: “we are going to score an early goal”, and before the Peru match, he stressed: “I’m convinced we’ll be at the World Cup”. These kind of statements will only create more pressure to the players and it is not going to help anyway, so please just shut the f**k up Sampaoli!

    Secondly the lineup, Sampaoli mentioned Papu Gomez was in great form that is why he was in the starting lineup, how about Dybala? Dybala is not in great form? 10 goals in 7 matches for Juventus is not enough? Di Maria has just came back from injury and he was chosen to start? And you replace him in the half time to prove that you have made a wrong decision? What a joke.

    Thirdly the substitutions, Gago’s injury was an accident, we cannot blame anyone, however, at that time what we needed most was a goal, Banega had not been playing well and it was correct to replace him, but Gago is a more defensive choice compared to Banega, why cant we bring in an attacker like Dybala, Salvio or even Icardi instead? When Gago was injured, why you still chose Enzo Perez instead of an attacking player? Did you know that you had already used up all your substitutions and it was still 0-0?

    I am angry, somehow Sampaoli was overrated, he won the Copa America because of the referees and the dirty chilean players. Of course I hope he can prove me wrong in the next match, but scoring 0 goals in his four WCQ matches just worries me (the only goal we scored was an own goal).

    If we continue to play like this, we will miss the world cup which I really cannot imagine how bad that can be.

    • Okay, sorry but I disagree with every single sentence you wrote here…so, let me get this by saying Argentina will score early and if the team fails to do so…then he is the worse coach…makes not sense to me.

      • Mr George, football is not only a physical game, it is also mental.
        If you say that you are going to get an early goal but when you dont and the time is taking, the pressure will grow within the players, i think this was the most impprtant factor for our draw with venezuela.
        Sampoali has no idea on this topic.

        Btw, if u dont agree with my points, pls provide the reasons.

  107. Alot of you need to shut up and stop blaming sampaoli, i do not agree with his formation for this match especially but atleast he is trying. Why dont some of you put the blame on the players. As hard as it to believe because of the results but sampaoli is improving the team slowly slowly, but the thing is that he came in this difficult time and everybody wants results results. So let us just hope we can qualify and then we can think of improving argentina. And to be honest if argentina can manage to qualify but will play the same way they are playing in the qualifications then i dont want them to qualify so we dont get humiliated

    • Trying what? fuck more the fucked up team? atleast with Bauza we were winning with Messi we don’t even do that now anymore coz messi has a limited role now and others have no role.

      its just pass pass pass and possession with no purpose. that bad fuck should be lynched in public. he is the reason this team cant score a single goal. making awful changes and killing what was an almost dead team.

      What the fuck does Gago, benedtto, pastore and the flop di maria has anything to do with this team? these players are so bad its unbelievable. but he benches the half goal scorer vs venzeuela.

  108. In 1998 WC (may be),Brazil did face the same trouble to qualify & they did win that WC.
    Sampaoli is a great coach & I m confident as well to qualify.

    However, problem is d altitude, when team will move to Ecuador to cope with altitude.

    Is there anybody know about it?

  109. We are in crisis no doubt, but no matter what i will still turn up and support the boys.
    imo the entire campaign boils down to the Venezuela and Paraguay match.
    If Venezuela can hold off Paraguay we shall be in for it.
    The most likely results are..(imo)
    Argentina draw ecudor.
    Colombia defeat Peru by 1 goal margin.
    And Paraguay draw Venezuela
    WE MAY JUST SNEAK IN.
    And by God’s grace if we make it to Russia i see them going a long way, the qualifiers don’t exactly show the exact state of the team. The teams is passing well and
    sampa is certainly an improvement from bauza. The goalless draws certainly won’t feel bad in knockouts so let’s not lose hope
    and remain confident of our chances.
    Vamos!

  110. Is there still thing can be fixed? I don’t understand with this team.

    We have tried almost every ways. We changed coach. We called so many players. We used 3 best strikers from 3 best leagues in the world. We changed the match location. What else we can do?

  111. Enough of this midfield creativity blah blah blah…..
    If you cannot put the ball into an empty net, no excuses. If you cannot beat Venezuela and Peru at home you don’t deserve to be in the WC. I know some will call me names but we have to accept it that when playing for Argentina, Messi is just average nothing special. His wasteful freekicks and corners, his useless dribbling trying to dribble past everyone, his weak mentality . . . .
    Everyone was calling for Sampaoli, Icardi, Dybala etc. you have all of them but still the result is same. We have no quality players, no match winners but bunch of losers.
    456 minutes, and no goal from open play….pathetic
    Do we really deserve to be at the WC?? NO!
    Thank you Messi and co for heartbreak and grief.
    Good bye everyone

  114. BYB BYE ARGENTINA ,DONT CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA. SAMPAOLI MUST BE OUT CAUSE HE USE THE RIGHT TACTICS BUT WRONG PLAYERS. NO CREATIVITY IN MID FIELD.NO JOAQUIN CORREA ,LO CELSO,PAVON,NACHO FERNANDEZ,PAREDES,ALARIO,PITY MARTINEZ OR EVEN GIOVANNI SIMEONE.

    THE PROBLEM OF SAMPAOLI ARE:
    1.BENEDETTO IS NOT WORLD CLASS AND WASTED MANY CHANCES. ALARIO/ICARDI/SIMEONE/HIGUAIN(EXPERIENCE) ARE BETTER

    2. BANEGA+BIGLIA=NO CREATIVITY. LO CELSO AND PAREDES OR EVEN NACHO FERNANDEZ ARE BETTER

    3. DI MARIA IS NOT IN FORM AFTER INJURY. WHY NOT USE JOAQUIN CORREA WHO IS VERY FIT AND TACTICALLY VERY GOOD AT DRIBBLING AND CREATIVE

    4. MESSI+JOAQUIN CORREA+ALARIO = argentina’s best triangle not benedetto+messi+a gomez or icardi+dybala+messi

    5. GAGO IS A RUBBISH WHO WASTED A QUOTA FOR SUB ,HE IS NOT A PERSON YOU TRUST IN

    LET’S HOPE FOR THE FUTURE,MOST OF THE PLAYERS SHOULD BE RETIRED.SAMPAOLI SHOULD BE FIRED!
    P
    ——————-ALARIO/SIMEONE
    ——- JOAQUIN CORREA——PITY MARTINEZ
    OCAMPOS——LO CELSO—–PAREDES——PAVON
    ——MANMANNA—–FUNES MORI—–FOYTH
    ————–DAMIAN MARTINEZ

    • Spot on! Good post.
      Why Sampaoli brings Gago when we need goals is beyond me, especially if you have topscorers from serie a on the bench.

      We cannot beat Peru or Venezuela at home and we are bad at high altitude pitches. It is over.

    • agree. argentina doesnt need slow players. please look back 2006 until now. veron, maxi rodriguez, gago, cambiasso, and now banega, guido pizzaro, bla bla. slow, no confident to attack, no creativity.

      i think recalling aimar, tevez and d’allesadro, argentina would play better.

      dybala? slow and he lost the ball many times on 2 matches before. too overrated.

      messi was selfish several times, forced his self to dribble and dribble. the past match against las palmas he was selfish and kept dribblng. perhaps he didnt trust his friends. he needs xavi iniesta alves and pep guardiola to be an alien. messi is done.

  115. I hope they Keep Sampoali and stop changing coaches, at least he can build for next world cup with different generation of players. Build a system and invest for a few years to come stronger. Find a good captain to lead the team and play cohesively within team synergy and not Messi dependence because that would take you to nowhere. Envision the future and start thinking ahead.

  116. Argentina just doesnt deserve to be in WC right now even though we might qualify miraculously… We don’t have the collective quality and effectiveness enough to be there. As simple as that.

  117. Also, you are dreaming if you think Brazil will win next game or beat Chile. They are qualified with a big margin, nothing to prove anymore, heading to the world cup as the favorites. Second, they don’t want to injure their players, it will be just a warm up session for them preparing for the world cup. Third, they will lose just to prevent Argentina from qualifying knowing that The Argentina will never score a SINGLE GOAL.

  118. It’s very simple here:
    1) Argentina is playing shit. A team plays shit, I mean really shit, do you think it’s fair they qualify?
    2) Samploali is an idiot by just selecting The shit di maria as a starter. This diva got lucky to be in this industry, one of those lucky stars take you to where you don’t deserve or belong. Like any stupid CEO runs a big company, just by luck.
    3) Every game you approach with different players, that is shit.
    4) Beneditto or whatever his name is over Dyballa, Icardi, and Correa is pure shit from head to toe.
    5) Wishing Argentina qualify by calculating every possible scenario of other games, what if and what if that….now that is another shit talk, the team CAN’T SCORE, simple as that.
    6) Messi prefers playing with his buddies: Diva maria and Biglia, that is a complete hang over when he watches next world cup from home.

    • Messi prefers playing only his buddies for both Argentina and Barcelona… that is one thing i never got to understand about him… he by his own foolishness lost the most blessed opportunity to be the best player ever… ‘sold his birthright’
      .
      It was in his own hands to take the world by storm but he chose to sell his birthright.
      .
      Wake up Messi… but now its too late for you.
      .
      The world could count you as another Alfredo Stefano… but we loved seeing you play… for us here at Mundo you are the best ever.
      .
      Yes, nobody in this world is perfect ever… messi too.

  120. [How can we qualify?]

    After such disappointing display still I believe football GOD is with us and we still have chance to qualify for World Cup. Best part is qualification is still in our hand.

    Let’s see the possibilities (as far as I can understand)

    1. Paraguay (24) Vs Venezuela (9)

    – Paraguay win: Paraguay 27, Venezuela 9
    – Venezuela win: Paraguay 24, Venezuela 12
    – Draw: Paraguay 25, Venezuela 10

    Result that would favor us: Venezuela victory. In that case Paraguay will be out of the race.
    Result that could go againt us: Paraguay victory means they will move ahead of us, which is a real possibility.

    2. Uruguay (28) Vs Bolivia (14)

    – Uruguay win: Uruguay 31, Bolivia 14
    – Bolivia win: Uruguay 28, Bolivia 17
    – Draw: Uruguay 29, Bolivia 15

    So a victory and draw for Uruguay is enough for them to qualify. Even if they lose still they will qualify for better goal difference (+10)

    Result that could favor or go against us: Make no sense for us. Uruguay will remain ahead of us and will qualify.

    3. Brazil (38) Vs Chile (26)

    – Brazil win: Brazil 41, Chile 26
    – Chile win: Brazil 38, Chile 29
    – Draw: Brazil 39, Chile 27

    A win for Chile means Chile will qualify.

    Result that would favor us: A Brazil victory with +2 goal difference. That would allow us to remain ahead of Chile even if we draw against Ecuador.
    Result that could go against us: Chile victory. In that case Chile will always remain ahead of us.

    4. Peru (25) Vs Colombia (26)

    – Peru win: Peru 28, Colombia 26
    – Colombia win: Peru 25, Colombia 29
    – Draw: Peru 26, Colombia 27

    A Colombia victory means they will qualify with Brazil and Uruguay.
    A Peru victory means Peru will qualify unless Chile beat Brazil.

    Result that would favor us:
    1. A Colombia victory with good goal difference. That would allow us to remain ahead of Peru even if we draw against Ecuador.
    2. A draw. That will give us a opportunity to move ahead both of them to qualify directly.

    Result that could go against us: Peru victory. That would left us nothing but beating Ecuador.

    Now,

    5. Ecuador (20) vs Argentina (25)

    – Ecuador win: Ecuador 23, Argentina 25
    – Argentina win: Ecuador 20, Argentina 28
    – Draw: Ecuador 21, Argentina 26

    Now for us to qualify:
    ————————-

    A victory for Argentina (28 points)

    – Argentina will qualify directly if any 2 of Chile, Colombia and Peru drop points.
    – Argentina will book at least play-off place irrespective of other results.

    A draw means (26 points for Argentina)

    Still we can qualify directly if,

    – Peru to lose against Colombia by +2 goal difference. Peru will remain in 25. Colombia will qualify with 29 points.
    – Chile to lose against Brazil by +2 goal difference. Chile will remain in 26, but we will move ahead of them by +1 goal difference.
    – Paraguay to lose against Venezula. In that case they will be behind us.

    In that case Brazil (41), Uruguay (31/29/28), Colombia (29), Peru (25), Chile (26) but we will move in 4th position with better goal difference.

    We can book play-off position if any 2 of the below results are matched.

    – Peru to lose against Colombia by +2 goal difference. Peru will remain in 25. Colombia will qualify with 29 points.
    – Chile to lose against Brazil by +2 goal difference. Chile will remain in 26, but we will move ahead of them by +1 goal difference.
    – Paraguay to lose against Venezula. In that case they will be behind us.

    In that case any 2 of Chile, Peru and Paraguay will be out and we will secure 5th spot.

    BUT do we really deserve to qualify like this way?
    Whether this entire team should be banned from playing football for NT?
    Whether we should put end line in Messi era?
    Whether Sampoli should be fired for his too much formation change and zero goals in 3 matches?

    MAY BE OR MAY NOT BE. But at the moment qualification is important. Hope we will qualify by any means. I don’t want to finish my career as a football fan like this way.

  121. Just got back from work and i see this news!! seems like i won’t have to go thorough the agony of early exit in the world cup!! damn!!

Comments are closed.