Lucas BIGLIA: “For number 9, I would prefer HIGUAIN”

By
Roy Nemer
-
43
Lucas Biglia Argentina Ecuador
Photo via AP

Lucas BIGLIA has come out speaking to the press about the Argentina National Team.

It’s been a crazy week for Lucas BIGLIA. He started both of Argentina’s final World Cup Qualifying matches against Peru and Ecuador with everything on the line. And according to this interview with TyC Sports, he would have retired from the National Team had Argentina not made it to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He also spoke about who he would like to see as the number 9 for Argentina. Here’s what he had to say:

Lucas BIGLIA on retirement:

“If we would not have qualified for the World Cup, I’d have retired from Argentina. Myself and several others would have stepped down. I would get to the Argentina team and I had MASCHERANO by my side. Now, thanks to God, I have him behind me.

On Gonzalo HIGUAIN:

“If they asked me to pick a number 9, I’d prefer HIGUAIN. He deserves another World Cup. I’d like to see him as the number 9 once more for the National Team and have him say goodbye in a different way. BENEDETTO and ICARDI are very good. AGUERO, it goes without saying which is why he was called. But I would also like to see HIGUAIN return.

The finals lost:

“The finals which were lost are a thorn. After the second Copa (Copa America final loss), a lot of us thought about leaving. But then the next day we wanted to be back. And we’re going for revenge.

Post match celebration:

“The celebration in the locker room was to let it all out, it wasn’t against anyone. When we didn’t speak to the press, I felt weird because I felt like we weren’t reacing the people (fans). The team doesn’t hate anyone. We started at zero and little by little we went for our objective: Russia.

AC Milan chartering a plane for him:

“I thanked the club (AC Milan) for putting me on the charter. I’m not that relevant for them to do that gesture to me.”

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43 Comments

  1. Biglia,Mascherano,Enzo Perez,Augusto Fernandez,Gago should not go to world cup. they have done well but their time is up. Once a midfielder is over 30 he should retire from the national team. we have more chance of winning if the team is built around guys like Paredes,Guido Pizarro,Rodrigo Battaglia and Lucas Castro.Ive looked at the 6 past world cup winners there is not one midfielder in any of those squads that are over 30.30 is as old as they get.

    Could you see Biglia running out 7 games in 1 month at 32?

    and also I believe Higuains time with the national team should be finished.

  2. he is better than icardi benedetto with the skill but… u cant handle pressure pipita… three finals enough… if you want to be in 23 man win champions league with juve or score against real madrid barca bayern… benedetto is better than you in the arieal duel… i never seen one ariel dual win higuain had… thats why… icardi or benedetto (even though they not score they can help messi even more than higuain) sampolli can develop the team for next world cup… yes i would have taken in a seria league match… in big match i would take icardi…. two no 9 benetteto and icardi

  3. Bigia, thanks but no thanks, I’d rather give Di Maria 5 more chances, heck even Kun, than to the perennial choker Higuain. Even Allegri occasionally criticized Higuain’s mental strength as in their their away game against Barcelona:

    “He [Higuain] started well, but he needs to be more relaxed in games like these because at times he gets annoyed and just lets his head drop,” Allegri told Mediaset…Games like these come down to mental strength”.

    On a a rare occasion when Messi misses a chance we all know that he will redeem himself a million times over, not true with Higuain.

    Despite all of that Sampaoli was willing to give him a chance (and still might) but he never took it, hence his absence in most recent games.

    • totally agreed Enganche-no hig in the n/t for the reasons you have pointed out.
      hig has also had chances under samp and rally did not put in the effort required and I don’t think he at all suits samps style of play from movement to speed.
      even pratto put in more effort then hig in his limited chances.

  4. It’s funny how Messi missed a one v one chance against Belgium at the 2014 world cup yet no one talks about it because Argentina prevailed in the end with a Higuaín goal. We like to talk about the finals yet nobody talks about how it was Higuaín goal that took Argentina to their first semifinal appearance at the world cup in over 20 plus years! Benedetto in his elements and home field advantage failed to score or impress yet I’m to believe some local South American player is going to travel to Russia in the summer of 2018 and take Euro by storm without having no prior success or enough playing time on the European continent? There is no way on earth a world cup is on the European continent and both Higuaín and Aguero are not in the Argentina team. Both Higuaín and Aguero would walk into any international team right now!! The good thing about Acuna is that he switches league just in time to get enough experience playing in Europe right before the 2018 world cup gets on the way.

    • Haters gonna hate brother, I agree. I would still give Icardi and Bene the start, let Higuain sweat a little, but he should be called, especially with Kun hurt.

    • Honestly, major problem i have with Higuaín is the bad luck and omen he brings. Not just Argentina. Immediately he left Madrid, they started winning ucls. It’s almost like his presence, especially in finals, just makes you lose. Don’t underestimate the power of good luck in football. I’d rather pick kun over Higuaín.

  5. I agree 100%. For more than 30 years I have live in Germany and many friends from all over the world did not understand how we are not proud of this team that reached 3 consecutive finals and did not lose any of them in the 90 min. Is our populist mentality, we lack humility? It’s time to let them progress as a team!”
    This statement is really deep and a good one for our situation. I am proud of my team and players. They did their best under all thsese stupid circumstances. Things getting well and so will be play and results.
    #Lets Hope For Best

    • Finally Pratto scoed most goals in qualifiers for us behind Messi despite to have less games than Higuain or Aguero.

        • Strangely, I think a scrappy striker like Pratto would be perfect for this team. Guys like Icardi, Aguero and Higuain are used to being the focal point of attack that they don’t know how to play in a system when they are not.. I personally think Pratto would have scored with some of those passes Messi was feeding Benedetto

    • I with you on this aslam and glued, messi, icardi, pratto, benn and kun as my strikers so far with another young gamble should be included in the mix as I’m not convinced on benn yet, benn seems a good runner and good movement but in front of goal hmmmmmm not yet convinced.

      I think kun could suits samps style of play but we will have to wait and see.

  11. No Higuain please. ….

    Such comments are likely against coach’s choice.

    Meaningless from biglia. .

    No Higuain please. ….

    Have Icardi already tested many times?
    Answer is no
    Such comments makes problem with in team.

    If Higuain and Aguero were very good at National level then why have no goal scorer except Messi. ….

    Let the coach set his tactics himself. ..don’t make pressure on selection. …

  12. Found this comment on another website and it is beautifully written.

    ”I agree 100%. For more than 30 years I have live in Germany and many friends from all over the world did not understand how we are not proud of this team that reached 3 consecutive finals and did not lose any of them in the 90 min. Is our populist mentality, we lack humility? It’s time to let them progress as a team!”

    This sums up how I feel about a lot of Argentina fans including some here on Mundo. Most people take for granted the players Argentina possess and what they have done for their country. I’ve never seen this much hate towards Argentina when they got eliminated from the group stage at the 2002 world cup, but instead the current generation of Argentinean players are hated and despised for reaching three consecutive finals. They’re look down upon as inferior footballers because they lost two finals via pk (Zero goals conceded over 240 minutes) and one final defeat where the team conceded in the 118 minutes against Germany, not Tahiti!

    No mediocre team would make three consecutive finals. People around here say things like, only if we had Modric, Debryne etc. how many finals have they played in with their respective country? Only if we had Isco? How many finals have Isco won with Spain? Why didn’t Spain win the Euros in 2016 with Isco and their great midfield? Xavi was the main reason Spain won all those trophies! Just as how Barcelona midfield have never been the same ever since Xavi retired from Barcelona.

    It’s funny though, whenever I read some comments, you’d think the Argentina national team is in a player crisis mode and are only using professional plumbers and electricians in their games.

    For example; Italy (one of world football biggest teams) got eliminated from the group stage in the last two world cups (2010 by Paraguay and 2014 by Costa Rica) yet people here and in other places would make it seems like because Italy has, say a player like Verratti, that makes them more superior to Argentina midfield which is not even accurately true. ‘’If only Argentina had a Verratti’’, seriously? He is not that good! Oh, Argentina defense is so shaky and weak. ‘’Look at Italy, they have Bonucci, Chiellini and Buffon in their back line yet they’re the team that conceded eleven goals over three finals while the current Argentina backline (with the exclusion of Garay) conceded only one goal over three consecutive finals.

    Argentina have all the players they need. Try to appreciate what you have instead of looking from the inside out and saying ‘’only if Argentina had player A, the Siberian international.’’ The lack of humility towards the Argentina national team has been our biggest let down as supporters, and it is what keeping the Argentina national team from getting across the finish line. We as fans are not humble enough to say thank you guys, well done!

    @Richard, I’m a big fan of yours, but sometimes you always try to compare apples and Oranges. Spain only had a decent enough Italian team in their group follow by Albania, Israel, Macedonia, and Liechtenstein. Belgium had Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Cyprus, and Gibraltar in their group. How are Spain and Belgium qualifying process even remotely close to Argentina in terms of quality opposition? Argentina had to play Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Peru twice over the course of the 2018 qualifying campaign plus travel at altitude to play against quick physical teams like Ecuador and Bolivia. Are you going to come here and compare Argentina preparation to the likes of Spain and Belgium who gets to play against Estonia, Albania, Cyprus, Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar and Israel over two legs? You’re comparing apples and Orange and no way a team like Belgium is in better shape than Argentina given that the only decent opposition they have played against over the entire qualifying process was against Greece and Bosnia. The same for Spain, the only decent enough team they played against over qualifier was Italy.

    What have Spain done since post Xavi? Spain got humiliated at the 2014 world cup (also got humiliated in 2013 at the Confed Cup) and was ousted at the Euros in the knockout round in 2016. As for Belgium? What have they done that is consistently close to Argentina on the international stage?

    What’s with this guy talking about Argentina team is average/above average? Are you people out of your minds? Some of the comments here are just ridiculous. No average/above average team make it to three consecutive FIFA senior finals. Just like how, no average/above average athletes will make the final of a 100m at the Olympics or The Athletics world championships. No average team make the final of the NBA or the NFL (super Bowl). If this is your way of trying to belittle the team, then use another analogy.

    I don’t know if I’ll comment anymore until the world cup comes around, this stuff is going to get way too emotional and I’ve already had enough during the CONMEBOL qualifiers, so the best way to stay positive and collective is to ignore certain comments. Geesh, what’s wrong with you people! As soon as Argentina qualify for the world cup they’re the worst team since slice bread, ‘’no way this mediocre team stand a chance against football giants like Belgium and England.’’

    Argentina playing style at their peak is better to watch than any European team. All you Eurocentric/EPL fanboys bring on your Belgium and France in 2018. Belgium, Spain and France historically has nothing on Argentina.

    • There’s no harm in being humble once in a while. I’m not Argentine but I’ve been following and supporting Argentina since 2002 after they were ousted in the group stage of WC2002. I was also devastated everytime Argentina loses and it affects just the same. That doesn’t make me equal or any better than the Argentines themselves off course. But I also understand that Argentines are proud people who are so proud of their rich history and their NT. In fact, too proud I would say that they tend to be too emotional over some small things.

      I’m not trying to pick a fight with you and I’m not even interested to start one. But I believe that you don’t need to be reminded that Argentina has been the losing finalist in 6 out of the last 9 major tournaments. This is a great achievement and it only further cements Argentina’s status as one of the world football powerhouses. Rather than being an overachiever, Argentina is actually the perennial underachiever in the last decade. These failures also mean that there is something lacking with Argentina. Something that continually prevents them from achieving greatness.

      After 15 years of following Argentina religiously, I’ve concluded that what Argentina lacks is humbleness. Argentines always wants their NT to be seen as the top dog, and rightly so. But this has turned into an obsession that it creates two types of extremism. The first type of extremism is they easily get offended by criticisms against their NT whether the criticisms are justified or not. The second one is they easily get offended with their team’s failures that they don’t have the patient and tend to over criticize their own team whether justified or not. As a result, they fail to see their weaknesses, they fail to fix their weaknesses, they fail to move forward and they tend to put high expectation on their NT and thus giving unnecessary immense pressure for the team to perform. Just ask any former Argentina coaches and players and they will tell you that the pressure of managing/playing for Argentina is immense.

      How do you explain these 6 failures then? Not to mention that it has been 24 years since Argentina last won a major tournament at senior level. For once, Argentina needs to be humble and accept the title as an underdog. Let others take the pressure of being the top dog.

      And have the humbleness to see that other than the forwards, Argentina doesn’t have midfielders and defenders who are currently in hot demand among the top teams in Europe. Di Maria has been reduced as a reserve player at PSG and maybe on his way out. Pastore has always been a reserve player. Banega has been inconsistent with Sevilla. Otamendi is decent at Man City. Biglia is considered a backup player at Milan. Mascherano is no longer a starter at Barca. Argentina has not produced the Zanettis, Sorins, Cambiassos, Simeones, Redondos, Riquelmes, Ayalas, Verons, Aimars, Gallardos and Ruggeris anymore.

  13. Bench warmer at best.
    I would like to see Kun play under Sampoali, maybe in the coming friendlies to see where he stands but the train left the station a long time ago for Huguian.

  14. “He deserves another World Cup. I’d like to see him as the number 9 once more for the National Team and have him say goodbye in a different way”

    oh really? Higuain had 2 World Cups, 3 Copas… Perhaps Biglia want to say he also deserves another World Cup and same old generation deserves for starting line up. No way, Higuain just had his chances. Here comes new.

    World Cup is not best place just to say goodbye.

    • At this rate the average age of Argentina players will be 35. The wc is going to be gruelling competition with lot of matches going for 120 mins. We require at least 50%young team to cope up.

  15. I agree Higuain is one of the best central striker in the world now, however, after the wc2014 and the 2 copa misses, his pressure is super high now every time he wears the argentina jersey. If he has a one on one chance against the keeper again, it is very likely that he is going to miss it again because of the mental pressure.
    Therefore, for me, sorry, no more Argentina for Higuain.
    I prefer Icardi now.

    • Agree with you. He is good, but his mental weakness doesn’t allow him to handle the pressure coming from big matches. He will be left behind and Icardi will get the chance.

  17. How many times you announce a retirement then you come back? That is a question that hasn’t been answered by some players. Second, Higuain is weak infornt of the goal and he doesn’t defend. I’d rather both Icardi and Dybala ahead of him. How do you dream to win world cup will all strikers hitting their 30’s of age? You need at least 2 young strikers to replace tired legs after champion league and leagues.

    However I’m positive that Messi and co will bring Higuain back, Dybala has no chance joining Messi in the world cup, Messi even told Barca’s executives to cancel bidding on Dybala this January as he thinks both can’t paly together when they have similar playstyle.

    The bottom line is that forget making formation having both Messi and Dybala because it won’t happen, watch out, Higuian is back for another blunder in Russia.

    • you come back after some time… dont put your imagination… like useless journalists.. beleive this team.. or come back after wc…. dont need your negative cmt…. for your kind mention..sampolli already looking to replace biglia.. with parades… he will soon change the team before worldcup… and create team around messi.. with dybala… good cmt welcomed…. like biesla said there are more pressure on the argentina players… because of some journalists wants create negative story.. that will only reach people quick… postive cmt.. wont.. try to understand … other wise.. just come up with old story icardi wont play with mache and messi… f**8 off hust watcg player celebration mache with icardi… if you are fool… you can believe any story… but think twice is this true… journalists making the story.. sampoli will create new team… wait and watch… other wise dont watch… dont put negative cmt.. positive will bring successw

  18. He is danm right period. Nobody in their right mind will take Benedetto over Higuain except the irrational emotional Argentinean fans. Ask any coach around the World, who they would picked to go to the World Cup 2018, their top 5 will be Dybala, Higuain, Aguero, Messi and Icardi. One of Higuain problems is the fact that he isn’t the focal point upfront as he is accustomed in Napoli and Juventus. No one can deny his scoring abilities, so not going with him will be foolish and stupid.

    • i agree, out of the shots he missed they where all chances he either created all by himself, he got zero service all games, shit midfield. the lavezzi pass was a horribble angle, the one he fluffed against Germany is no worse than messi and palacio that game and the one at the centenario.. that one he missed, but he did all the right things for the shot. yes he is not a cold hearted poacher, but he he brings much more, all he needs is consistent service. give him 3 chances a game and he alwaya scores. his chemistry with messi is also great, him and messi single handedly beat Brasil in the 4 3 friendly.

      i dont think he should start, but he should be in the team. he is an easy scape goat for a team that failed him just as much.. what if we make the final again and all our #9s are hurt? do we want a palacio in the final when we had the likes of Tevez not eveb called?.. (and i dislike tevez.. ) .. we need all our best players available. we need deep benches.

      • no more higuain plz
        not because he missed alot of winning chances but because he is overweight now and slow. beside his mentality is weak. he can’t play under pressure. and the ghost of failing to score in WC final will hunt him forever.

  21. Whenever I see Biglia I remember THOSE penalties. Since we lost two consecutive finals in penalty shootouts one of the things Sampa must has to work on is the practice of penalty shootouts. In WC you can expect extra time and penalty shootout games after the round of 16.

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