Sergio Kun AGUERO scores as Argentina top Russia

By
Roy Nemer
-
68
Argentina team celebration

Sergio Kun AGUERO scores as Argentina picked up a 1-0 win against Russia.

It was a big match for the Manchester City man as he continues to write history both for club and country. After becoming Manchester City’s all time leading goalscorer, the man wearing the number 9 shirt for Argentina today scored his 35th goal for his country, tying him with Hernan CRESPO in third place on Argentina’s all time top goal scorer list.

The goal came late in the match after MESSI passed it to Cristian PAVON (who was in an offside position) and he pulled it back to AGUERO who’s initial shot is blocked but scores on the rebound with his head.

Sergio Kun Aguero Argentina
Sergio Aguero stands in third place as he ties Hernan Crespo on the Argentina goal scorer list.

The first half ended scoreless but not without chances for Jorge SAMPAOLI’s men. First big chance for Argentina, MESSI got on the ball and passed it to DI MARIA in the area who’s shot was blocked and AGUERO’s (tough angled) rebound went out for a corner kick.

Second chance of the match came through Sergio AGUERO when he picked the ball up and slid it to Eduardo SALVIO who pulled it back to MESSI but the pass was blocked and went out for a corner kick.

Best opportunity of the first half came through the two Manchester City players. MESSI sent it wide to OTAMENDI who crossed it to his City team mate as AGUERO’s volley was saved. Great shot by Kun and an even better save by the goalkeeper. This took us to half time.

The second half started off with a great chance for the captain Lionel MESSI. AGUERO delivered a ball in to Leo who tried to chip the goalkeeper but not a good touch off his foot.

Russia also had a great opportunity to score. A shot comes in and it was spilled by Manchester United’s Sergio ROMERO. Luckily for him and his team, German PEZZELLA was there to clear it out.

Nicolas OTAMENDI surprised the goalkeeper with an overhead kick inside the area which resulted in a corner kick.

Three substitutions were made by Jorge SAMPAOLI with the first being Alejandro “Papu” GOMEZ came on for Giovani LO CELSO. Diego PEROTTI came on for Angel DI MARIA and the third was Paulo DYBALA on for Sergio AGUERO.

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68 Comments

  5. Cant say what line up, but would love to see Belluschi, Paredes, Lo Celso get chance in next match. Rest all potions we have already tried variables, Enzo – Biglia combo needs alternatives. or Banega when are you gonna prove your worth man. Every coach trusts him and then go on to other options, But he is almost all our coaches first choice as our central midfielder. Enzo is far more consistent but is something missing in him, he is a Box to Box player may be our current system dont need a Creative midfielder, But its painful to see Messi dropping so deep. Wish Dybala could play in Midfield.

    • Still I will curious about line up:

      ………. ….Romero
      ……..Pezzella..Otamendi
      Bustos………………..Ansaldi

      ………..Battaglia..Paredes
      Nacho………………………Lanzini

      …………Massi..No.9

        • Of course ATM for friendlies to see wheter it is our best line up as I just suppose. Many times I’ve said: no guarantees but combo Battaglia – Paredes seems most attractive and complete.

          • Lanzini is a good option he ticks almost all the area, Young, Fast, Box to Box , creative, Only fault not physically imposing. Also somehow not in the pecking order for Sampa.

      • From Sampa’s current selection i would like to see:

        ————————–Guzman————————

        Mammana—-Pezzella——–Otamendi——Ansaldi–

        ————————–Enzo————————–

        Pavon——Paredes———Belluschi—–perotti–

        ————————–Dybala————————

  6. Probable starting Line-up against Nigeria

    Marchesín, Mammana, Fazio, Insúa, Pavón, Banega, Paredes, Papu Gómez, Perotti, Dybala & Benedetto.

    Almost every one is getting a chance; Ansaldi and Guzman the remaining two players;

  7. Being an Argentina fan, for me it’s nothing better than to see Argentina in the winning side.

    71 % possession 9 shots off target 7 shots on target, 757 passes just amazing. Looks like the stat of the best version of Barcelona or Spain not ours. Those stats were just a dream for us even 6 months back, so no doubt in many aspects we are improving. Russia is no world beater but this is real dominating performance against Russia in Russia.

    Now coming to the match (I missed many minutes because of stream issue)

    – At times I felt that it was typical argentina game we have seen against peru or venezuela last couple of months ago, but only difference is today Kun came up with the winner.

    – We kept the ball position, used new midfield but our basic problem remains same, transition from defense to attack was way too slow.

    – Romero’s passing is going to be a real problem for us against the team that will press high and will force Romero to go long. He will give away the ball every time.

    – Messi had a below par game but I am not really much concerned as he already did what he is suppose to do against Ecuador and we are in World Cup. But the way he is playing football without any break I am really concerned about his fitness and form during World cup 2018.

    – Di Maria – disappointing and inconsistent. Probably the worst player of the match. Some of his decisions were really poor, how can a player, who is playing top level football for years, be such poor decision maker? But we should appreciate his defensive contribution and his overall hard-work. But I would like to see another player in his position against Nigeria. I believe Di Maria is better as an ACM than as LW like he played under Sabella. Why can’t Sampoli try that again?

    – Too many back and lateral passes from midfield. Kranevitter and Lo Celso, failed to impress to be honest. Other than 2/3 long balls, kranevitter was generally slow and no creative spark added in attack same was with Celso. I had high hope but I am not that impressed, very raw. May be he needs time to gel with the team but still not a great debut I will say. Enzo was better than the 2 but again failed to create anything. Even today for me our midfielders were Messi, Mascherano and to some extent Otamendi.

    – Salvio and Di Maria remained isolated in wings for most part of the game. They operated too far away from Messi. Messi needs supporting players around him and if these 2 guys are not utilized properly then what is the use of this formation? Rarely any attack from wings and rests Di Maria wasted. Salvio improved as the game progress especially later stage of 1st half.

    – I can not think about our defense without Mascherano and Otamendi. Masche is ever reliable and Otamendi getting better after every game. Still we need a defender to deal with arial threats. Pezulla was also good, may be I can trust Pezzella more than Fazio.

    – Our game improved in the 2nd half after the introduction of Gomez, Perotti and Pavan. Gomez was awesome right after he came on the field. These guys should get more opportunity.

    Finally,

    – Sergio Aguero – Magisterial. One of the best performance from a striker after years. Quality wise I never had any doubt about Kun, but his fitness remains always a concern. If he remains 100% physically there should not be any doubt that he should lead our attacking line. But it’s too early to trust Kun. But if he can keep playing like this way he will be our man to watch in world cup. Offside or no-offside. Very well deserve winner from Kun. Brilliant display..

    For Sampoli:

    – 3-4-3 improved our ball possession but why we are not scoring? We may say bad luck in one match but other than Singapore and Ecuador match we didn’t even scored 1 goal in every match. Why? Even after today our highlights remained same..
    1. The opposition Goal Keeper is too good
    2. Argetina midfield is not able to create chances
    3. Forwards not converting.
    Enough said, those are no more logical matches after matches. Something is really wrong and Sampoli much need to work on this.

    – Why Dybala was given only 2 minutes? Sampoli was suppose to try Messi-Dybala partnership in these 2 friendly match..right? What the hell is going on? I will be happy to prove wrong, but I can sense something fishy here [Yes I know Dybala will start against Nigeria but I was looking for Messi-Dybala partnership] or Sampoli is just confused like us how to utilize both Messi and Dybala?

    In my Opinion,

    – In the match against Nigeria should our last chance to try with 3-4-3 formation. If we failed in the 1st half, I would like Sampoli to try 4-3-3 in the 2nd half itself..

    – In general for once in 3-4-3 formation I would like to see a midfield with Di Maria (LAM) – Bigila – Pardes- Salvio (RAM) with Messi, Dybala and Kun in upfront. Either Messi in right, Dybala in middle or Dybala behind Messi and Kun (probably the best option).

    Overall, no doubt we are improving but problem is Sampoli is yet to find his best combination and we are just 7/8 months away from World Cup, which really worries me.

  8. I heard somebody had predicted that 2 big teams won’t be in the World Cup, Every body thought that would be Argentina & Holland, But now Italy is in real trouble.Will it be Italy & Holland. OMG

    Well Sampa is getting more options in both wings Dimaria, Acuna, Perotti in Left & Salvio, Rigoni & Pavon in the right. One position which is still not rectified is the Creative Midfield spot, Still we cant get a capable player in that spot, We have to painfully watch poor Messi comes so deep & collect the ball and does all the work by himself, Somebody has to be find to support him. Who will that be its gonna be the most important puzzle which needs to be solved, Banega, Lo Celso, Lanzini, Paredes, Belluschi, Enzo Perez, Pastore, Lamela, Nacho etc etc.. Who will it be. Enzo will definitely be selected but he is not Creative but he does his best whenever he plays for us. But we need someone else who can share the burden with Messi. Dybala?? Can he play in midfield. Who will Sampa choose.

    We need to see some matches with Lo Celso cant say anything from 1 Match.

      • But Italy is a Team with huge pedigree, The Top 5 legendary teams in World Cups Brazil,Germany,Argentina,Italy,France. (Then only Spain & England.& Holland too)Its not based on current form but these are the real Teams any out of these 2 have always made to the finals almost always. So I hope Italy wont miss out, Above all one of the few teams who can knock out Germany is Italy. the World Cup should have all the Top Teams, If we have to be champions we have to beat the best then only its more dramatic.

  9. A solid entertaining game with a deserved win, some lingering issues and new information learned.

    A deserved win:

    I must give praise to the defense and kun. The team in general defended extremely well and not at any point did I feel that the team was in danger from a counter and while Russia isn’t much of a measuring stick but they did come to play and didn’t park the bus.
    Kun played a great game with his off the ball movement and (surprisingly) industrial play-making. Aguero is a great player who has -contrary to popular belief- shown up for the NT on numerous occasions but what worries me about him is hit fitness or the lack there of.

    Lingering issues:

    The same ones sadly, namely a stagnant midfield and lio having to drop deep to make things happen.
    Lo Celso is an excellent player but is still green and is yet to prove himself in Europe and Lanzini should be light years ahead of him in the pecking order.
    Kranevitter was solid but didn’t do much more than bilgia would’ve.
    Enzo was good with the occasional forward run but honestly a midfield of Lo celso, Enzo and Krane cannot yield results.
    Lanzini and Paredes in the midfield with an Enzo or a Kranevitter or a Biglia (or my preferred choice of Battaglia) would likely see more fluidity in the midfield.

    New information learned:

    Salvio is quite capable when given a chance and Pavon is another one to look out for cos his 1-2-3 with Lio reminded of the albicelestes of days past.

    For Nigeria hopefully we’ll get a new formation and some new tactics to see how well a messi-less argentina fairs.

  10. The problem with 3-4-3 diamond is, your defense needs to be (at least) closer to halfway line to be effective, otherwise your midfielders are isolated and there are no numerical advantages in midfield triangles. However, the advantage is, you don’t necessarily need a orchestrating central midfielder playing from deep in a 3-4-3 diamond as we played today. I think that’s why Sampaoli is using this formation, because –

    We Don’t have any Orchestrating Central Midfielder.

    In a 3-4-3 diamond, when the opposition has possession, the pivot or the number 5 drops down to the defense and make the back 3 a back 4. And I think Biglia is number one for that list, which I have some serious beef with because of his lack of pace and tactical intelligence. Kranevitter is probably number three for that list. IMO Pizzaro should be that guy doing that.

    The two other midfielders in this formation could be of any type- say box to box or dribbler, but they must be able to instigate attacks and support the wingers, otherwise a huge void creeps in between the defense and the midfield. This is the thing we improved a little bit today, but not enough. If a winger is alone by himself he is fucking nobody. Every goddamn winger in the world needs a layoff guy – a dummy who he uses to either pass to or get passed to. That we should be working on.

    Enzo is good. He defends when its time to defend, and joins the attack with his limited skills. However, I think Sampoli is still looking for the “other guy” in midfield. Seriously though…I don’t know why he didn’t try Lanzini this time. He should be perfect for that second man in midfield.

    Today I saw some improvements in midfield passing, creating triangles, playing one-twos etc. Now we need to find the number 8 and start creating more chances. I don’t know about you guys but I think Sampaoli has probably has 6 more players to decide.

    – The 6th guy in defense. (I think Rojo if he becomes fit)
    – substitute RWB, substitute number 5, substitute or starting number 8 (I’m considering Banega as one of these)
    – 3rd number 9 behind Kun and Icardi (either Benedito or Higuain)
    – 3rd GK.

      • Yes.

        I think Sampaoli will be able to find a way to play Dybala and Messi together. The thee week together before world cup is going to be crucial, absolutely crucial. I’m just hoping there are no injuries.

  11. Well, slap me silly and call me Suzie, KUN won ARGENTINA a game, hmmmmmmmm when was the last time I saw that?? a qualifier against Colombia on their home turf for the 2014 WC??

    Keep it up El KUN!

  12. I think it’s the first time that the team achieve Sampaoli’s standard: domination by possession, lot of passes and moves, defenders play in the opponent’s side, ..etc. I found it very encouraging. He switched from the previous 3-4-2-1 to 3-3-3-1 with 3 midfielders Kranevitter, Lo Celso and Enzo Perez. I think that’s the main reason why Argentina played so much better. As we don’t have any Busquets/Kante type player, we need 3 midfielders to have the control of the game. The only way to achieve this is to sacrify 1 playmaker(Dybala) and replace him by a midfielder.

    I am happy with Kranevitter who plays simple and efficient in his replacement. It should be between him and Biglia.

    Enzo Perez always good as usual. He was the guy who combined the most with Messi, he will be as useful as in 2014. I don’t think anyone can be as good as him in this role.

    Lo Celso was not exceptional last night but did his job. Impressive for someone who doesn’t play much with his club since 2 years. The right person for this role should be Di Maria(who was used as winger last night in order to replace Acuna), the sub place will be either him or Banega.

    This game will probably be used as the reference in the future, I think the following players are more and less Sampaoli’s list for 2018:

    Keepers: Romero, Guzman and someone
    Defenders: Mercado(Maschereno), Pezzela(Fazio), Otamendi(Rojo)
    Midfielders: Kranevitter(Biglia or Pizarro), Enzo Perez(Paredes), Di Maria(Lo Celso or Banega)
    Wingers: Acuna(Perotti), Salvio(Gomez)
    Playmaker: Messi(Dybala)
    Striker: Aguero(Icardi or Benedetto)

    Feel sad that no place left for Pastore, Lanzini, Angel Correa and Joaquim Correa.

  13. Our old problems haven’t diminished, even though Sampaoli is trying hard. Mascherano & Otamendi were probably our best midfielders and that shows we have work to do there. But it was encouraging to see Kun putting up such a great performance! Messi had an ordinary day. May be he didn’t bother to try hard enough which is OK in a friendly. I also feel Argentina came alive after the subs. Diego Perotti & Pavon look to. E definite starters for me in the next game. Also I am skeptical about this 3-4-3 formation. This might backfire really badly against good counter-attacking teams. I liked the ay Pezzella performed today, even though it was only Russia!

    • i only saw highlights. But i think team played well. Its time Sampaoli locked the playing 11 & we will start seeing better coordination & results. Now the problem is that there is too much of experimentation & player rotation. The core 8-9 players should now be playing every match & its only 1-2 where we evaluation should continue
      IMO the pending points are
      1) creative midfielder who feeds Messi ( lanzini or Di Maria IMO)
      2) Di Maria’s final position ( all said he is super skilled & connects well with Messi
      3) how to integrate Dybala to playing 11
      Not that rest everything is picture perfect. But i don’t think we have backup options & no point experimenting. We should as well get current shortlisted players more match time to gel better as a team . Again i don’t think we should think so much of fullbacks. Its not our strength & we cant forcefit since we don’t have good options. We should look at acuna & salvio as wing backs.

  14. It is still hard to predict who will join Romero, Otamendi, Masche and Messi in the starting line-up come Jume 2018. Many choices have yet to be made. With just 3 friendlies until final selection there is still no established team.

    We created many chances but especially Di Maria and Papu made poor choices on counter attacks. More intelligence is needed on the flanks.

  15. TBH I haven’t seen any significant progress from the Sampaoli team that struggled to score in the qualifiers.

    Positives
    – This is the best performance from an Argentinian striker that I’ve seen in a year or maybe more. That’s a good sign.
    – I’m glad that Sampaoli is reinforcing the midfield with players like Lo Celso. That was missing in the qualifier
    – We seem very strong defensively under Sampaoli. Not only we’re keeping possession, we also seldom in danger. I trust Pezzella more than Fazio.
    – Savio and Pavon gets thumbs up.

    Negatives
    – I said it earlier after the game vs Ecuador; Di Maria play better as an ACM than as LW.
    – We’re unable to break parked buses. The reason why we were able to score 3 against Ecuador is because it was an open game. There is a lack of fluidity in midfield, and I don’t think that Sampaoli is going the right way about it.
    – Why play with a back 3 against teams that park the bus? I understand that we dont have any quality fullback, but at the end of the day you still have players like Otamendi doing the job of a left back. So why not just put someone like Ansaldi who is able to assist more in attack?
    –

    • Tatally Agree on DiMaria. Out wide he has poor finishing and he panics. He also gets isolated and disapears.. there where many times LoCelso kept signaling him to drop deep into mid and check for the ball. (as a side note I liked LoCelso, but between Dimaria being too wide and high and Otamendi bypassing him and trying long balls instead of giving him the ball, he had a tough time.. granted Otas long balls where pretty good).

      Based on this game I would do:

      …… KUN .. MESSI ……..
      Peroti…DIMARIA.. ENZO… Salvio
      etc..

      For me MVP was Enzo Perez, he was immense. Dictated play, defended, linked with Messi and had vertical passes.

      Mascherano is an excellent option on the left, like his Liverpool days.

      I would like to see:

      …… KUN … MESSI…….
      PEROTTI.. DIMARIA… ENZO..
      ………. BIGLIA ………
      Acun~a.. Otame.. Mercado.. MASCH

      Acun~a the late run into the box Messi loves so much crossing into.

      The good news here too is that Messi was barely trying.. and the rest of the team stepped up.

  18. Mascherano unnecessarily dribbles a lot. He never have the freedom to do that in Barca. If he loses the ball it will be fatal against big teams. By the way Senegal seems most dangerous African side this time. Apart from favourites, there are many tricky teams like Senegal, Iran, Egypt this time. But it is really painful to see Dybala as a sub. Even more painful things like this only happen for us.

    • Senegal were on the ropes the whole game vs South Africa. Dont be fooled by European based roster. They got 2 goals from 2 breaks. It was all South Africa missing chances. Nigeria is Africa’s best bet.

      IMO, Di Maria and Salvio operate too far away from Messi. Leo needs supporting players around him not stationed at the flanks. Now how can Messi maximize his potential when they always so far from him. That’s why I want the wingers scrapped. Before Tata, there were no wingers and we were doing just fine. As long as we don’t have counterattack or direct attacking play to mix in our arsenal, we’ll struggle to break defenses.

    • Dybala will play full game against Nigeria. …
      Isn’t that good

      I am looking forward to see Dybala
      And I expect he will prove hismself in absence of messi. .

      I would like total change in starting xi

  19. Pavon run and pass was so typical from him. So many assists the same way when crossing to Benedetto. All the new players need more time to evaluate.

  20. I don’t know what to think about this game. Not impressed rather. Possesion dominating is not a thing that may convince me alone since many big teams failed in tournaments on this “tactic without tactic”.

    Pezzella had pretty good debut, Otamendi well. Aguero had good game by this friendly standards. But I’m far to believe he is right partner for Messi. We must realize: frindly is not WC. On World Cup you will never get so much space as he had on goal situation for example. This is first difference between tournament and friendly. Still with his goal and positive performance I would like to think once again he and Messi as starting duo, but no way. This is not enough, the friendly. I can’t trust him. He will failed once again my intuition suggest. We will regret if Sampaoli will invest in him. We must learn of the past. Too many lessons without conclusions. I heard that few times after tournaments: no more Aguero. Now people believe he will be quite different just because of Sampaoli. I heard that with every new coach. Making blunders is not a fault. Fault is making still the same. That claims for vengeance of fate. If I had to choose between the two even Higuain would be better choice than Aguero.
    At the end of the day I have no proof he will failed again. Only intuition or believe. Just like some people will see new Aguero because of Sampaoli or Guardiola.

    • Too much negativity. Argentina were dominant and created lot of chances than before. Friendly or not, Russia were decent opponent playing in home ground in front of their supporter. In short period of time, Sampaoli is doing better than other coaches and we need to support that. In 2014, Brazil were considered favorite and we all know what happened, which my point is we never know. I think Sampoali is creating a system where every one thrive not just local players. He is thinking of three players every position so even if someone is injured, just plug another one there. Argentina were unlucky to not get atleast one goal in first half due to brilliant goal keeper. If you watch France, which are tournament favorite as per people like you, that are also not playing out of the world. Hence, we need to give credit where it is.

      • This is not negativity. For example: our midfield was not good definitely (unlike our defenders). Sitll I have not said above any word of critic toward midfielders. I just can’t believe in Aguero anymore. No friendly change that with his chances on past tournaments. We must stay positive but some poeple forget how hopeless was Kun in crucial moments of tournaments. I remember him more inertial player than any other in that matches we needed him most. Friendly against Russia is not enough to change my mind. Only tournament can do that but I would like not to see Sampaoli taking the risk with Kun startng.

        • haha . quite funny . Kun who had a good match is a thumbsdown while pavon gets your thumbsup when he was offside in that build up. Hope we all saw the same match.

          • Another one who can’t read with understanding? Or maybe the same one behind other account. Show me, I wonder where’s my thumbsup for Pavon and thumpsdown for Aguero? You read what you want to read, not what I wrote.

      • he always does… he wont like aguero messi the old players… he want new team… untill he critisise this team… he never going to satisfy.. he even praised higuain to critisise aguero… he want this team to loose… and then he will make 1000 cmt… if team win he will make only two cmt…

        • both team in the world cup.. do think they want to play easy and keep nil nil draw.. and do u think russia want to lose infront of their home crowd.. and they put lot of money to host this world cup… do think they are crazy… why they want friendly against argentina spain brazil in march.. no one think this is frienly other than u…

          • Sorry you are right: that was almost WC final and not friendly. That was evident, for example, when Aguero scored the goal, with the space defenders left him. That was WC final.

            once again – one friendly goal from Aguero is far too little to revive my faith in him. Once I wanted to see in him our Romario (sending here videos with lovely resemblance Agero to Romario) who would be part of our golden WC team and give us goals in decisive moments. Then there were only disappointments. If he were failing only one tournament… but that was more.

        • “he even praised higuain to critisise aguero” – are you idiot or you just can’t read with understanding? If you think people will allow you for this lawlessness on garbled interpretations other comments you are wrong.

          Now, once again, show me where I praised Higuain.

          • ((absolutely agreed…If I had to choose between the two even Higuain would be better choice than Aguero.
            At the end of the day I have no proof he will failed again. Only intuition or believe. Just like some people will see new Aguero because of Sampaoli or Guardiola.)) you would choose higuain over aguero so what is meaning for that… you hate aguero.. ur view higuain better than aguero.. thats also praise …. aguero never been no 1 striker for the tournment.. he is not a choker he was injured.. 2010 higuain starting no 9 2014 again higuain ( aguero not 100% in the tournment) 2015 he starts.. and find net against uruguay and get a knock… again higuain comes failed.. that knock he lost his place.. and find form is difficult again… 2016 higuain comes with seria a record start all matches… again failed in final.. he never starts semi final or final for argentina.. and i know his weakness his aerial ability is zero.. but interms of finishing he is better than higuain benedetto.. and you said he get lot of space… comedy he is intelegent in the box his movement no one knows.. watch again how he make that movement his movement he scored lot of goals in the benalty box.. first time he get a ball in the box.. because of playing style.. and sampolli.. if bauza or martino i wont like aguero in 9.. sampolli is attacking coach.. he need aguero type of player.. aguero need sampolli kind of coach to get best out of him…

            (Sorry you are right: that was almost WC final and not friendly. That was evident, ) answer: yes this not final but this the stadium argentina going to play final next year.. win on this stadium is also positive.. you never mention single positive cmt here.. i already said if you dont like this team dont watch come after aguero and messi retires.. you are negative person …. dont make the people here in the negative thinking like you.. most of them are positive here..

            and for aguero he scored hat trick against bayern he scored against barca he scored against real madrid when he was at atletico he scored against every top premier league team chelsea man utd tot .. he is not choker… he deserves another chance.. he is world class player.. if you wont agree you dont know nothing about football.. i already said many times if argentina had proper coach .. argentina would have been world champion in2010 2014… players do what coach asks…

        • group of buddies once you were said messi and mache runs the team.. now u quit from that point.. messi can play with higuain pratto beneddetto… he will give assist to them … like messi said aguero dimaria macherano are world class players…. they proved every year… if dimaria wont perform sampolli chosse gomez or perroti.. no one is ultimate starter for sampolli.. he chooses based on form… thats why pavon get chance…

  21. Finally a great game from Kun. Lo Celso sadly too green, needs to be loaned somewhere to get more minutes. Otamendi – outstanding, Pezzella – solid, Salvio – much better than against Ecuador, Masche – great, Di Maria – poor, Krane – not bad but we could do better, e.g, Pizarro, Enzo had an ok game I think, Pavon had a very productive short cameo, an assist and even defended in his own box.

  22. I thought Aguero played well his movement up forward was great and he deserved the goal.

    Lo Celso for me didn’t work out he was meant to be the playmaker to allow Messi closer to goal but Messi still had to drop deep to start the plays.

    When Papu came on that’s when the team seemed to click much better. Papu straight away made things happen setting up a few opportunities. With Di Maria on the left spreading the play and Papu cutting inside. I liked it.

    But then Sampaoli went all FIFA and chucked on Perotti and him and Papu took up the same spaces.

    Salvio did good and Pavon looked great when he came on.

    The midfield of Kranevitter and Perez is the most balanced so far in Sampaolis games.But I’m not convinced about either.

    It really sucks that Sampaoli has such little time to make a team but I think he can make it happen.
    Vamos Argentina!!!

  24. if aguero starts regularly for Argentina instead of higuain who costs last 3 finals then aguero easily beat batigol goal scoring record

    • I agree. If Augero was in place of Hugain especially in 2014 final, i can only see a goal and Argentina with WC. Man that was poor miss. Dybala should be played more games and bench Di maria who is inconsistent like Weather.

      • why so much cry for dybala?? what he has achieved?? nothing i believe he didnt score for national team yet he is awful this season for juventus also failed to score from open play and missing 3-4 penalties.you expect that guy to win us the world cup?? i would rather prefer aguero icardi messi upfront thats more than enough to score those goals plz drop dimaria from wing position he is far better in midfield we need to play lanzini banega paredes even pastore can bring some creativity but the most important 4 players from midfield according to me is 1.lanzini 2,banega 3.paredes and 4.biglia other places up for grabs defence may struggle against good aerial teams like germany italy etc in 2014 all defenders were avg 6 feet tall i miss garay if rojo is fit he can be useful and i dont know why no experiment in goalkeeping?? romero is shaky

  25. The team improves it is a good sign but the coaching staff can do better. There is no reason to bench Dybala. If we bench DiMaria who was our worst player for today we can change the system. Adding an extra solid midfielder and play Dybala as a free man behind Messi and Aguero. As I said before the game, Dybala would bring more than Loscelco.

  26. Messi single handily gave 2005 u20 worldcup, Aguero gave 2007 u20 worldcup for Argentina both won Olympic 2008 together for Argentina and crucial for Russia 2018

  27. Sampaoli’s project is still in its infancy and he already made big changes on the team but time isn’t helping us since the WC starts in less than a year. If we could play two more friendlies before March that would help the team a lot in terms of tactics and adoptation to the system. Our midfield isn’t great at all but with time going on that aspect of the team will improve.

  29. After a while Argentina are watchable and that is thanks to Sampoali. Today Di maria was really poor but we did not suffer that much. Messi was Ok but Augero was magisterial. I hope he will play like this in 2018 WC also. I think Sampoali try di maria on bench as he is too inconsistent to get starter every time. I believe substitute Di maria will be better than starter. Gomez was really good today. One major upgrade from Sampaoli is full backs are playing better and Otamendi is really good thanks to Pep.

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