Claudio TAPIA confirms Argentina matches against Spain and Italy

By
Roy Nemer
-
22
Claudio Tapia Argentina AFA
Claudio Tapia Argentina AFA

AFA president Cladio TAPIA confirmed Argentina’s friendly matches for the month of March.

Lots of talk had been going around the past few months as to which teams Argentina would be playing come March. Spain, Italy, Morocco and even Serbia were possible opponents being thrown around in the media. However, on Monday, AFA president Claudio TAPIA confirmed that Jorge SAMPAOLI’s men would be playing against both Spain and Italy in March.

AFA President Claudio TAPIA:

“In March, we will play two friendly matches against two very prestigious teams. There was one which was already signed with Italy and due to contractual obligations we must respect, otherwise it would be an economic loss for the AFA. It’s for that reason that we will play them on the 23rd of that month (March, which would be in Basel, Switzerland). The second match is against Spain on the 27th. They are two very important national teams and will help us prepare. Spain qualified for the World Cup and we know what they represent in football.

“The early preparation for the World Cup will be fundamental. The first phase will be in Argentina because we know that once the tournaments (leagues) are over, the players will travel to see their families and then they will stay in Ezeiza until May 30. We will play a farewell friendly match that day and then we will go to Barcelona where we have everything agreed with the head of the club to stay there.”

TAPIA also mentioned that on June 8 there will be another match prior to travelling to Russia for the World Cup. This would mean that Argentina would play two matches in March. The first against Italy on March 23rd and the second on March 27th against Spain. This would be followed by a friendly match on May 30 and another on June 8 before the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

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22 Comments

    • Forget Rulli! He is a very ordinary GK, actually quite pathetic. I used to surprised and mad why he is not getting the first GK role in NT. Just goes to prove the guys in NT know more than me 🙂

  5. ” France have a team that is on par with Brazil and Germany , and let’s not forget Argentina. Argentina are on par with Spain , the difference is that they play so tense, they can’t show their talent.”

    “I strongly believe that Ever Banega is a player that could play at FCBarcelona. And Mascherano cannot play as a pivot? He does not have the technical skills of Busquets, but he has improved.”

    “When he first arrived at Barça he had trouble positioning himself beucase he didn’t need to at LFC. He had to make long passes or it would suffice to give the ball to Gerrard.”

    “But Mascherano at Barça had to do more things. You have to survey, visualize, understand which players were free of marks to have enough space and time to manuever. Barcelona is like a final exam for a footballer”

    -Xavi

  10. That Vietto goals, Papu Gomez and Pavon possible moves to England and first of all possible call up for Lautaro Martinez for upcoming frinedlies – that makes me difference.

  14. Excellent program, Italy is rebuilding the team and will take the game seriously. Spain is the possession football, will be a great battle in the midfield.

    By the way, I saw Barcelona-Levante, Sevilla-Betis and Rennes-PSG during this weekend. Some comments on our players:

    – Pizarro: wonder if he was injured or he lost his place with the new coach.

    – Mercado: I think he will win back his place because it was a poor performance for Corchia. Joaquin and Tello made him really look bad.

    – Banega: very contradictory performance. He seems getting much better, good in his free-kicks, dribbles, passing and ball-keeping, allows the possession and transition. But on the other hand, he tried too difficult things far from the goal and created danger for his own defense, like the last goal scored by Tello.

    – Joaquin Correa: he made immediately the difference with his pace and technique few minutes after he stepped in. Hope that with the new coach, he will have more playing time. Nolito and Vasquez are both great players, not going to be easy for him.

    – Lo Celso: unexpected to see him in the starting XI again as Draxler was also available. And again he didn’t disappoint his coach. He was about to score a goal and his partnership with Rabiot and Verratti was closed to perfect. I think against big teams in champions league, Emery will use him instead of Draxler or Pastore(if still there) which gives more balance.

    – Di Maria: great performance with 2 goals and 1 assist. Maybe he understood that he need to fight in PSG as the deal with Barca is almost off.

    – Messi: he has now more freedom with Dembele on the right. Similar to his role with the national team.

    • Canadien Royal, vyou made very nice reviews about the players you mentioned above. I think Pizarro was either injured or suspended because of yellow cards accumulation. He wasn’t even on the bench. Sevilla will go in more trouble under Montella and that could affect the Argentine players at the club.

  15. I like the program. I don’t care about the results. All I need to see is combined aggressive structured and free flowing attacking, collective defending and grit in the friendlies. Apart from that, I think Sampaoli will have clear picture of his WC core of deserving players.

  16. It means we have only 4 friendly games before stepping down in Russia. Sampaoli have to select and find the rythme of his team with so limited time. His effective evaluation is only on the performance of players at their clubs level. And playing against the high prestigious country such as Spain will not be the suit for us except just for friendly and goodwill. Of course winning the games will boost the spirit and counter wise if loosing the game, Better we played against Asia or Africa to have a more confident

    Meanwhile Iceland will play against Indonesia on Sunday, 14th Jan. right in my beloved country. Worth watching !

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