Mauro ICARDI scores in Inter victory against Cagliari

By
Roy Nemer
-
86

Mauro ICARDI scored yet another goal for Inter as they picked up a 4-0 win against Cagliari.

Despite not being in Jorge SAMPAOLI’s plans for the World Cup in Russia, that hasn’t stopped Inter’s captain from scoring. ICARDI netted goal number 25 of his Serie A season which puts him up with elite names of the footballing world.

Last three players to score 25 Serie A goals for Inter:
Ronaldo (1997-1998 season)
Zalatan IBRAHIMOVIC (2008-2009 season)
Mauro ICARDI (2017-2018)

He has now scored 49 goals in his last 63 Serie A games, the most he has ever manged in a single season. Here’s how he’s been doing in Serie A:

2017-2018: 25 goals
2016-2017: 24 goals
2015-2016: 16 goals
2014-2015: 22 goals
2013-2014: 9 goals
2012-2013: 10 goals

Crazy to think that Jorge SAMPAOLI is not planning on calling him to the Argentina National Team for the FIFA World Cup.

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86 Comments

  1. I really wonder , why still Argentina Boss and AFA can’t pick it out that,

    Aguero (injured now though) will be a lazy fox and hardly any possibility of his contribution (so far 2 WC, 0 goals).. last contribution of him in any competitive match in NT, anybody can remember ?

    Higuain: A Big Big Big Match choker, even he have 1/2 goals at best in El classico …Juventus also suffer for this.. and more on, he gained weights.. but the only positive thing about him is he put pressure on defenders, get involve in attack making …

    Di Maria: I can bet you, he can never play 4 consecutive matches without getting Injury… need example?
    remember last 3 tournaments..

    So, why not try with Dybala, Martinez and Icardi ??

    To my opinion, considering all: Sampaoli must take the forwards: Messi, Dybala, Maria, Higuain (but don’t expect his scoring, expect he will create some space for Messi/others) and Lautaro Martinez…

    About Aguero: Argentine version and Club version are just like Dr Jekil and Mr. Hide…

  4. People who advocate for Huigain to be included in World Cup 2018, i have one simple question. Do you think we would be in the world cup 2018, if he was our main striker in that game? or if he was in position as of Messi where he was able to score hattrick? I believe we would be sitting here and aruging against each other about who to blame Argentina for missing 2018 world cup. As much as i dislike di maria as well, i believe we should take him due to his experience and his connection with Messi. Di maria was good when he pass back the ball to Messi for 1st goal vs Ecuador. As for Augero, he should not be taken as he is very lazy player who will be waiting for tapins instead of involving in the play. However, Messi missing CL is good for argentina. If you look at him, now he is walking more and more realizing he wants to rest for world cup.

    • I totally 100% agree with you my dear, Icardi is far greater than Higuain. I am asking myself, why Icardi is always hated and subsequently rejected in La Albiceleste? help me if you know something behind.
      I LOVE WHOEVER LOVES ARGENTINA!!!

    • Agreed. Messi as a False 9 in Knockouts & being closer to goal could take opponents by surprise.

  5. Guys if Huigain come out and say that he wants to Retire from Argentina National Team, it would be beneficial for all three parties: N. Team, fans and Huigain. He needs to have self reflection that he cannot contribute to the national team and should be given chance to other new players. I really hope he announce that he retire from NT and we would not be arguing for or against him. I also think Juventus will not win CL if they keep Huigain as their main attack. Barca are slowly realizing that Suarez cannot do in CL and probably will buy Gerizemann and Juventus has to do the same thing. If you are opposing team, I do not think Huigain scare you a lot. Heck Manduzek is better striker for Juventus than Huigain in their CL campaign.

  6. No Huigain please. That is all i want to say. Also play Messi as false 9 and use ICardi or Augero or dybala if the match involve bus parking team. PLEASE PLEASE NO Huigain. THIS GUY WILL CHOKE. HE HAS NOT SCORE IN IMPORTANT MATCHES SINCE HE STARTED BECOMING PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER.

  7. Higuain, Aguero, Tevez and Maschereno will always be respected by Argentina football fans. We are also grateful for Rojo’s performance in 2014. But Sampaoli need to move on. Among all those who played in 2014, I only see Romero, Biglia, Enzo and Di Maria as still reliable. The first 3 are actually the choice by default as they don’t have any competition in their position. There are lots of wingers and attacking midfielders in this new generation but few central/defensive midfielders.

    Di Maria is a miracle, since the beginning of 2018, he has been back to the top with more playing time with his club, by delivering a lot of assists and goals. I think his statistic since 2018 should be one of the most impressive in Europe.

    • “Di Maria is a miracle, since the beginning of 2018, he has been back to the top with more playing time with his club, by delivering a lot of assists and goals. I think his statistic since 2018 should be one of the most impressive in Europe”

      Nothing new. Wait for World Cup and you will see once again: he is not reliable.

  8. The Delusion in this blog and among the general public nowdays is beyond belief. Most and by that i mean 99.999% of the people in the world fail to see the obvious right infront of their eyes.

    I see some here supporting Higuain? Saying he has changed his play and doesn’t walk all the time? Did you see his games vs Italy and Spain? or the last three tournaments? the fat lard barely moves freely and ended up flopping vs Madrid in both legs. It means jack shit to collect the ball and work hard when you can’t finish simple chances vs Madrid in both legs. He literally cost them 3 easy goals by missing tap ins and rebounded goals.

    Aguero supporters are the highest here. Seriously what is this man’s pedigree in Argentina? to have such high expectations of him that it gets to the point of insanity. I read somehwere he would score 5 goals and be the top scorer of the tournament.
    1st you need to play to score. 2nd, you need to score to be the top goal scorer and actually perform. When was the last time Aguero performed for Argentina? The same pathetic excuses “he was injured” he was not fit”. When he came on for Lavezzi in final 2014 the game was already won by Germans as that piece of waste didn’t do anything on the pitch for 45 mins. Didn’t even run or try anything just kept walking like a loser all game.

    Our best this WC is Icardi, Martinez, Alario/Pratto. Whatever i have seen from Pratto looked good, The guy is strong, good in the air, works hard &knows how to pass and take his chances. DOn’t know why he was dropped when he was doing well. Or in Big games playing Messi as False with fast wingers & Lo Celso, Battaglia, Parades midfield.

  9. • just for interesting sake,all club football will finish early this year due to the world cup, even the champions league.I think champions league final will be played in mid may if I’m correct.

  10. Good news : Bustos started the independiente game just now while meza came in as sub. Hope this squashes some of our mundo members presumption that they wont be fit on time for the wc.

    • I think this is great news but I am a bit hesitant on having too many young/inexperienced players from Argentina. You rarely see many breakout players in the 19/20/21 years of age in European leagues who maintain form and don’t make many mistakes. Taking someone with only Argentina experience further increases chance for error against big European teams. Big tournaments like WC are won on mistakes, Argentina had a chance in the final with that kroos back pass mistake. well…. Higuain made a mistake too and rebalanced the game.

      Even in the case of Meza, he’s older but unfortunately the Argentine league isn’t as competitive as Europe. I would be very hesitant to include too many local players whom don’t have good international experience. it’s easier to shine talent in Argentina than Europe. In my opinion there is no need to take the risk of lccal players for the forward positions, Argentina has a deep lineup of forwards whom already play at the very top European football leagues.

      I think Bustos is extremely risky to play against top teams in Europe. We saw a bit of this against Spain. He’ll be great someday but we don’t want him learning through the world cup making mistakes, that’s what league play is for at your club. Part of it you can teach and part of it you need to learn your opponents which I think any European based player would have an advantage as they play against the best top players in the world.

      Raw talent won’t win us anything, it will make exciting moments but will end in disaster. We need to take a couple of youngsters to help build the team, but don’t expect them to win us the tournament, there is more of chance they’ll lose it for us.

      I do think it’s important for Sampaoli to take a couple youngsters whom will play for the national team for the next 10 years. For me this player is Martinez, to me he’s our new Aguero inside the box and has a bit more mobility outside. He’s also going to play for the national team for 10 years.

  11. Firstly I want a very good performance in group stage…Hope Argentina beats every opposition in group stage.
    Final 23 players will be important..
    Still midfield is a concern along with defence and C.F.
    Goalkeeper too..
    Problem is everywhere..
    Hope Sampaoli will fix things..
    Only silver lining is Leo Messi..
    With messi Argentina team is very strong..
    we will surely hope for better and better….in World cup..
    Vamos Argentinos….

  12. argentina’s training camp will start from may 18.so near about 1 month to train and creating chemistry before the world cup.and apart from perotti and fazio all should be available .even they will be available if roma cant reach cl final.after copa final i want messi to be rested.though he also needs some minutes but above all he needs rest.in bright sides of thing if aguero recovers before may 18 or even before june then we can have a complete rested fresh aguero for the world cup.

    • If Aguero is selected this time, he will repeat what he did in last world cup.

      Even Aguero is 100% fit, he has never shown up when playing against important matches for both club and country.

      No Aguero please.

      • No aguero actually perfectly befits sampaoli’s formation which requires players to do lots of short passing and link up plays. The previous coaches (even sabella) were mostly commanding our goalkeeper to make blind clearances and long goal kicks hence made him dysfunctional due to his weak aerial ability.

        Guys pls STOP hating him. I understand on his fitness concerns which i myself am fretting about now but to be honest we’re quite desperate to have him in our starting lineup. I believe the combination and interplay between aguero,messi,lo celso and lanzini could give the worst migraine to ANY oppostion defenders.

        Lets pray instead for his speedy recovery

        • Name me a match that Aguero scoring an important goal against big teams like Germany, Brazil, Spain, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Man Utd.
          No.. I cannot recall, can you?

          • @qwerty

            LOL that is sad. So you call a header scored from 4 yards out amazing? It’s not like he did a van persie or a Ronaldo did he?
            That hattrick vs bayern was a against team which was down to 10 men and had no motivation to play that game. Everything was done. He started scoring once they went to 10 men.

      • Aguero is our best bet upfront. A fit aguero is lethal & combines brilliantly with Messi. Hopefully he should be fully fit by June. Imo aguero & di Maria coming fully fit is mandatory for a strong showing in wc18. Messi can’t do it all. If di Maria is well rested across tournament leveraging acuna, we should be good.

        • I also think a fit salvio is cruical. He is very good in right midfield, pacy & good offensive & defensive skills. We don’t have a good natural option there. Good he has started playing again & should peak soon. His presence will allow us to play 3-3-4 with acuna, biglia(banega ) , salvio in midfield.

          • we will not going back to 3 man defense no way.we will be smashed left right centre.salvio will can only be a backup for mercado in rb spot.i dont see any midfield role for him.

        • Aptly said amit. As a matter of fact we are going to be quite dependent on aguero if we’re going to have a good tournament. I agree with you in regards to Salvio but i’d prefer Lanzini playing on the right and cutting into the centre with enzo perez supporting him in the centre for defensive purposes. If midfield’s defence is good enough, we can always play bustos to provide more attacking options on the right.

  13. I think we can’t compare with the Redondo and Zanetti exclusion case from the squad same as Icardi. Sampaoli have give the chance to Icardi and Dybala since his first day of appointment as a coach, but they just did not delivered good result. It is a true and reality.

    I am not so worried if Icardi is not being selected but more curious and wonder if Kun which is unfit and Higuain will be our starter. Maybe Sampaoli have more faith with Pavon and Martinez or he is more concern on the harmony and friendly atmosphere within his team.

    Times is running out and yet Sampaoli seems can’t figure out which is the best and deserved wearing Blue and white.

    • Now a days Higuain has changed from what he was previously .he plays strong .he does not walk all time.he is very good outside box.good presser.
      But above all he was ,is and will be bad inside penalty box .the pressure of national jersey chocked higuain.
      So ultimately higuain will be not good option to be in starting xi at least.

      Let’s see what sampaoli does

    • My dear a player can not be tested at only one or two matches only, remember that we had also been beaten 4 -0 goals in quarter finals in 2010 world cup with Messi in the match but he was again given chance to find himself in the team, and we all see his great harvest in the team. The same case as Icardi and Dybala. They should be given chance in these 2 last friendly matches to show their abilities but didn’t, this hurts me my friends.

  14. Until the official list of players are out I still have some hope left that Sampaoli will pick Icardi and Dybala and Garay. If he doesn’t then he is totally relying on the choker Higuain to score our goals which is never going to happen.

    A poor show in the WC will not only get him fired but non of the European teams will sign him and with our weaker than ever defense… pathetic midfield and news of our top aces not being selected my hopes of winning this world cup is already fading.
    If we dont win the WC Messi will retire and he will be forever branded a club player sadly!! 😢

    • with shitty otamendi as a sure starter in our cb we r very weak in defence and defence win you tournaments.but we dont have enough players in defensive third so he will start along with garay(if selected) or fazio.fazio is quite good actually right now.bustos should not start fr sure mayb ansaldi?? but sampaoli most likely not consider him and play salvio or mercado in rb position.tagliafico is ok in lb position though not a world class player with any stretch of an imagination.i would have prefer fazio -garay central back pairing with low defensive line not high defensive line as both of them r quite solid in defence but slow so they less likely to play high defensive line.we need super defensive performance from biglia as he is seems to be the undisputable starter.but seeing how otamendi often commits mistakes and drop his head when his team concedes we need a super improvement and discipline from him if we want to win the cup.but frankly due to our defence and defensive mid position i cant see us going beyond quarters this time.other position is quite good actually with just a minor problem in dimaria who still lacks the final decision mking and still he has to improve his crossing.locelso is in fine form and should start.aguero injury is major concern.plz no rojo.romero armani guzman should be there for goalkeeping position.

      • I would go with Garay and Otamendi… Otamendi is burned out after playing every game this season…he should be fresh when WC starts..

      • Since when Otamendi became shitty for you….don’t label him like that after 2 or three bad performance. He’s one of the best CB in the world.

        • ok will see.i still believe he has some tendencies to commit mistakes.he had a super midfield in man city to protect him actually whole city defence is shit.conceding 6 goals against spain 5 against liverpool in cl then again 3 against manu.and if you say present form is worrying.if he is just tired then its ok he will get fresh and improve his performance

      • Otamendi was shitty against Spain, and he was bad in his recent matches with City.
        Before that he was the most solid CB in this season in the world, i hope he is just tired.

        Hope that he can rest and resume to 100% soon since city has already clinched the league and nothing more to play for.

      • Otamendi is our best cb. Can’t label him bad based on last 2-3matches. He will be our natural leader in backline. Garay rescuing us is a myth. He has declined with time. I don’t see any reason why fazio or pezella can’t contribute as much as present day garay. While fazio is slow , in a 4 man defense his lack of mobility can be hidden.

        • fazio right now is a beast just see how he tackled messi and suarez.they were completely nullified.if he can tackle messi and suarez he can tackle anybody offcourse some help will be needed from others also plus his aerial ability will benefit us

      • Shitty Otamendi??? Sorry but that’s insane and disingenious. Best defender in la liga and PL this season. He’s been an absolute rock for NT. Yet somehow, you’ve managed to convince your self that’s he’s “shitty”…

    • Waveride-Hola amigo and its always great to hear from you, apologies its been quite a while on here
      yes life has been great but ive been very busy with work and I hope all is good over your way?
      nothing beats our n.t for making ones stress levels at an all time high lol but as always we have to have hope.
      do you have f.b as look me up good sir

      • Pablo i don’t have fb, i’ll may create one. But if i do so you will be among the first who i let to know!

        Its always great chatting with you amigo and i hope we witness our beloved team rise again soon!

  16. only Argentina could potentially leave out a player of this caliber and sadly our history is littered with these type of stupid decisions from zanetti to Redondo and many more, hey its not like we need goal scores as we do score goals for fun…not…I hope he goes to the w.c as we are seriously lacking options with the always unfit kun and a “broken” hig who look out of his depth at n/t level these days and he should not go at all.

    • Nice to hear from you Pablo after a while. But with all due respect Does the team really has a better goal scorer than Messi? Even the whole world except Ronldo? Exploiting more his goal scoring ablity have demanded the nullfication of Theory Henry, Samuel Eto, zlatan Ibra and David Silva. Even Suarez can’t match him with his super ego. Forget Icardi, Aguero and Higuein as none are better goal scorers than the above legends. Villa and Suarez survives Messi’s overwhelming record due to their hard work and contribution to the left and right attacking positions.

      As such, ignoring Icardi is not a big deal as much ignoring Higuein or Aguero for me. Even the latter two possess much better quality than Icardi any day. But Messi should be accompanied by wing inclined strikers like Perotti, Pavon, J. Correa, Di Maria etal if not hard working strikers like Bendeto ‘n Pratto. Just my opinion, Though.

      • perotti: thank you good sir.
        its always nice to be on here with such a diverse range of thoughts no matter what they are.
        agreed no 1 is better then messi but as we have seen in the past, come the knock out stages he gets doubles teamed and forced away from goal, this in other teams would not be a problem but with us we simply dont have the intelligent players to take advance of this fact as has been shows time and time again.
        weve got through because of our defending not our much vaulter attackers- the irony of it all
        im not annotating icardi as being our savior but he can hardly do worse then kun who has an impressive 0 goals and 0 w.c assists and hig who is way past his best and looks like a fish out of watch at n/t level.
        after icardi the striker stock is very thin sadly for us as the w.c is far to close.

  17. Rojo to start again for Manchester united.If he finds form he and otamendi would be the best CB pair of world cup.I like his tackling he is like tackle and forget.It will strengthen our defence.

  18. the best striker argentina i hope invited for world cup 2018 i wish not call up higuain by sampaoli also mori-rojo-biglia-pablo perez -guzman-armani &……Not in the national team but musacchio-garay-pezzella-battaglia-giovanni simeone-ocampos-de paul-walter benitez(goalkeeper nice fc)-chichizola (goalkeeper las palmas)-franco cervi-alario-ascasibar Deserved to be invited to the national team

  19. Arindam you are right! It only happens to Argentina. Personally, i have never seen a such self destructive team as Argentina. Do you remember 98 wc team? Personally based on the players that we used to have back then and as collective unit, this Argentina was the best team i have ever seen. But we had Passarella as a coach who ommited from the wc squad two all time legends in the names of Caniggia and Redondo and he was even on the verge to omit Batistuta as well!
    I am sure you know the reason, it had to do with hair!

    Apart from Redondo who was the best midfielder with defencive attributes i have ever seen (and i am sure that you know that i am not the only one saying this), imagine leaving both Caniggia and especially Batistuta out, who each of them were better than Aguero, Higuain, Icardi and Dybala combined!

    • I really don’t know what is right. Some people claim it’s messi’s team, some people say sampaoli is selecting players, I don’t know what is true. If Messi runs this team I think lavezzi would have been selected , as well as zabaleta, lavezzi is a player who is loved by all because of his on and off the pitch contribution.but lavezzi isn’t included. When lavezzi was accused by Argentine media, Messi took care of the matter and told that they are going to avoid media, I think if Messi runs the team, lavezzi would have played , I have not much information regarding this , it’s my personal thinking,

  20. We can win world cup if higuain, biglia and masche are not picked up by sampaoli, kun is great , but it would be difficult for him to perform well because of his lack of match fitness.it seems to me that
    Both correas, icardi , dybala don’t have any chance. It only happens in Argentina . Today I was watching Mexico Argentina world cup match which is memorable for maxi Rodriguez’s spectacular goal, I saw Lionel scaloni playing, He is nowhere near zanneti’s level, still zanetti was left out.

    • They didn’t lose that wc because of omission of zanetti.they lost that match because of horrible substitutions of pekerman and Germany had a far superior goalkeeper in Oliver kahn.

  22. I have a dream, that Argentina will be the first to win back to back world cups in 60 years, that Messi will make the decisive goal against Brazil in the ’18 final and take his rightful place as GOAT together with Diego and bury the ludicrous “Messi or CR7” debate once and for all, that Argentina will earn its 4th star by playing beautifully throughout the ’22 tournament and beating Germany in the final by 3-0. Yeah, then I would have peace in mind.

    • I seriously have the same feeling. I feel like they are gonna pull it off this year and then a more youthful side with Messi as the provider will win it in ’22. Its a strange feeling to have, but I have it too.
      If that happened I think the talk would be Pele/Messi for GOAT and that’s about it. If Messi won only 1 WC, then the talk would be Maradona/Messi, who is the greatest Argentine.

      • Maradona already regarded better than pele even winning 2 less wc.so that’s doesn’t matter this wc will may well be his last wc

    • In 2022, I can see a team like: Rulli-Bustos, Foyth, Mamanna, Tagliafico-Lo Celso, Ascacibar- Pavon,Dybala,Joaquin Correa or Cervi-Lautaro Martinez or Icardi.

      I don’t expect much from the team for this WC, we may not be ready for that. I just wish that they will play some exciting football and quit the competition with honour.

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