Argentina coach Jorge SAMPAOLI: “I’m very excited”

By
Roy Nemer
-
104
Jorge Sampaoli Argentina cocah
Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli giving a press conference.

Following the announcement of Argentina’s 23 man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, coach Jorge SAMPAOLI spoke during a press conference.

The Argentina coach stated that he feels comfortable with the goalkeepers, the reason why he included Cristian ANSALDI and much more. Here’s what he had to say:

“We’ve decided on these names after a lot of analysis in every position. Cristian Ansaldi can play on either side. Meza gives you options either on the outside or on the inside of the pitch.”

Argentina coach Jorge SAMPAOLI on Lionel MESSI, Sergio AGUERO and more.

“I spoke with Messi and I saw him as very enthusiastic for what’s coming up. Physically, he’s doing well. Sergio Aguero has been training normally since last week. Mercado won’t have any problems. We will see how Biglia arrives. What I saw in the past week of training is that we needed one more fullback.”

Argentina coach Jorge SAMPAOLI on the three goalkeepers.

“We haven’t had Franco ARMANI yet (on the team) but we know his form. We have a lot of faith in Sergio ROMERO. Willy CABALLERO for us is a goalkeeper which also gives us confidence.”

Argentina coach Jorge SAMPAOLI on the players.

“We’re going to have a main system of attack (when in possession of the ball) which will be 2-3-3-2. I’m very excited to count on this players and every time I see them train, the dream just gets bigger. We will be very competitive at the World Cup.

“We will have to be good because my idea is to have an Argentina which plays and takes advantage of the characteristics of the players called-up. There are young players with a lot of potential.

“The World Cup has to be faced without fear, leaving an imprint. One understands that the players have CHARACTERISTICS which serve us. With time and the desire to play, it’ll just get better. I have a lot of hope and every time I see them train, the dream gets bigger.”

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104 Comments

  1. i don t think we will have problem to reach the quarter finals. then start the difficault part. probably it will be against Spain. our good luck is that we play against them and even the big loss we know what to expect. we will be prepared well this time. i trust Sampaoli.

  2. My only concern about Sampaoli is his substitution. He seems not to be very decisive when substitution is needed. A wrong substitution will surely ruin a game.

  3. I think this is how AFA come out with the 23 man list, there are at least a backup for each position listed below:

    GK Sergio Romero (Starter)
    GK Willy Caballero
    GK Franco Armani

    RB/CB Gabriel Mercado (Starter)
    RB/RM Eduardo Salvio

    CB Nicolás Otamendi (Starter)
    CB Federico Fazio (Starter)
    CB/LB Marcos Rojo

    LB Nicolás Tagliafico (Starter)
    LB/RB Cristian Ansaldi [also a backup RB]
    LB/LM Marcos Acuña

    CB/DM Javier Mascherano (Starter)
    DM Lucas Biglia

    CM Giovani Lo Celso (Starter)
    CM Éver Banega

    AM Manuel Lanzini (Starter)
    AM Maximiliano Meza

    LM/RM Ángel Di María (Starter)
    RM/LM Cristian Pavón

    FW/CF Lionel Messi (Starter)
    FW Paulo Dybala

    CF Gonzalo Higuaín (Starter)
    CF Sergio Agüero

    I think they could be lining up the team like this:

    ————————–Romero

    Mercado———Otamendi———Fazio———Tagliafico

    —————-Mascherano———Lo Celso

    ————————–Lanzini

    ———Messi—————————Di Maria

    ————————-Higuain

    I know most probably Higuain and Aguero will play like shit and we do not have Icardi.
    Luckily we have Dybala, where we can move Messi to play as a false 9 like this.

    ————————–Romero

    Mercado———Otamendi———Fazio———Tagliafico

    —————-Mascherano———Lo Celso

    ————————–Lanzini

    ———Dybala—————————Di Maria

    —————————Messi

    • • locelso does not have the defensive attributes to play so deep. So I think it will be banega with mascherano or banega with biglia pairing in that area.

    • Yes I would love Argentina to play like man city
      Without tall strong centre forward #9

      My starting 11

      Romero
      Ansaldi Fazio Otamendi Tagliafico
      Lanzini Biglia Locelso
      Messi Dimaria
      Aguero

      Messi can play in aguero position
      Dybala can play messi position

      We may see messi-dybala both playing
      Wish Sampaoli has such plan

      • • if messi and dybala can gel good, than we are going to have one devastating attacking force and many teams will be afraid of us and they will park the bus.

        • I will like to see that combination, it can be good for Argentina.

  4. • banega, biglia and mascherano are gonna have to produce the goods for Argentina in the central midfield of the park as that are a crucial area for Argentina. As we all can remember Argentina have been struggling in that department, but let’s hope for the best as I do trust sampaoli.

    • can’t wait for the world cup to start. I’m already excited.

  5. [WC 2018: Squad Review]

    Looking at the team I can say it’s a good mixture of old and young players, 10 out of 23 players played less than 10 matches for us. Still somehow, I can see our attack is too heavy and few defensive players are sacrificed to increase the strength in the attacking line. Also looks like Sampoli going to take attacking approach in the World Cup and gave preference to versatility of the players, who are capable of playing in different positions. Whether this is correct decision, that time will tell.

    Goal Keeper: No Complain. Happy to see Armani in the team and won’t mind if he starts ahead of that forever-benchwarmer, Romero. Maybe Sampoli could have kept one young goal-keeper in pace of Willy.

    Forwards: Only Icardi ahead of Higuain would have made this forward line better else all our best 3 strikers are in the team. Happy to see Dybala in the team and hopefully Sampoli will work in Messi-Dybala combination in 3 weeks of time and most importantly hope KUN will be 100% fit before World Cup.

    Defense: Average and I am worried as Sampoli selected only kept 2 Center-backs. So if one of Otamendi or Fazio is injured or suspended, means Rojo going to take his place, which is really worrying. But there are not much options around, still Pezulla should have made this defense slightly better.

    – Otamendi: Lost his form at the end of the season, which really worries me. Also always tries too much and keep the defense unguarded. Our 1st choice but is he is reliable?
    – Fazio: Good in air. But overall slow, Passing and ball control is not that good and most importantly inconsistent, sometimes looks like a world beater and very next day very poor.
    – Rojo: Why he is the team? I will prefer Mascherano/Mercado as 3rd Center-back not Mr. Rojo. I am curious to know on what basis he is in the team? Based on his performance this season or based on Spain match performance? As Taglifico and Ansaldi in the team, I can’t see him as left-back options as well? Then why Rojo?
    – Mercado: Can play as Center-back also as right-back. Not world class unfortunately one of the automatic choice for us and can give us an option of 3rd CB.
    – Ansaldi: Finally, happy to see him in the team. Good backup for both the full-backs, even can be a starter.
    – Taglifico: Impressed in the 2 friendly matches he played but can he played Alba type of role for Messi? A lot will depend on that.
    – Acuna: Why to consider him as full-back despite playing as winger week after week and we already have 3 LB options? May be left-attacking midfielders in 3-4-3 formation.

    Overall, I am worried with this defense but other than Pezulla, who probably our most inform Center-back now, in place of Rojo, I cannot think about any other defender who actually can improve this defense. But hope that with this defense Sampoli won’t play high-defensive line of football, that might lead to a disasters for us.

    Midfield: Too many wide-attacking midfielders (or winger) in team. Salvio, Acuna, Lanzini, Pavan, Di Maria, Meza even Messi.

    Defensive Midfiders: Bigila and Mascherano. Bigila recovering from injury and Mascherano cannot play for 90 minutes, that makes me worried. Any one of Battaglia, Pizarro or Enzo Perez should have been there in the team. Hope Bigila will recover completely as he is our best probable man to cover the defense.

    Central Midfielder: Lo Celso (Good, promising but very young), Banega (can anyone name any inconsistent player than him? but still he is one of the creative midfielders we have around).

    Attacking midfielders: Lanzini and Meza and wide-attacking midfielders, it’s actually half of the team starting from Messi, Di maria, Pavan, Salvio, Acuna.

    Looking at the team selected by Sampoli, looks like Sampoli going to give importance to wing-play which is understandable as we don’t have many creative players who can play through the middle. 2 potential formations he is going to use 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-3. But again, thinking with so many wingers/wide-attacking players why Icardi is left out of the team?

    In 4-2-3-1 formation he will use wing-backs to start the attack from wing, so formation could be

    Marcado – Otamendi – Fazio – Ansaldi/Taglifico
    ——– Lo Celso ——-Bigila———
    Lanzini ———– Messi ————Di maria
    ——————-Kun ——————-

    else he will go for 3 men defense and will use Acuna and Salvio as wide attacking midfielder.

    —Marcado/Mascherano – Otamendi – Fazio —-
    -Salvio — Lo Celso — Bigila —–Acuna —
    ——Messi —–Kun——-Di maria—–

    Overall, it’s not a World Cup winning team but other than Icardi, Pezulla and Enzo all our best/better players are in the team. I am sure we will try to play attacking-attractive brand of football in the world Cup but beating top opponents like France, Spain or Germany with this team is difficult. Entire team need to be their best and a lot will depend on Messi, Kun, Di Maria, Bigila, Romero, defense and how all will support Messi.

    Positives for us are Messi is in better shape than 2014, many players who actually can support Messi and I feel that Sergio Aguero has some unfinished business for us and he will do well if regain full fitness. Let’s hope for the best.

    • I think Ansaldi should start ahead of Mercado. And if he can recover form, Rojo is still a better bet for National team. He never disappoints when playing in Argentina shirt, except that unfortunate red card.

  6. As the tournament progresses we might see biglia locelso or biglia banega lo celso would not be enough against quality attacks.then it may turn to mache biglia double pivot again…hope i am wrong …

  9. Question: if someone gets injured during training or during the matches against Haiti or Israel, Sampa can call a replacement. I guess that replacement should come from the initial group of 35 or am I wrong?

  10. I have been reading some foreign (in media from Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain and England) reactions to the Argentina squad selection and most of them are pretty similar. They are unanimous in stating that Argentina has a world class front line. They do not see Argentina as a contender due to two slow CB’s and an aging midfield (“they run the 100 meters in 30 seconds”). Our defence and midfield is according to many foreign journalists and ex-footballers no match for the likes of Brazil or Spain.

    So basically no surprises in the reactions.

    • They don’t follow argentine leagues and otamendi is not slow and apart from mascherano and biglia how can they say aging midfield.speed of Fazio is a problem

      • Exactly. Most of these Analysis are based on Prejudice & Guessings.. Our Midfield is problematic, but not the defence. Rojo or Tagli is fast enough. Rojo outrun most of the world-class players in 2014, no one counted him before that tournament. (I hope he will start ahead of Tagliagico in left).. & Ansaldi, he is fast.
        Out of the two cbs, Fazio is slow, but he is so strong in air. And a decent tackler.
        I trust them. They are much better than 2014 backline at least on paper. But we defended very well in 14. We can do much better this time, without Demichellis,Federco Fernandez et al losers… My only worry is the cover in mid.

    • One thing I’ll say as someone did below. European media really only cover English and Spainish players.

      I’m living in Europe right now and can tell you that they hype those players because those are the two most popular leagues, if there is a nationalized ‘star’ in one of those leagues they get so overrated by the media. Thinking of harry Kane, he’s a one dimensional striker but people gush over him in uk because he’s English. Yes he gets the ball in the net but I’d take Aguero or Higuain Dybala or Messi any day. Not in the same caliber at all.

      I’d say Italy too except for most, let’s be honest defensive football is very boring and not appreciated by the masses. That’s why Liverpool has a bazillion analysts talking about them and hyping the team, they are fun to watch. You mix in an English player and all of the sudden they are talking as if they are world class.

      Truth is they write those articles because those club players are popular just because they are English or spainish, no one outside Netherlands reads about Ajax for example.

      To me this is a good place to be for Argentina. who’d heard of Rojo or Ron Vlaar, both had great tournaments last time around. Or James Rodríguez. The media analysis is a self gratifying exercise and they are able to quickly change their tune if they actually watch a game. How many huge European ‘flops’ last word cup? The list is endless.

      I think Argentina is right where we want to be going in.

      Also, no one has the attacking talent of Argentina. Look at Spain forward and striker. In my opinion Asensio for example which media love here is less accomplished and productive than PAVON, whom never even gets mentioned by media because few people follow Argentine league.

      • If only there was a “like” button i would have destroyed it. Completely agree. Also like everybody else they maybe reading too much into the qualification campaign. I feel we are in a good place. No hopes on us is better.

    • They think Biglia, Mascherano, and Banega play together. We will surprise the world with the pace and mobility of our midfielders Dimaria,Pavon,Lanzini,LoCelso,Meza etc.

  11. I guess a team not need a serie a top scorer when you already have the European golden boot winner.Nothing against Icardi , but if you just see the video when the argentina team was celebrating the win against Ecuador , you can clearly identify one disjointed fellow ,Icardi.Just a formal handshake with the coach, while the others jumping and hugging each other.I think this is the reason he left out.Whatever the reason is , he is not acceptable among the team.So it is the right decision to not taking him to the WC. And Again I repeat my words– ” a team not need a serie a top scorer when you already have the European golden boot winner”

    • Icardi and Higuain are great number 9
      Compared to this season serie A
      Icardi is better
      Whatever story icardi has in his life icardi needed to be called to Russia…
      Given opportunities to higuain for lots of games and his misses clearly gives icardi some chance…
      29 goals in not easy
      though..
      Higuain also had scored more than that
      But at least icardi needed to be at bench..

      But past is past
      Support higuain.. support aguero.. support biglia support all..
      Lets support loudly this 23 member squad..
      Vamos Argentinos ..
      I have we have full Faith in Leo Messi .
      He is the difference maker

  12. Spit yourself and research just a fool could not have invited Icardi Even a kid knows that Higuain is an idiot

    • both will not play anyway.icardi not in the squad because of wanda case.we all know mascherano the best friend of both messi and maxi lopez.mascherano blocked icardi from team and he has messi’s backing.icardi will not get selected until mascherano retires

      • I hope that after this World Cup, Messi and his friends will go forever
        They killed our dreams with the gang

        • No, they put Argentina back on the map, the Crespo generation was the biggest choker in our history. 94-2006, a lot of good players with zero result. And you call them legends for nothing…

          • I dont know whether we can call them “Crespo” generation. During the same period, there were so many other players as well including Zanetti, Ortega, etc. They are all greats or I believe so. Now Crespo became an eyesore for many when he came out in public and said those bitter truths.

          • Exactly. I can’t believe some fools here think, we had a better chance without Messi,Maria,Kun,Higuain…& A team filled with their discoveries in South America & their GOAT, Icardi.
            With all due respect to their Greatest of All Time Icardi, his team hardly made it into Top 4 in Serie A.. Higauin ‘s team is champions, higuain scores lots of goals as well, in the same league, & Higuain is more of a team player, his work rate is much higher, his chemistry with Messi is good. His stamina is good.
            And more over he is not a starter, he will be replacing Kun from Bench..
            Your greatest of all time, didn’t scored any goals for Argentina. She missed an open chance against Ecuador.

            CYour other greatest of all time, Crespo was a choker. He & his generation couldn’t win any fucking thing for Argentina..
            Their biggest achievement is losing Copa to a Under 23 Brazil side by 3_0.

          • Gokul You are a fool and one who gave birth to you Anyone will say that Higuain is better than Ikardi is so stupid

        • There are so many idiots They associate personal issues with football issues I have not seen so much stupidity. They still say Higuain is better

  13. Meanwhile this is provisional list given to media and the final list to fifa is not given yet which doesnt mean that this is not our final squad for the world cup but there is a chance that if biglia mercado or kun who ever with injuries might get replaced at the last moment before june 4th…..

    • According to FIFA’s rules, if there is injured players, we can replace them 24 hours before the Iceland match starts, not 4th June.

  14. Sampaoli will definitely play aguero, biglia & mercado in Haiti friendly. Will get a good look on fitness & can take corrective measures if needed. The midfield can be really mobile this time with meza , lanzini, di Maria , locelso

    • there will be a medical test in friday.that medical test will determine aguero biglia and mercado will go to russia or not.im confident aguero is already fit.only question mark is biglia according to sampaoli.as according to him mercado will be alright.

  15. Sampaoli have given us as a big surprise and by his bold selection and attacking playing style. First time since 1990 era’s Boca and River players join the squad. 14 new players were added. He has a clue and have a big plan. With the flexibility on defense players play at multi position and lethal attackers we can put our trust that the team will reach its glory. Vamos Arg.

  16. Sampaoli planning 2332, so the formation can be 4-1-3-2 or 4-3-1-2..!

    4132 with Dimaria & Salvio IN and Banega & LoCelso OUT….!
    Armani
    Mer-Faz-Ota-Tag
    Big
    Sal-Lan-Dim
    Mes-Agu

    4312 with Banega & LoCelso IN and Dimaria & Salvio OUT..!
    Armani
    Mer-Faz-Ota-Tag
    LoC-Big-Ban
    Lan
    Mes-Agu

      • i think lanzini dimaria will play together.4-1-3-2
        romero/armani
        mercado/ansaldi fazio ota tagli
        biglia
        lanzini locelso dimaria
        messi aguero
        subs:dybala/higuain for aguero
        pavon/salvio for lanzini
        banega for locelso
        meza for dimaria
        mascherano or banega for biglia
        ansaldi may start or also can be sub for both the fullbacks
        rojo mascherano and even sometimes mercado can play as sub to 2 cb if needed

        • Yeah, Lanzini-Lo Celso-Di Maria might work as well as against the Italy friendly(Di Maria was absent there). Lanzini normally plays on the left. When Messi drops deep, Lanzini can drift inside from the left and act as a secondary striker. That’s why I think Di Maria and Lanzini wont play together.

          • Lanzini will play right.there is no point saying he is naturally play left.he is junior and he has to sacrifice his preferred position in order to play in wc

  17. can someone explain what the heck is 2332 formation ?
    i tried to google it but i failed to find any proper explanation for this formation strategy

    • Friendly match vs Haiti 29/05 and away match in Jerusalem 09/06. We were originally meant to play a home match vs Ukraine then they cancelled that for Nicaragua. They again cancelled that for Haiti.

  20. Sampaoli flooding our midfield department with attacking CMs and wingers like Pavon, Meza, Salvio, Laizini, Lo-celso totally makes sense. Our multi million dollars strike force hasn’t been able to produce any goals lately except Messi because of lack of good service from our midfield. It almost cost us a place in the World Cup. Dimaria and Banega were simply not enough.

    However our Defense is also a big headache for us. Our entire back line has been replaced from 2014 WC and it looks very fragile. Rojo being the sole survivor but he is not the same Rojo from last wc and also not an automatic starter. Otamendi and Fazio were on the receiving end of the goal fest in Champions league . All the defenders except Bustos made it to the world cup from the Spain and Nigeria thrashings. We all thought Sampa will certainly drop some out of form players and oldies after those games but No!!.Many of us are very surprised from Sampaoli’s choice of defenders as most of us were expecting 4 full time CBs but instead we have 5 defenders who are capable of playing full backs . Clearly Sampaoli’s plan is to go ultra attacking and outscore the opponent. It might work with weak teams but when we get to knockouts we have to have balanced playing XI . If we go a goal down our players will have to attack and then our defense will be exposed. His 2-3-3-2 formation might be suicidal against Spain & Germany. As we are expecting to play against them at some point if we are to win the World Cup. We are missing energetic no 5s here. Its very important we score first if Sampa’s ultra attacking strategy to work for us.

    Nevertheless, no team is perfect. Spain France Belgium and Germany look very strong on paper but even their core players are either aging or very young. If Locelso, Laizini, Meza, Pavon & Tagliafico were to be Spanish or English the media would be praising how strong and balanced our team is. Other than hardwork Luck is a major factor. Lets all hope luck is finally on our side. Can’t wait to see how Sampa is going to execute his plans against our opponents!!

    • He is playing to our strength which is ok. The 2-3-3-2 formation is interesting & might work.Crazy sampaoli has one month to excute it.

    • I’m seriously hoping Lo Celso starts in midfield with a fit Biglia. Lo Celso, albeit green but has a higher concentration level than Banega to play the #8. The rest of the team, with time will get tremendously efficient in movements and buildups.

      For the first time in forever I see a lot of goals in this team. Attack wise the recipe is very simple –

      Free Leo from midfield duties and you are going to score a shit ton of goals.

      If you manage keep the ball on the upperside of the field, this team is deadly.

      However, this team must learn to defend. Wingers must support the fullbacks, otherwise we are fucked.

  21. Based purely on performance on the pitch over the last year, if Javier Mascherano was named Javier Gomez, would this guy be on the team? A defensive midfielder who is 34 years old and is playing in China may start for us. I can think of at least 10 players who have had a better year than this guy yet he is on the team. That’s all you need to know about our final 23, and whether there is a friends club. Alvaro Morata doesn’t make it on Spain’s team and we call this guy up. Pizarro would have been a hundred times better than this fossil on an already shaky defense. And we leave the leading scorer in Serie A at home and call up the fat bearded slow guy.
    I’ll root for our team but this is the weakest Argentina team ever since we had Kily Gonzalez on the team and that was some 15 years ago

    • All indications is Masch is Biglias sub, possibly even after Banega. Masch is definetly not the 2014 version, but cmon, he ain’t shit either. I am sure come the cup just passion alone will make him a pitbull again. Also, there are younger alternatives at #5, sure, but none are convincing either.. all other options are far from World Class.

  22. I think we should take Rojo over Taglafico in left back position it will give us defensive stability.It will improve our back line.

    • Are you serious? Rojo was not even selected as a backup by Mourinho in the FA cup final, apparently he is not fit, and he never play well as a left back, thats why Mourinho only use him as a centre back.
      Tagliafico has been starting all the matches for Ajax since his arrival, and he is a natural left back. I will defintely choose him over Rojo.

      • Rojo is faster than Taglafico.His height is advantage.He played left back in WC 2014.For manchester united for some time he was LB during van gal era.He is defensively better than Taglafico our defence is little weak but I think the cover of our defence is weak due to Biglia Banega.Banega do not care for charging attacker just as in Spain friendly.Our back four is decent but it need support.Fazio is very disciplined.

        • Rojo has been out of form the whole season after coming back from a bad injury and lack of playing time didn’t help his cause either. He has been selected as a CB as we have better options in LB position. Sabella was the one who made him play LB because of his height which worked then but we have better options now.Tagliafico is far ahead of Rojo form wise and he is a natural LB which Rojo isn’t. Sampaoli has also selected Acuna and Ansaldi. But its crucial that Rojo gets back in form as he is our No3 CB and he will play vital role again this time also.

        • I have to vote for Tagla.. Rojo when fit is very atheltic, put his positioning and ball control on the wing is poor. He had a surprisingly good 2014, but he is not in form today.

  23. Scaring thoughts, Augero injured and Huigain leading the line. I hope i dont have to imagine his miss like vs Germany. Please let Augero fit for this world cup and only use Huigain as for time wasting.

  24. The quality players like Rodrigo Battaglia, Ansaldi and Mascheranho will be defensive midfielder. They will never let you down.
    In this World cup We can’t again trust on players like Biglia, Rojo and Higuain. They are mentally and physically not fit to starting line up. Dybala should be out if he continues play in same style what he play in club level.
    We need creative attacking mid duo who will create chances to Messi and and Aguero on front in every second whenever they get the ball. Ricardo Centurion in place of dybala will be a player to watch out in WC. Also Maxi Meza will be amazing.
    I am so excited.

  25. I hope Ansaldi will start instead of Mercado, Ansaldi is way better in attacking, Better ball control.
    Will choose Armani to Romero, just for ball control & speed. Romero is pathetic in both.

    Hope Dybala will start over Pavon & Meza in 4_2_3_1 set up (most likely formation in atleast group stages, if clicked well, high chance of him sticking with this throughout the campaign)..

    Armani ; (4_4_2)
    Ansaldi__Otamendi___Fazio___Rojo
    Salvio____ Locelso___Bigli____Maria
    Messi_____ Kun/Pipita

    Armani; (4_2_3_1)
    Ansaldi___Otamendi__Fazio___Rojo
    Masche___Biglia
    Dybala___Messi___Dimaria
    Kun

    Armani ; (4_3_2_1)
    Ansaldi____Otamendi___Fazio__Rojo
    Lo Celso___Biglia____Banega
    Messi Maria
    Kun

    • Rojo is that type of a player, who plays better for national team. If his form is recovered during the training, he should replace Tagliafico. Tagli is a risky player. Our LB need to be solid, considering the character of Di Maria, who runs,attack & loose ball too much. Rojo will give more security to back line.

  26. Congratulations to the deserving players.
    I am not happy that Paredes, Pezzella and Icardi were left out.
    Happy for Ansaldi who I lobbied for years to be our full backs, and just when I gave up he makes it :D, I even used to watch Rubin Kazan games just to see him.
    Happy for Armani who I feel will start sometime during the tournament.
    Happy for Lanzini, Tagliafico, Salvio, Acuna, Lo Celso, Meza, Dybala, Pavon. All players we lobbied and were deemed not good enough and people changed their tune as soon as they were called up.
    I for one admire Mascherano and in my eyes he will always be a legend.
    I Admire Messi and for me he will always be top 2 player.
    I admire Aguero and I think his potential was to rival Messi for the best player.
    I admire Higuain and supported him when people were calling him a traitor, when he was rumored to play for France.
    But as human beings I don’t respect them one bit. All the political crap they did was disgusting.
    But decisions are made so we have to live with them.
    There is nothing else left to do now but the support the team.
    I truly believe that we can win the World cup. Tournament games are crazy, a goal can change everything. we have players that with their brilliance can change any game and win it.
    I also believe that we have some great reserves and during the World cup those guys will play because Sampaoli will find out during the World cup that he trusted on some wrong players.
    In the world the team that finds it’s form during the months win.
    Thank you. I hope with all my heart that we win this World Cup, and the next, next…
    I don’t know if we will win, I hope!

  28. our BOSS is excited but some of our “super coaches” are not. I am afraid they may not be excited even if this TEAM wins World Cup .

    • Our BOSS is very much excited but some of our “Supreme Coaches” are not. I am afraid they may not be much excited even if “this team” wins world cup for many blind criticisms were raised against our coach and our captain. This time cup is ours . Vamos Argentina.

  30. There are so many positives, compared to 2014.

    1. Our Defence is way better now. We don’t have anyone like Sabella’s pet Federico, who was so vulnerable & forced to replace with the nightmare of Argentina, Demichellis, who gave away the gotze goal.

    2. Aguero’s Surgery is a great news. He will play the tournament of his life (hopefully).

    3. Di maria got enough rest, unlike in 2014 season, when he shouldered Real Madrid to UEFA glory & Ronaldo to Ballon Dor. He was tired even before the tournament… He will be physically in a better position now. Him being abled to play 7 games is key to the Albiceleste Glory.

    4. Messi’s evolution as a better playmaker. We have fast, attacking, dribbling.. options in Wings, what we lack now is a creator in mid…
    Messi of 2018 is way ahead of his 2014 version, in compensating the vaccum created by Riquelmi.

    5. Our attacking Wings are far superior. dybala,Maria,Pavon,Lanzini.. if our mid n back can ensure the much needed balance, these wingers are capable enough to rape any fucking defence in the world.

    &
    Hope Biglia/Masche or both together will give everything to make their last tournament a memorable one.
    Mascherano is old, but he’s not out. He migh have saved energy in every possible way,for this prize.

  31. That’s quite good list but I’m afraid there are big mistakes in crucial positions – central positions.

    Lack of No.5 like Battaglia, Ascacibar or Pizarro (I have serious doubt we can handle defensively without such man). Here at least one of Biglia/Masche/Banega should have been out. They were so poor in last matches .

    So we have 3 potential losers in central midfield. But we have also another two in central attack. There’s too much probability Higuain/Aguero will fail for several reasons. One of them should have been left at the expense of Icardi/Martinez.

    3. Pezzella over Rojo.

    Good to see Caballero, Armani, Tagliafico, Acuna, Ansaldi, Lo Celso, Salvio, Meza, Pavon, Lanzini, Dybala. There’s few players that, according to defenders of perennial status quo, should have never been there. But they are.

  32. So we are! Can’t wait for Haiti friendly.

    Hopefully Armani, Ansaldi, Maxi, Pavon, Salvio, Acuna, Dybala all gets some minutes.

  33. Now its time to support and sing. I don’t like some players, and I would have taken some others, but now its not the time to complaining and moaning!

    This time, we have a world class manager. A manager who is tactically modern and can set up a game plan competing with those European managers. And we know Sampaoli will attack and not wait to see how the opponent plays. Thats a plus.

    I think we will be outscoring oppositions and concede goals. I’m hoping we concede less and score a shit ton of goals.

    VAMOS!!!

  34. On the bright side, Sampaoli is still a pretty good coach. But that defence has just dashed my hopes. Anyway, it’s always been a roller coaster ride. So no worries 😂 VAMOS ARGENTINA!

  35. I’m so thrilled. lets get started..
    Sampa given a very positive and encouraging press conference. Positive vibes engulfing everywhere.
    Trust me i never had this kind feeling. It is finally coming!!
    Vamos Argentina…….

  36. As much as I don’t like Messi and Friends FC clique, at the end of the day they will have to go and represent my country. So, I will put my animosity aside for the players who were selected and not selected and support the shirt.

  37. Ok ok ok, the cat is finally out of the bag, the dust just settled……….playtime and nonsense is over and now all players can settle down and know what is expected of them and I’m so glad no Argentine is involved in any other competition…..pack your bags and GO HOME because it is on.

    The wait is over, a lot has changed since 2014 and I hope we finally get what we want.

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