River Plate goalkeeper Franco ARMANI has zero caps to his name with the Argentina National Team but he has stated that he wants to get a chance to play at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Having spent most of his playing career in Colombia and only recently come back to Argentina, ARMANI has been flying under the radar in terms of Argentine goalkeepers. Making a name for himself at Atletico Nacional, it was only after having joined River Plate that he received his first call-up for his country. And for him, it could not have come at a better time.
With Sergio ROMERO injured and the goalkeeping position up for grabs, ARMANI wants to make that spot his own. Speaking with Radio 10, here’s the shot stopper had to say:
“Being on the list of 23 fills me with pride but I’m not satisfied and I’m going to fight for a spot. I have prepared myself in the best way possible and I want to get an opportunity (to play) in the World Cup.”
Despite all of the speculation in the media regarding which players would receive the call to go to the World Cup for Argentina, ARMANI mentioned that he didn’t know anything about it.
“I didn’t know anything about the call-up. I found out when the list came out.”
ARMANI then goes on to speak about Lionel MESSI and the team:
“The same quality he has in dribbling and finishing, he’s got it as a human. He’s an extraordinary leader.
“The idea and the dream of this group is to win the World Cup but to have a good World Cup would be to finish among the four best.”
Aside from winning the FIFA World Cup, the general idea among the players appears to be that finishing in the top four would be a good tournament. Lionel MESSI has said it, as has AFA president Claudio TAPIA and now Franco ARMANI.
Hope Armani’s gamble pays off and he doesn’t do a Karius on the big stage. Coz honestly Caballero’s keeping looks like another Karius in the making, but Armani has had a good season, so not so tense about him
But 70% chance is that caballero may be our starting goalie
Caballero is not dependable.. Last match he came out from the box to clear a ball unnecessarily and making it dangerous.
His reflexes are below par when compared to Romero. He could have saved one or two goals in Spain’s match. If you look at the statistics Romero played only 12 matches in 17-18 and Caballero 15 matches whereas Armani 68 matches in 17-18 season. I have high hopes on Armani but also worried about his inexperience . Not sure whether he can suck in all the pressure when playing on a bigger stage. Romero is a master in that.. He was very cool in crunch situations.
armani should start, he deserves to be given a chance as hes in very good form and that is some thing that the other 2 cant say as they both have had average seasons.
Though It’s actually somewhat refreshing to hear the players talking about their dreams and objectives so bluntly, I am a bit worried about the comments. Honest answers to questions like winning the cup: “we are not among the best teams and among the top four would be good” are of course something different than the usual “we do our best and see where it takes us”, but still the team shouldn’t be thinking like this.
Lets hope that this wont distract the players.. every game, every half and every minute and every play must be taken at the time.. one can not think about the top four or anything else right now.. the only objective should be the next game, no further than that. Hope Sampaoli will underline this to the players.
If you reach the Semis you areone of the four best teams in the world. It’s pretty simple
I think sampaoli should give Armani a chance at least against Israel and see how he performs.caballero is not dependable.
Argentina vs France world cup final
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