Argentina rumored XI vs. Nigeria, ARMANI to start

By
Roy Nemer
-
386
Lionel Messi Sergio Aguero Argentina
Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero playing for Argentina.

Just 24 hours after Argentina’s humiliating 3-0 loss to Croatia, there are already rumors of Argentina’s starting eleven for Tuesday’s match.

Following a disastrous performance against Croatia, goalkeeper Willy CABALLERO is expected to start the third group stage match on the bench with Franco ARMANI replacing him. Aside from that, it would be more changes from coach Jorge SAMPAOLI.

Here’s the rumored eleven:
ARMANI; MERCADO, OTAMENDI, FAZIO, ROJO; MASCHERANO, BIGLIA, BANEGA; MESSI, DI MARIA, AGUERO

There were some rumors that Nahuel GUZMAN would start but that was quickly replaced by Franco ARMANI.

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386 Comments

  1. Hello.
    Argentina hasn’t won anything for so long.
    I really don’t want to see a group stage exit.

    Armani is starting – good sign.
    I thought Acuna was good last match. At least he was trying. A lot of the senior players were like walking on the park.

    What I don’t get is why can’t Higuain + Aguero, or Dybala+Aguero play together?
    Messi is first a creative player, and a goal-scorer later. Messi and Di Maria/Pavon should play from slightly behind or on the wings

    I will play 4-2-2-2
    Armani
    4 good defenders
    Mascherano/Meza, Lo Celso/Banega/Acuna
    Messi, Di Maria/Pavon
    Aguero, Dybala/Higuain

  2. Cheer up, Argentina! This is the same game as with Ecuador. Do or die! And we know who is our best hope, but all players matter!! For all those players, maybe you feel safe as Messi always be a scapegoat. But remember your country and people depend on you too!!

  3. Please god let Armani play!!! Things can’t get worse. I would personally feel a lil less helpless knowing that fucken retard caballero isn’t even on the field.

  4. please guys no we have really to stop defending messi yo just could not act as the way he did losing 2-0 letting the ball pass through another one look at the 3rd he could at least make a little pressure to rakitic come on he didi not even a shot. i m maybe messi biggest fan and it looks like he s out mybe he s got problem with his wife or something else i m saying these even if the team is dead there s no team actually i had a lot of hope on sampaoli but it looks that he didn t deserve his reputation maybe he just won aganst us with a lot luck or just cause we were too unlucky last 3 finals.
    anyway we fucked up our chances we fucked up our play because of 23 character of shit we will wait for 4 more years and another project hope it will be a team project
    for messi as isaid even if i m one of his biggest fan i do not think that he deserves a WC just for his walking journey on the field if you want to win a cup you have to be ten times more involved in his case 100000 time no matter the talent he had

    • do u not think players have got brains then? if messi was deciding player selection like some here keep saying he certainly would never have gone for a 3 4 3 formation…not only did we have little prep for it but we didn’t even have the players in mid for it….am pretty sure Messi knew we were gonna get trounced hence his headache at start and u r putting all the blame on him??? wat were the other 10 players doing??? having a fvkking picnic??? one player no matter how good he is cannot win or do it all… u need 11 players playing.. and to say he doesn’t deserve a wc????? of all the players he deserves it more than anyone else!!!!!!!!

      • sorry man but when you have a team built only around you you have at least to show that you re involved you re trying to do something especially when you re the best we re not talking about cristiano or neymar we re talking about lio man he s not a kind of great player he s a phenomenon he had to get the key to pass through those block even if he couldn t reach that but show some involvement and then i m sure the players will be more focused but what are you supposed to do when you see your best luck out of the game players as a captain you have to show the way or just a little signs that guys i m here i m trying help me but if you still doing your autism attitude then we got the results

        • Messi was criticized for trying to do too much by dropping deep and getting involved too much but when he doesnt drop and stays uptop(as a tactical instruction)and he doesnt get the ballhe is again criticized.He is the most consistent player ever but that doesn’t mean he has to win every game by himself or more importantly that its an obligation of him towards you guys to make Argentina win

        • why does he need to show anything when no-one else is?? the arrogance that you are showing is unbelievable… tell u what u go fvkking play with those players and lets see if there’s a miracle…

        • The team built around Messi? That’s the biggest joke ever! Sampaoli just keep saying that to deflect the blame. What did the team do to serve Messi? Nothing. Also if Messi chose the players he would not seem so sad at the beginning. Messi I believe knew that would be disaster but try to respect the coach. That’s why the players finally went against the coach and demand changes.

  5. We also hear a lot people say Messi is smart tactically, I don’t believe in friends club etc etc or that Messi would try to pick the players. I do think Messi understands himself very well tactically and when coaches don’t understand Messi becomes pissed off. There is no chance in hell Messi has been picking the team in Argentina ever, maybe he had most influence with Sabella because he setup for Messi most by always trying to play Gago (great player) beside him. I just hope now people in Argentina (Sampaoli) will ask Messi and the players what to do now. Messi probably pissed off like the rest of us Willy was selected.

  6. There are certain posters here who hate some of our players (especially the senior players) more than the English people hate Argentina. And these people will be happy if those players they hate do bad… even if they wear Albiceleste color.

      • In india there is a advertisment called ” meeri doosa country ” which translates to ” my other country ” its only for the world cup .. where one chooses a country they shoukd root for obviously as india us not at the world cup .. this is conducted to increase viewer ship during the world cup .. thet have an app where u choose your ” country ” and one can win prizes etc they even encourage viewers to change their ” country ” as an when its convinent .. to put thibgs in perspective i was having a conversation wirh a friend after the first round of games and i assumed he suppoeted argentina coz he supports ” barca ” coz of messi ..
        And he was ” damn all the teams i am.supporting are doing crap” he meant germany argentina brazil and spain .. as we have a lot of posters from india on this site expect the ” weekend warriors ” to vent their frustrations on the team

    • Very very true ..and the most hilarious one is them trying to suss the players mental make up and attribute reasons for their so called dysfunctional behaviour .. social media attention i tell u …

  7. I have something to say and I will get it off my chest because I am very disappointed with my fellow ARGENTINA supporters.

    I am and ARGENTINA fan, been so from before Messi was born and I will not try to prove it here because if you don’t know that about me by now then you’re either blind or stupid.

    We speak about the players having fragile minds, what about us? every time something happens people freak out of their minds, lashing out at this and that and now I guess it is Messi’s turn.
    ARGENTINA would have been sitting at home watching the WC instead of being there if it wasn’t for Messi, Don’t you hear what the world says about ARG, ‘they are average team but they matter when Messi plays for them, other say, they are nothing without Messi, while some others say that ARGENTINA doesn’t even deserve Messi’.
    You want Messi to quit? I wish Messi stays on for another 10 years or at least until he wins a trophy for ARG because he deserves that honor, since when did he go from Hero to villain…….in a week?
    Messi retires after the WC and I guarantee you ungrateful people here and around the world will come out and cry, “WHERE ARE YOU MESSI, PLEASE COME BACK, WHY DID YOU QUIT ON US” the second they realize that safety net is gone and they’re pissing in the wind.

    I honestly hope that this particular site does not represent the majority of ARGENTINA fans around the world.

    • Well put.

      It is very easy to distinguish which one is the true fans. For me I don’t care who plays, I just want Argentina to win.

      All I know is Messi is the best player and strongest weapon ever when he is happy. And he is the biggest cancer ever (even worse than Tevez) when he is unhappy.

    • yep is true. u can argue that certain players are not in form or they have lost some pace.. or the system /formation is wrong or the players are not the right ones to play in that system/formation…. but the trashing of certain players is so childish…any other country would love to have messi.. and they would treat him a damn sight better than some of these so called argentina supporters. i’ve supported argentina since i first started watching football…and nothing will ever change that… i feel so sorry for messi he has more pressure on him than any other player and how it must hurt to read some of the stuff said about him by his own fellow argentinians who i really don’t get.. he left argentina at a young age he could have played for spain but he chose argentina.. u are so damn blessed but really don’t deserve him.

    • don t be disappointed because sure inside here is not everybody Argentina fans.

      i read every day all the hours of day this website for almost 2 months now and i am able
      to understand who is Argentina fan really and who not.

      anyway that is not disturb me because we have the freedom to speak with who we like and ignore who we don t like.

      Personally i ignore all those are not support Argentina.

    • I agree with you.
      They are people who even doubt his motivation when playing in blue and white strips. Maybe it’s because the likes of that kind of people that Messi become sad. Those type of people demand big, but what have they done for the team? Other than support, at least from home, they can only lash critics and accusing bad things to him (for all the players to be exact, but it’s him that get the most impact).

      Even if Argentina couldn’t pass further, nothing we could do other than keep supporting, and thanks the players for the effort. If someone has to be blamed, it’s the coach, but even for him there are excuses, lack of preparation time, injuries like what happened to Romero, Lanzini, etc.
      When something is not going as per planned it’s the coach responsibility to take charge and change the game plan, what’s a coach for?

      Many things are going not as good as planned. One of the biggest blunder to me is choosing Willy instead of Armani, two errors proven leading to at least 2 or 3 points loss. And it’s the players fault too ?

    • I hope whatever happened, Messi will play again for us. As Argentina supporter, I appreciate all the things he has done. 3 finals, to even be at this WC. Without Messi, nobody will even think of us as one of he favourites.

      I know of people who support Argentina only because Messi and switch immediately to brazil or Portugal (Neymar, CR) once we’re losing. Then conveniently lash out their frustrations to Messi and Argentina.

      Hope the team win against Nigeria please!!!! Otherwise will continue to wait 2022, 2026, til the end.

    • LOL that is so true, Sam was running toward the lock room and only was stopped by Iceland’s manger to shake hands…….he is clueless and an embarrassment.

      I’ll be a man about it and say it, “I WAS VERY WRONG ABOUT HIM” i thought he was the answer but wow was I wrong, but then again he was the only one who accepted the job AND THE AFA practically went on their knees begging him to take the job.

      • You’re a MANAGER, you represent a country and this is a game not war.
        It shows weakness, lack of respect and most of all shows him as a sore-loser.

  10. Use our last weapon. Unleash the fantastic4 if needed in second half. Keep Nigeria in defense. I don’t care about midfield creativity. I don’t care for two units of 6 defenders and 4 attackers. we need to win somehow. We need to defeat Nigeria. We need some attackers in front to score goals.

    Dybala-Messi-Dimaria
    Aguero/Higuain

    I don’t believe any system will give us strength in midfield. We don’t have proper midfielders to utilize our attacking players. Either midfield will be defensive or offensive. Cant balance with any of the system.

    Give fantastic4 all freedom in front. Don’t restrict them in a single position. Let the players adjust themselves.

  11. the players played from first game with huge stress.

    they never had chance to put out the stress and feel comfortable to play.
    if our stupit goalkeeper didn t allow the goal to Iceland just 4 minutes after Aguero s goal
    now i am sure the story will be completely different.

    if time had passed our players sure would put off stress and feel free.
    we could have win it easy with 2 or 3 goals.

    but unfortunately things go wrong with Iceland and the stress inside team
    instead of reduced just opposite was increased.

  12. Maybe this situation could be similar to Luis Enrique beginning at Barcelona when he changed and changed the team until it hit breaking point. Enrique done exactly this to Barcelona with the 3 man defences. I’ve seen Messi like this a few times in the past but it feels worse to see in Argentina. I haven’t seen Messi play for Barcelona around 2 years now. Like a lot of people I believed Sampaoli would be great for the team. I still somehow hold out some hope for Sampaoli, he has a good energy, I might be slightly delusional but I can’t help but hope for Messi and all the other players, I actually like every Argentinian player including Biglia, Higuain I always liked him even when he played for RM against my team. I hope he could do something to help Argentina just now. I don’t mind who plays too much, I just wish for attacking football. I would like to see Lo Celso play though. Argentina do need to be scared to let go. Every critic now is jumping all over Messi, saying he’s weak etc but we know Messi is strong he picked himself up so many times in the past, from the beginning of his life Messi has been fighting to be here. I don’t know what can help Messi play with more fire but I think putting 2 forwards in ahead of Messi would help a lot, Argentina always worrying more about defending than scoring, why not play Di Maria, Pavon and Aguero? Or Higuain up top, Aguero, Messi and Pavón supporting, Aguero can play wide he did it for Atletico in the past. He won’t offer much to defend but what are Argentina scared of? The wingers/wing backs are useless anyway when teams crowd the middle, it’s always the wide forwards cutting in and wrong foot the full back that do the damage, Dybala could do this. Argentina have all weapons to play anyway in attack, with target man, with poacher or with false 9. But always more interested in using wingers, Di MARIA better off played on the right side than wasting his time on the left. Vamos

    • For me this situation is similar to WC 1990. We barely made it to the second round and we had to meet the favorite Brazil in the second round. But we won anyway until the final. Hope it will be the same this time.

      I believe we need just one win to restore us back to the real Argentina.

      • Me too, I really feel like the Nigeria game is the World Cup final to me lol. I’m not Argentinian but I always followed the players. This generation really drew me in though of course through Messi but really hope for all the players involved and the fans they can connect come Tuesday!

  13. After reading all the comments all That stuck was a man say Aimar not world class nah ……buh wah the….

    WC really hv some men loosing it

  14. To take Higuain and not Dybala is abnormal, unless Smapoli really want to please Messi.

    I remember DYbala playing so good as No.9 in Palermo.

  15. Ok, just saw some croatian news. Firat of all they are writting about sampa and all of the team didnt shake hands of either coach or players after the game. I didnt see it on tv but if its true that is disaster. Why? Because you represent your country and your people, its forbidden to behave like shit. Its not our style. Also they predict that croatian will start with 10 new players, only perisic frim first 11 will start. Its still pretty good team but we must expect nothing but iceland win. Hope that wont me more than single goal win. So, having that in mind, i hope messi will wake up, the team will breathe like one, and coach will be on his best. For me there is no excuse….. the pressure is gone, all of people lost their faith on you, just step up and show some fucking gutts down on the pitch. Everything is possible. The key is faith.

  16. I see Nigeria will score 5-0 against Argentina on upcoming match and Ahmed Musa will score hatrick for sure.
    Second thing Argentina doesn’t deserve to be selected in this 32 teams wc.
    They are physically skill wise more inferior than Saudi Arabia, Panama, south Korea.

  17. Watching the Belgium play, so nice they are playing, very clean, fast. Hazard, de bryne, lukaku are destroying Tunisia. “The three musketeers”.

  18. What was the plan of your team? In the first match it was said “they are passing it too much to messi, messi cant find space”
    In the second match we saw they cant evenn pass to messi.

    People forget the root cause and only blame messi.

    The root cause is fucking afa of grandona that did not renew sabella,,,, then all the wrong coaches were hired and then sampaoli was given a sinking ship, now lets blame sampaoli but think, did he have enough time to develop a system?

    • Sampaoli is not wanted anymore from the players.
      it is not matter of fans.

      the point is now to save the ship in this world cup.

      after world cup we will have the time for speak about who is fault to blame.

      • Sampaoli isn’t wanted because he tinkered with system and players are not used to that system.
        That would not have happened if he had enough time.

  19. Someone who wants messi out of the team should really take cucumber and shove it.
    This guy, who wouldn’t fucking leave false nine for ibrahimovic, moved to cam for higuain and maradona, messi was the only one that played in 2010 match vs ger.
    The home copa, go fucking watch the uruguya match again who made the fucking goal that arg scored and how many chances were wasted.
    This guy captained you to wc final in 24 years,,,can you question his performance in 2015 copa? didn’t he lay passes after passes in the semi? and in the final? Only mistake he made was he could not convery that pen in 2016,,,fucking morons should know maradona missed penalty is world cup quarter….. in this worldcup, afa of grandona and normalization committee (not tapia) messed up everything, without messi you would not even be watching world cup, messi missed so many games with barca just for this wc, and u question his dedication? some idiots evenn claimed messi played badly intentionally, go and watch the highlights, nobody was passing to him.

    You guys deserve a quarter final team, that’s what you are.

  20. Maradona said: “I played with my life whenever I got the Argentine shirt.

    “Legends like Simeone, Redondo, Ruggeri, Canniggia, Filol, Luque and Gallego did exactly the same.

    “I want to be able to talk to the players and make them understand what it means to wear the national shirt.”

    In 1994, we started 7 legends in the starting line up: Ruggeri in the back. Redondo, Simeone, and Maradona in midfield. Caniggia, Balbo, and Batigol upfront.

    It was one one of the most beautiful teamworks I have ever seen. We only screwed up because of Maradona’s drug scandal. This is how you play in the World Cup. Play with ALL OF YOUR BEST PLAYERS.

    Brazil had their fantastic four of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, and Kaka when winning in 2002
    Germany had all of their legends starting in 1990 such as Matthaus, Brehme, Klinsmann.
    Brazil had Romario and Bebeto in 1994
    France had all of their legends in 1998 like Zidane, Thuram, Desailly, or Djorkaeff.
    Italy had their Cannavaro and Buffon in 2006
    Spain had all of their legends in 2010 like Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa
    Germany had their legends too in 2014: Neuer, Muller, Klose, Ozil

    Those players were stars even BEFORE they came to the World Cup.

    Only stars can win the World Cup.

    • I agree.You can never show a team full of young exciting player that won a world cup or CL. Established stars beats the newcomers most of time. Ramos neutralized Salah. Samuel neutralized Bojan. Kroos schooled Lo Celso.

      Seasoned players of Argentina’14 manhandled youngsters of Belgium’14 with ease.

  21. 3 players injured and are a doubt for nigeria: otamendi, mercado and biglia
    If otamendi cannot play, we are done.

    Some superstition:
    Before wc there was a saying, we won our two wc with a river keeper.
    Fate has made armani the keeper now.
    Does it say anything?

  22. Nigeria is very dangerous team but everything depend on us.

    i believe we should play carefully and with patient to win game 1-0.

    if Croatians losing against Iceland then in second half we should push for more goals.

    our defense is weak and we should be careful.

    in same time i hope the bad relations between players and Sampaoli put in corner
    for the good of our team.

  23. During the training it was divided into 2 teams of 7 players. They are:
    The starters: Salvio, Rojo, Tagliafico; Masche, Enzo; Di Maria, Higuain

    vs.

    The bench: Ansaldi, Fazio; Lo Celso, Meza; Dybala, Pavon, Aguero

    Messi and Banega are the 2 men in the middle who will play for any side that holds the ball.

    That’s 16 players involved in the training there. The 3 goalies have their own training. So 19. Who are not involved at all:
    1. Lucas Biglia (must be because of his slight injury)
    2. Marcos Acuna
    3. Maxi Meza
    4. Gabriel Mercado (because we played 7 vs 7 or because he is slightly injured?)

    Why Acuna and Meza are not there? Make your own guess.

    • biglia need to banned from playing for argentina simple .banega mascherano also needed to be kicked out .we need lo celso.

    • Meza Acuna Salvio and Willy are failed experiments of Mad Scientist Sampaoli. Now since Sampa’s strategy has failed miserably i don’t mind if Messi wants his old teammates back. I didn’t want many players in the roaster but i don’t care anymore. If Messi thinks he can win with his old friends give him his team . He will drop deep and create. They might be old but still good enough to beat Nigeria. I just want to win next match and proceed further.

    • If Salvio starts , we are gonna loose. Ahmed Musa will run riot, he did it against Zabaleta , four year ago. Zabaleta was a top RB at that time.

      I can’t understand the exclusion of Fazio. I guess Sampaoli likes Tagliafico very much. He must accomodate Rojo(playing since 2010), so he excludes Fazio who is not one of the seniors.

      Biglia may have a knock, but perez was subpar against Croatia. Missed an open net, made one tackle and lost the ball five times. I guess Sampaoli remembers 4-2 loss when he started Lo Celso, Perez and Banega last time against Nigeria.

      Otherwise I am ok. If we went for a Mercado- Otamendi- Fazio- Rojo defence , defence would be a lot stable , there will be a lot of bodies during Nigerian counter attacks. With 2 decent CB, and 2 CB converted to fullback, Lo Celso could start in place of Perez who would bring better creativity without sacrificing defence that much. Tagliafico is a good player, but Sampaoli’s wingplay has been disaster.

      • I agree, I prefer Mercado and the backline of: Mercado, Otamendi, Fazio, and Rojo. Hope Salvio will have his best performance of his life.

        Nigeria for me is inconsistent. In their 45 x 4 minutes so far, They played like crap in their first 45 x 3 minutes, but they played great in their last 45 minutes. I don’t think they will play that good, though.

  25. I usually wander by to see some of the comments here. And I have to say there is a lot of rubbish written here usually by the casual fans or those who support the seleccion simply because of Messi.

    First off the situation is down to the AFA. It has always been incompetent right back to 1950. The body is corrupt. It needs to address issues in the domestic divisional structure, improving the percentage of transfer fees received by clubs, making sure managers get longer to develop at clubs instead of being fired after half a season. There needs to be close cooperation between the AFA and clubs on youth development and continental competitions and not just an inquiry into this debacle but why there is still no improvement in the production of world class laterals and goalkeepers.

    Frankly there has been a lot of rubbish written on these pages particularly about luck and God. They do not come into it. Preparation does and right now the AFA needs a root and branch reform. So that by the time 2030-4 swing by Argentinian football is in a healthy place. Part of that also ties in with the economic fortunes of the country.

    This current crop of players needs a lesson in humility and to remember who they are playing for. Without doubt the best hinchada in the world and the people back home in Argentina. Put aside any squabbles for the sake of the flag and at the very least your own pride.

    The sole things that have given me hope are the continued emergence of talent in Argentina. Players like Cardona, Vargas, Maroni, Quarta and even Rossi looks to be becoming more secure as a keeper along with several others and especially the rapid maturity of Asascibar and Lo Celso.

    It is criminal why the former was omitted entirely as his style of play suits a Sampaoli team and why Lo Celso has failed to play a single minute as he is our best box to box player since the great Redondo. Without a midfield no team can hope to win matches and ours has been abysmal. The other bright spot is the performance of Tagliafico. A born leader who has overcome setbacks and has given his all like Mascherano.

    Future captain or German Pezzella. Both are leaders at the back and organize as does Armani. Those who have been criticizing him know nothing about football. But as I say the root problem can be traced to the AFA and it’s corruption.

    The money that has gone missing could have been paid to hire the best youth coaches a long time ago in Zubeldia when at Racing and Pochettino at Espanyol and bring in someone like a Simeone and Burgos. Due to the scandalous AFA we had to lose Martino, hire Bauza and like Basile unable to cope with the friends club and then Sampaoli has hardly had any time to work his project.

    I repeat until the AFA is reformed and swept clean and that includes the fat useless pig Tapia not much will change. Above all player power must not be allowed to triumph from these self entitled idiots who purport to represent the seleccion.

    As always a pleasure to read you Gonzalo. Co słychać? Entirely agree that the team needs a complete rebuild retaining just Pavon, Meza, Lo Celso, Dybala, Tagliafico, Armani, Otamendi (short term), Ghostdeini and several others. Come to Argentina Bigsoccer for more sensible conversations.

    • It’s alright, Brian,

      “I usually wander by to see some of the comments here. And I have to say there is a lot of rubbish written here usually by the casual fans or those who support the seleccion simply because of Messi”.

      Ye, I just wonder how many supporters will have Argentina here when Messi will retire from NT. It will be moment of truth: who was just Argentina fan and who rather Messi supporter.

      What about buliding new team: I would like to see Cristian Lema instead Otamendi in first friendly after WC. Why not try…

  26. This is a deciding moment. Messi…!
    Show up who you are..!
    Show up what you can do…!
    Show up how strong you are…!
    Go to an alien mode, make Argentina proud, make Argentina fans worldwide proud.
    We believe in you. Only you can turn it around. Win it by proud. Win it by proud. Let world praise you. Let the world see how good Argentina is…!
    I am sure you can make this team tick. Be yourself…Be MESSI…!

  27. Roy
    Was I suspended yesterday?
    When I wanted to access the website it stated my account is suspended.
    I leave the site if the the posters want me to.
    No need for suspension or bans.
    I will support this team until my last breath.
    I have nothing against Messi and think he is the 2nd best player of all time just after our own Maradona.
    I just question his character.
    I want Messi on the team without a question, but I want Messi alone and not Messi in a package with his friends. I also don’t want to exclude a player just because he is friends with Messi. If the player is great, in form, plays well, I don’t care where he plays, who is he friends with and how old he is.
    That’s all.
    Vamos Argentina.
    Thanks, bye.

    • The senior players are back. Aguero pays the price for criticizing Sampaoli publicly. Biglia is not there only because of his minor knock I guess.

        • If he fails, no one will be questioning him. This is his debut.
          Armani can be a hero. Armani can be the much-needed energy. Armani can be a savior.

      • May be Aguero played 2 games and especially against Croatia he did absolutely nothing that is why Higuain is starting. I hope Sampa is not taking it out on Aguero and they have settled their differences for this crucial game.

        • Higuain and Aguero so far have the minutes splitted between the 2. Both Higuain and Di Maria should go crazy chasing the ball and being everywhere on the pitch knowing that Aguero and Pavon will sub them sometimes in the second half.

        • I’m ok with giving Higauin the chance to start since he’s taller and better with his aerial game ,Di Maria and Higuain are very unpredictable if they play like they do for their clubs then we can win 5 zero

      • Messi gets what he wants. His friends will play. Hope he will be happy now.

        The senior players deserve to start after the horrific performance by Argentina where 5 of them were sitting on the bench.

        Is there any of you still discussing that Messi should not play… Dybala should start. F#$% off Messi?

        • During the training it was divided into 2 teams of 7 players. They are:
          The starters: Salvio, Rojo, Tagliafico; Masche, Enzo; Di Maria, Higuain

          vs.

          The bench: Ansaldi, Fazio; Lo Celso, Meza; Dybala, Pavon, Aguero

          Messi and Banega are the 2 men in the middle who will play for any side that holds the ball.

    • Enzo misses an open goal with a shit performance and still selected , honestly i reached the level which i dont care becuz i dnt wanna break my heart anymore. Agueros speed is needed specifcally in this match . Only tagliafico impressed me with his fightjbg spirit agains croatia

    • How many times do we have to start Di Maria it’s like banging our heads on the wall? Higuain and Banega I can live with, though he should’ve gone with Dybala and Pavon,Enzo and Masche should give some stability to midfield

  29. Yes its true Messi didn’t look happy from day 1 against Iceland. When Aguero scored he didn’t celebrate like he normally does.Never thought that Sampaoli was so so bad. He doesn’t have that skills and head to manage super stars as this is first time managing such a team. His mad experimenting lead us to this day. Messi hasn’t said anything in public but its clear its because of Sampaoli’s coaching techniques. Look at his goalkeeper selection, his timing of subs. Against Croatia Messi and Aguero were not getting any service from midfield and he brings Higuain, first game he waits too long for Pavon. Either play Pavon or Dimaria. Hell go with Dimaria if Messi wants him to play. Very very irresponsible from players and coaching staff. They almost got us out in the world cup. Thanks to Nigeria we have been given one final chance. Play whoever the senior players want to play with. Its not like Sampaoli’s mad experiments Salvio, Willy and Acuna and Meza worked. Meza is too scared to take risk and should not play anymore. He is not national team material. He had one fluke game against Spain and thats it. The best news is AFA had a lunch meeting with senior players and Coaching staffs and they have decided to put aside their differences. Give the senior players the team they want to play with. Otamendi’s injury is a big blow if true. But with Tagliafico’s performance last game he can partner with Fazio and Ansaldi can play RB and Rojo LB as Mercado is also unfit. If no miracle happen Iceland with lose against Croatia’s B team. If we win this we will qualify. We can do this. We win this we will beat France!!

    • Tyc is reporting this could be our starting xi. Apparently Otamendi and Mercado are okay.

      Franco Armani; Salvio or Mercado, Otamendi, Rojo, Tagliafico; Enzo Pérez, Mascherano, Banega; Messi, Higuaín and Di María .

      Still better than having Biglia and Meza. I want Mercado over Salvio. They trained hard as per the report. Please god pump up our players!! If they want to win we will win!!!

  30. PARDON ME i was wrong this time.
    This World Cup failure only on sampaoli. His idiotic and stupidly making an “ILLUSION” got us in trouble. Fair enough he didn’t have enough time to build a team but why would you play such a formation if players doesn’t comfortable with it in a important game like that. He was so much into playing possession football. Start from back and bullshit yet he left two best ball playing, possession base player from starting line up. We have two class midfield who actually plays possession base football for their respective club. Lo Celso and Banega. I know Banega is inconsistent but with Lo Celso his(Banega) slowness would go for sure. Them two are not Xavi or Iniesta but they actually can bring their own brand football in NT in such a short time. We don’t have time for projects or “ILLUSION”. WHY can’t we play 4-3-3. I understand we don’t have Alves or Alba but Tagliafico ain’t that bad and we can play Mercado on right for more security. Spain played like that all along. He talks about making comfortable to Messi yet he put ALLEN game plan what was worst game recently i witnessed. Against Spain 6-1 we were not that bad. We had shots on target and clear cut chances. Why can’t we play Masche,Banega and Lo Celso in midfield and Aguero,Messi and Pavon infront. I ain’t no coach but i see in this formation we have enough people to attack and enough to depend. We will depend with 8 players. I had so much faith and hope in Sampaoli but so sad to say that he spoiled everything. He doesn’t know what is he doing really! We don’t have time for 3-5-2. Such a formation take ages to adapt. Why can’t we play according what we got. 4-3-3
    ARMANI

    Mercado Otamendi Fazio/Roj Tagliafico

    Masche
    Banega Lo Celso

    Messi Aguero Pavon

    Lo Celso gets more advance role when we attack. He does what he did for last few games. Banega in more deeper role dictating the play and Possesio Possession. Messi with Freedom. We attack from left side with using Tagliafico pace and attacking instinct. I don’t get it How hard that can be!! Would we really play bad than last game with this formation and players?

    • Possesion football is not suitable for cup games even Guardiola struggled with Barca to win CL and now the same with Man city against Iceland we had 74 percent possession probably the highest in World Cup history and we barely created any chances

  31. If not a drastic change happen in sampaolis brain , the team spirit and mentality . We are gonna loose and this world cup will always remembered for us.
    I dont know if all this critiscism is fair to messi or not. But am sure Sampaoli deserves it.

  33. So the possible back 4 will be;

    Ansaldi-Fazio-Rojo-Tagliafico

    Salvio, Mascherano, and Acuna are the only backups for back4 positions.

    No comments. Another new lineup. It’s not in our hand now.

  36. Is it true that messi is not speak with anybody in the camp? Maybe only with aguero. I saw that rumore in croatian newspaper. They said its because he is having some problem with his wife. They are reporting that she didnt arrive in russia. I hope its trush news and that leo with his teammates are getting ready for something that will result in glory.
    P.s. this site is so bad for posting comments. Is there any way for post the comment without scrolling every single time to bottom of the page? Thats riddiculous.

  37. Recently I saw Meza’s finishing in match against Croatia when he got a pass in penalty box from Messi his shot was so poor even girls can hit harder than him.No wonder he is in Local league even at the age of 26.He was in point blank spot at that time.Well his weakness was also seen during Spain game.He does not make an angle with his lower part of his foot during shot,he shot as if he is running.Such low players are selected by Sampoli.Only God can save us now.

    • Meza was mediocre against Croatia and should not have played 2nd game dybala has to be given the chance to start a freaking game fuck the systems

    • Let’s wait some time what will show Meza in Europe. I will bring back your comment here then. But I know you are one of those members that will live not long under the same account to take responsibility for what you’ve said.

  38. Big news;
    Otamendi, Mercado, and Biglia injured. Doubt for Nigeria match…! They didn’t train today.

    We left with Fazio and Rojo at CB position…against Nigeria…!!

  39. Man this is getting funny. You guys talk that you want a team without Messi against Nigeria?

    I suggest you to register for fantasy football. Because it is not happening in real life.

    What is happening out there? Tapia, Sampaoli, and the senior players just settled their differences and will do the best against Nigeria. So Messi WILL start.

    https://www.tycsports.com/nota/seleccion-argentina/2018/06/22/cumbre-en-rusia.html?utm_source=home&utm_medium=bloque&utm_campaign=Noticiabomba

    Can you guys discuss something worth it? Not fantasy football please.

    Or can we create a forum for those who like to discuss their fantasy football here?

    • In case there is a forum for fantasy football, maybe if I get bored, I would like to participate. I also want to put Redondo and Goycochea there! And we will have very interesting discussions lol.

  40. Building team is making it from bottom, from defence. We thought Otamendi will be our anchor. But he is the same Otamendi that in 2010 WC. Only other position. Another famous superstar spoiled in big club. We are talking about who will score but where you can go without solid defence…

  41. Messi will forever be a name which brings controversy among the Argentine public. I don’t know why we r discussing it. We Argentina NT has to win even with Messi or without Messi doesn’t matter. We love Argentina, Messi is a part of our beloved Argentina. Had Messi been any other national player,There is no chance we would love him, There is no doubt he is once in a lifetime player, Its sad that no Argentine coach utilized him properly (Which could have brought us at least 1 World cup during his career span, Forget about copa and Olympics or Confed Cup. The World Cup is the epitome of all trophies because its the Freaking World Cup. Its sad that the legendary Batistuta, Crespo, Riquelme, Aimar, Veron, Redondo, Ortega, Ayala, Zanetti all these also haven’t brought us a WC either, Its such a disappointment)

  42. Why our coaches were not enough brave for years to give up on the spoiled generation. Even if there were some attempts to incorporate new blood whenever any tournament was coming they back to the same names, to starting point. Young/new players never got enough chances and stabilty to accomodate. First mistake was just after WC 2014. And then I only heard it’s not the time for changes, it’s too late for changes because of Copa is coming, because of next Copa is coming, because of qualifiers are coming, because of WC is coming. And so we stuck on the long burned out players.

    Now their fans want to tell us the young players we have on WC are to blame as much as the oldies. How many times the new players have performed in NT before WC? How much time they had? There was a time to begin build a team that will work long ago, the more having 2 Copas year after year you may experimen on one of the tournaments . But Argentina took “safety” in the shadow of Messi and company. No progress = regress.

    You can’t build a team within few weeks/months. It takes years. We had time for that. To build a team is not incorporate young players few weeks/months before WC and then to throw on deep water of WC and expectate immediate effects. If some new players like Meza are looking so jittering as if they don’t know what to do this is the result of throwing them at once on deep water. Yet still some of them are defending himself like Tagliafico who is our best.

    I saw some currently most active members writing here after last Copa that in 2018 the generation will be at his peak being 30 years old players so they should stay… Yeah I see. Now the same members are talking that all we finally may do is surround Messi with his buddies and generally give him whatever he wants to see this little boy saving us one more time.

    How this is not being hostage of Messi?

    • Who really believe win over Nigeria lead to any real success? I think no one. It’s just delayed execution, prolonged agony. We are not going to nowhere.

      • After this World Cup this generation had to be disposed completely anyway, We have no choice but to start fresh, Whatever everyone talks about Sampaoli he is the one who atleast brought some freshness to us.Had it been Bauza or Tata it would still have been the old stuff. We should have started rebuilding after the 2014 WC which could have given us so many tournaments to test new players which could have helped us in this WC. Its Late now perhaps too late. I wish Sabella had continued at least for some more time.

        • The problem is that Sampaoli in the end decided to pick the same players as Bauza and Tata. Someone called Sampa to be an imposter, which is harsh, but to be honest, what has he accomplished? Bringing Copa to Chile? Really? How did they manage to win it again with such a moron as Pizzi then? No, the truth is that Chile has had their golden generation which in the end turned out to be more golden than Argentina’s. I was really hoping that Sampa would be a quality coach bringing some WC hope to this team but the reality is that he probably is a second or third rated coach, bringing disorder by his numerous lineups. No wonder the players are feeling insecurity of which system they should play, if they are to be chosen at all. After the Croatia defeat, he states that nobody was giving Messi enough of support. Is that really a good way to bring order into the team and gauning respect by saying that everyone but Messi sucks? No wonder the team looks so disorganized. In the buildup of a new Argentina, I believe there needs to be a fresh start in every position, starting from replacing Sampa.

          • I called him an IMPOSTER, and that is what he is. What is absolutely incredible is that he started on one end of the spectrum and ended on the other. Let me explain. He started bringing young guys even Icardi and then held guys like Higuain responsible. We thought we were infusing new blood and in the end the starting 11 are the same stiffs as before. Even when something works like Lo Celso he doesn’t have the courage to stick with it.
            Clearly the old generation will not pass the torch to the younger guys. And Sampaoli is not a strong manager and he most certainly will go. You cannot embarrass the country and continue.
            Fortunately or Unfortunately none of the old players or Sampaoli will be around in 10 days or so and we can turn the page.
            History will judge Messi. If Dybala and company win a WC in the next 8 years, Messi will be seen nothing more than a fraud in the NT. In my mind, great player, but no Argentine hero. Just a child in over his head.

  43. I really don’t understand the negative comments towards this team selection , yes I’d swap lo celso for biglia, & dybala for Di Maria, but beyond that this isn’t far off Argentina’s best team . As I wrote on a previous post –
    Sampaoli is out of his depth. He’s tried numerous players & formations & has no idea who his best players are or how to play them and it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to get it right !! It doesn’t take Google to learn about Argentine footballers , the best are those playing for top clubs , there’s a reason that benega plays for Seville playing in a top world league & playing in the champions league & Enzo Perez does not ! There’s a reason that Psg ( who have the money to sign anyone ) spend it on lo celso & not on acuna ! There’s a reason dybala is top scorer in serie a , playing in the champions league latter stages & Mesa is not! There’s a reason why Rojo is signed by man utd 2nd in a major league & playing champions league & salvio does not !
    This Argentina had the top scorer for man city , the top scorer for juventus & the top scorer across all of Europe in Messi , all champions. So guess what Sampaoli – f##king play them !! That’s your forward line solved & you have also helped your defence because opposition teams will b more negative. Lo celso , benega play for top European clubs who are doing well domestically & competing in the champions league knock out stages, so they (NOT Perez or Mesa) play in your midfield , you now have a higher level midfield players cable of passing the ball forwards & supplying Messi & dybala ! In front of you defence you need a holding midfielder , someone similar to a busquets , someone with a experience of Barcelona football ….. Amazing Sampaoli you have mascherano for that job !! :O Now a defence … Otamendi plays for man city , champions , & champions league football , fazio plays for Roma , champions league semi finalists so he’s in , Rojo plays for man utd so he’s in & at right back macardo who does play for Seville in a high level league .
    So that’s 4 defenders – Mercado, ota, fazio , Rojo
    3 midfielder’s – MASC , benega, lo celso
    3 forwards – Messi, dybala, aguero
    Oh my god would you look at that Sampaoli 4-3-3 !! :O Now what formation do most of those players play for the club’s – man city 433, psg 433, Sevilla 433, Barcelona 433 , stunning Sampaoli we now have players who play at a high level , playing a formation they’re familiar with & Messi has played most of his career – amazing ! So how the f**k Sampaoli were you unable to do that !!!???!!!
    The reality for those being negative to this rumoured team is that biglia & Di Maria aside this is the best 11 players available , who play at a higher level, at higher pressures , against higher opposition. I’m afraid to state the facts that Perez, acuna,Mesa, salvio, tagliafico do not and it really shows.
    Argentina reached 3 major finals selecting an 11 who played high level club football with a 433 formation that the majority played for their clubs. They lost by 1 goal to a great German team & on pens twice in the copa. This is hardly terrible & I’d take that team that actually got the best of Messi , over the shambles of journeymen nobodies hampering Messi so far in this world cup!!

    • Cause those fans you’re referring to, like to bitch a lot about everything.. Had Samp dropped BIGLIA, MASCHERANO, ROJO, HIGUAIN, but brought icardi, battaglia, Ascricabar instead but still FAILED…. they would have criticized him for not bringing the “friends club” and only bringing those “inexperienced players” such as icardi and whoever else.. there is no winning with these fans… honestly speaking, aside from a few replacements in the starting lineup, I think Samp selected the best players we had available… and please don’t tell me the likes of Lamela, Gomez, Battaglia or
      icardi will would have made a difference especially when the team clearly lacks chemistry.

      And yes I am referring to those of you who kept saying “Meza is a MUST” but are now calling for his head?? Now you’re calling for him to be replaced by Banega who most of you didn’t want near the team?? 🤣🤣🤣 some of you guys are ridiculous.

  44. Against Nigeria only this line up will prevail.If we want win by heavy margin.
    4-2-3-1
    Armani
    Mercado otamendi Fazio Ansaldi
    Lo celso Masche/Enzo
    Dybla/Higuain Messi Pavon/Acuna
    Augreo
    4-3-1-2
    Mercado Otamendi Fazio Ansaldi
    Lo celso. Mascherano Banega
    Messi
    Higuain Augreo
    Dybla Di maria Pavon Acuna should come as sub.
    There is very positive in Higuain and Banega.Higuain is now very good in assisting because of his link up and Banega is also good in smooth passing.
    We have to go little defensive as Nigeria is offensive team but they are not disciplined on defense.So we can score goals easily.

    • Please stop saying things like “heavy margin”. It makes you look foolish. We have scored 1 goal in 2 games. This is not Haiti. Last game we lost 4-1. And if we play like we played against Croatia we will lose again. If all goes well, we will be lucky to win 1-0.

  45. Some Argentinian fans are now thrashing Messi and seeing their God in Higuain and Dybla.A month ago they were even doubting their selection.They are complete piece of shit they change their faith.Weak mentality.Messi is broken and they want him out now.
    Right now Higuain Dybla and Banega are in good form but we can not drop Messi.We should use all of them.

  46. Do not get me wrong, I think Messi is technically the best in the world but his spirit is broken.
    Read (or use Google Translate) the articles in LaNacion
    https://www.lanacion.com.ar/2146757-la-seleccion-respira-lento-al-ritmo-de-un-messi-insondable
    Messi is not himself anymore.

    Based on talks with family and friends in Argentina, I think we should start the match against Nigeria without Messi. Some will see it as blasphemy, but for the sake of the team it is necessary.
    Play a different keeper (will happen), play a back four (will happen) and play a diamond in midfield with Dybala behind the two strikers Aguero and Higuain. Yes, I watched all games for the last decade and I know Higuain missed many chances, but at least the guy works hard. Aguero and Dybala will have to score the goals. Maybe Messi can come on in the last 30-25 minutes if he feels well.

    • @ Richard

      Dybala should takes Messi place immediately after WC. But I’m not sure there’s any thing, any player that will bring crucial improve within short time, let alone time few days. The team probably lost rest of spirit.

      • @ Gonzalo
        You are probably right, but at least we should go down fighting. Messi is no fighter. He only excels with great players around him. Dybala has the look of a warrior in his eyes.

        Will we go far in the WC? Unlikely, the speed of French attackers will likely embarass our defenders.

        • Who the fuck then scored the hat trick to bring us into the world cup? Did Xavi & Iniesta play in our midfield against Ecuador?

          You shitheads have no memory. Just admit it, we are at the world cup because of him!

          Until we know the exact issue and the reason at our national team, better keep quiet.

          • True, Messi got us here. But where the hell was he against Croatia? From the anthem to the final whistle he was not even a shadow of himself. He avoided team mates after the game, ate dinner alone, had breakfast before everone else. Something is up with him. Unfortunately.

          • He scored decisive hat-trick, yes but why we were need him as a saviour once again instead to be qualified long before the game? Because there’s no team and Messi is obstacle to build the team even if it’s not his fault. Coach fault.

      • Hahaa I agree @Zee, this is by far the dumbest thing I’ve read. Also, for those of you calling for Dybala to replace Messi because he’s a fighter – being talent and having a fighting spirit does not necessarily guarantee positive results.. I think Dybala is a great talent but let’s not forget like he hasn’t been mediocre for the 13 games he has featured in for Argentina. He has yet to score or play a decent game but you guys expect him to bring glory?? .. Also, most would agree that Tevez like Dybala had a lot of fight in him but sadly that did not translate into any major success with Argentina.. y’all crack me up 🤣🤣🤣

        Anyhow, I can’t wait to see my beloved Argentina in action on Tuesday. I still have hope because well… that’s we need as supporters ✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾

  48. God save Dybala. The glory hunters are hyping him up as the cornerstone of the next generation. As soon as he fails in his first Copa let alone bringing the Holy Grail WC, they’ll tear him apart. He isn’t used to shouldering as much pressure as Messi does. The hunger of this mob is insatiable since they haven’t been fed since 1993. God Save Dybala and the next generation of kids that’ll wear this beautiful sky blue.

    • Exactly,being trophy less from 1993 and being in the shadows of Brazil and other nations have made the proud albicelestians irrational.Sad but true

    • He will not shoulder the pressuree Messi has because no one takes him as god who must save us what Messi Fanboys are always claiming. Dybala will be just one of players and only one of cornerstones. At least till he have not any Ballon d’Or no one will depend upon him too much.

      Argentina wanted to be hostage of one man magnitude for years and keep with other famous spoiled European stars and here we are finally. The changes were long time ago to come but Argentina took “safe procrastination”

      • No one considers Messi as god. That’s why people still ask him to win a WC to prove his greatness despite his loads of incredible goals.
        Every successful team depends on one or two players that stand out among all. You talk like depending on a player is unusual and the fault of that brilliant player. It’s not. Riquelme, Pirlo, Zidane or Cannavero always stood out. Their team depend on them.
        The Messi dependency you’re talking about can’t be Messi’s fault. Have you looked at our squad with an open mind? We have no world class full back. Tagliafico can do a job but what about right back? Bustos’s performance can only be compared to Salvio’s defending. What about the engine room? Battaglia? That guy is as good as Guido Pizzaro who strolls around the pitch without affecting anything. Mascherano as DM is doing a much better job currently. What about creative CMs? Lo Celso only came to spotlight a few months ago. I am a huge fan of his but even I have to admit he isn’t the most reliable defensively while jockeying. Enzo Perez can run as much as he wants but when Maschrano looks up to him to get between the midfield lines and spray a pass forward, Enzo cant do it. Who can? We didn’t have squad depth at 2014 so we struggled when our fantastic 4 got injured. This time we have good cover on the wing. But what about the obvious flaws at fullnack and most importantly Central Midfield. With or, without Messi, a team cant succeed with such a poor midfield. We had better teams and better midfield in the past, with Requelme and 2002 teams, even that couldn’t bring success after 1993. Get real. If Messi picks the squad ignoring the coach, I can blame him. But if you pretend that we are better off Messi because he’s the reason we don’t win, I cant agree with that. We have a patched up team that with the right coach and some brilliance from Messi might win the cup. Without Messi, we don’t even command respect from our opponents.

  49. that midfield is too slow… i really hope that it’s a false squad line up… but seriously enough is enough!! There is no doubt in my mind that Messi should be in the team.. wat has always been to me the problem is that we have built the team around him with sub par players… we are not Barcelona… we need to have him in the team but not as a focal point…and all this shit about friends club please give it a rest… u guys are so childish… we are all Argentina fans we all want to see Argentina play beautiful football and win.. though atm i would even be happy with a not so pretty win if it helps to give back the players some of the confidence they seem to have lost. If we go out at least go out with some pride… otherwise it hurts too much to watch us lose the way we did against Croatia….

  50. MESSI MUST QUIT FROM ARGENTINA SO THAT BLIND MESSI HATERS WOULD SEE A TEAMPLAY OF THOSE SHITS WHO WERE OUTPERFORMED IN CROATIA MATCH. WITHOUT MESSI ARGENTINA IS SIMILAR TO NEPAL, BHUTAN E.T.C . ONLY WITH THE BRILLIANCE OF MESSI THEY ARE IN WORLD CUP. SO STFU. AFTER MESSI RETIRES THERE WILL BE NO ARGENTINA IN WORLDCUP AND EVEN PANAMA WILL BEAT ARGENTINA. ITS FOR 100% SURE.

    FORGET WORLDCUP FOR ATLEAST 20 YEARS TO COME LOL MESSI HATERS ARGENTINIANS….THE BELOW PERFORMANCE OF MESSI IS BECAUSE OF DISRESPECTFUL COWARD BRAINLESS ARGENTINIANS.

    • Messi has done shit for the NT. You know how many trophies he has won at the senior level? ZERO. You know how many times Argentina has missed the WC qualifying. One time in 1970. Those stars on the jersey above AFA has nothing to do with your Messiah.
      Messi is a weak minded coward who shrinks the second he puts on the jersey.
      I would rather lose with a bunch of hacks than win with a mentally weak frail mama’s boy who cries before the game because his pals aren’t playing. He can take a hike.

    • i should remind you that ARGENTINA was exist glorious before messi and ARGENTINA will exist and after Messi. ARGENTINA will never be lower than what it is now because of DNA.

      as i see you are Messi fan not Argentina fan so in next world cup i guess you will supporting other icon player. i bet 2022 you will be Brasil !!!

  51. This is copied from a twitter thread by migeru @ migerucb and i post this here only for those criticizing the older generation and especially Messi to know of the un luck we have gone through also to point to some delusional people who think we think we have the right to win the world cup with the quality of players we have now.If we can win the world cup with quality we have now then amazing but we shouldnt expect it especially with the way our board and coaches have performed over the years.Now onto the thread.
    Argentina have put themselves in a position where it’s impossible to compete. I have no doubt that 20 or 30 years ago, people would have seen their 2011-2016 period differently. Three finals and they didn’t lose a single game in regulation time in four major tournaments.
    In the 2011 Copa América, they lost on penalties against Uruguay. In the 2014 World Cup, they lost to Germany in extra time. Then they lost two Copa América finals against Chile on penalties. Argentina never had that moment of luck all champions need.
    In fact, you can argue that Argentina had bad luck in general. It’s not normal to lose 2 out of 2 penalty shootouts in finals. Or the fact that Di María got injured in the last two finals and also in the game against Belgium in the World. Once, ok, but three times!?
    Argentina score one of the big chances they missed in 2014 and everything goes from shit to amazing. Same game, same players. I honestly don’t understand why people are so basic. We have so much information, yet it seems that people are dumber than ever.
    The problem with today’s society is that people don’t analyze anything. Everyone talks in superlatives. The biggest the hot take, the most success you have as a journalist/pundit. You can even become the president of the US just lying and using superlatives.
    People used to praise losing teams. Holland in 1974, Brazil in 1982, etc. Now everyone wants to be the first idiot to say the most ridiculous thing. Everything is either amazing or shit. There is nothing in between. Reaching three finals in a row is VERY difficult
    Why do people think that Argentina MUST win something? They aren’t Brazil. They aren’t Germany. How many of their current players would make the Spain squad? 5? Maybe 6? That type of pressure have affected everyone, the players and also the coaches
    Argentina had great forwards and Mascherano. The rest of the team (Romero, Biglia, Garay, Rojo, Enzo, Demichelis and so on) was average. They were a competitive team, but they weren’t on the same level as Spain or Germany during that 2011/16 period
    Argentina’s GK during that period, Romero, couldn’t start for 3 different teams since 2013. They haven’t produced an elite full back since Zanetti retired. They don’t have midfielders like Redondo or Verón. They haven’t had a top CB until recently (Otamendi) and he’s no Ayala
    That obligation to win, unjustified, makes Argentina play with fear after the 2014 final. The external noise and the internal pressure is huge. They are more afraid of losing than they have desire to win. You can’t play football/compete at the highest level like that
    That pressure affects the coaches too. In order to get short terms results, they renounce to their ideas. There is no way Sampaoli would do the things he’s done under different circumstances. That’s why capable coaches make the stupid (mostly conservative) decisions they make
    Also, I don’t know how an honest person can look at the current Argentina team and say they have a great team. The current Argentina team would have been 8th out of 10 in qualifying if not for Messi. They even lost to Spain 6-1 recently. The worst Argentina team in my lifetime
    Speaking of Messi, it’s the first time I have seen him affected by the pressure. It’s almost like he saw the starting XI and realized the mistake he made coming out of retirement. It was obvious that their cycle was over and they needed new players (Argentina aren’t producing)
    I always thought that the football gods were fair. But they haven’t been fair with Messi. He’s never been bailed out by a teammate. Not once. The closest thing is Higuaín vs Belgium and Messi started that play. No Eder, no Thuram. no Götze, no Burruchaga… Nothing
    Btw, it’s amazing how people always compare Messi’s lows with other players’ high. Don’t remember that ever happening to anyone, in any sport. The last (bad) game has more weight than hundreds of great games. And people can watch every fucking game. But that’s the era we live in

    • Wow !! I was a border line gonna be hater u put things in perspective ..
      I dont care if they get zabaletta out of retirement if messi can go in god mode its all good because no one can get us out of this rut but him .. win nigeria and get to the next round and we will deal with it ..

      Btw there are some big time messi haters hiding behind the guise of k lowedgable primeria posters … its laugable how they get flushed out like maggots … u have been exposed brother !!

  52. They say they play around Messi
    But it’s time that dybala takes Messi position and Messi drop back as attacking midfielder and stay connected to banega and enzo
    Maschreno is not riquelme and can’t stop the ball dead and then pass
    Its specialist job a midfielder
    Defenders can stop Nigeria
    Most importantly they have to be patient and look for opportunities or when Nigeria makes mistake
    Stop imposing wd be the need of hour
    Along with belief in each other

  53. This lineup is published by a reporter who is a Messi hater and who always talked about Messi Friends Club.

    This lineup news will create further problems among public. Roy must have acted responsibly and made sure if there is any truth to this.

    If the lineup fielded finally doesn’t have any resemblance to the above lineup, Roy must issue an apology to all Albiceleste fans here at MA.

    • Thanks for that info bro,was absolutely sure we would win against Nigeria after their result against Iceland as our team and especially Messi would be comparatively pressure free as we already reached the threshold pressure.But the lineup posted by Roy almost gave me heart attacks as he is usually very reliable.So now i still have my hopes up

      • That’s why I said Roy must act responsibly. He shouldn’t post all fucking rumors here.

        He’s been posting too many negative stories such as Messi & Co are going to retire. I didn’t read such news in any credible Argentinian news sites.

        Everyone reported the rumour that Sampaoli may get fired, but none reported Messi & Co retiring.

        I repeat, he must act responsibly and must not post all negative rumors here.

  54. I’ve supported Argentina since 1990 and was previously active around 2010 in this site under different username. 2010 my heart broken and after seeing disaster in WC I didn’t want to comment again although I continuously following the team.

    I know some of you are disappointed as we expected to top the group. However, we need to be rational. Continuous change of coaches, disaster qualifications, sudden cancellation of friendly, injuries…. we will need big luck and God’s will to win the cup or even to pass ge group stage.

    As for 3 big scapegoats:
    1. Messi
    A lot are expected from him. But how much have we given him in return? If he performs the fans will still criticise him. I feel true fans will support the player in time of need and vice versa. And cannot believe some think without Messi we will be better.. Did you watch all those qualifiers and friendlies without Messi? And for those accusing Messi to pick his friends, why Aguero was not preferred before and only recently become regular starter? I’m not saying Messi is perfect, but he is the best we have today.

    2. Sampaoli
    I was not truly impressed with him pr Chile, but I thought he’s decent. What I cannot understand is why no consistency?? Changing lineup and formation every game is only happening in Argentina. Maybe he needs time but we cannot afford it now. And keep saying Messi Messi as if he doesn’t want to take responsibility…

    3. Caballero
    I always prefer Romero but didn’t expect Caballero to perform so badly. What happened? He seems to have zero confidence from day 1. GK needs to be confident more than any other position… if you’re not confident you should relinquish to next capable person.

    Lastly, I still cannot help but will cheer for Argentina. I hope God’s will we win against Nigeria with comfortable margin. But be ready for heartbreak too..as need to be honest that possibility to lose is there.

  55. I predicted before WC 1/8 or 1/4 at best with possible group problems. The last is fact already.

  56. Now we will field all Messi friends and wait for him to come as our saviour once again. And what if he will do that? Do you relly belive that going to any succes on this WC. That is still the same method, palliative: we have not a team (no matter whi is called up) beacause Messi is there distorting the team – so we need Messi to save us once again like Deus ex Machina prolonging the agony and hopelessness of all this.

    If we want to see any real change in Argentina NT we need to be radical. After WC we may build new team with best ideas and young players but if Messi will be there they will only coming to talk about how they are proud to play with Messi and how the will looking with his passes for him on the pitch. Radical means here ERADICATE the generation and bring talented young players as did Bilesa after WC 2002.

  57. If this would the line up … we are done… we need Lo CElso , Tagliafico and Dybala , instead of Rojo , Biglia . And Di-Maroa … Higuain instead of Aguero… this formation will certainly win against Nigeria … but what about Iceland playing against the reserves of Croatia 🇭🇷 … it may win by more than 1-0 … so we have to play an attacking football to Win by more than two goal difference … let’s hope for the best …. but I am not optimistic… we will maximum earn a draw with this bullshit manager !!! Vamos Arg … We Love u !!!

  58. I noticed that 18 out of the 23 arg players have played some part out of the 2 matches. This is amazing, this shows that Sampaoli has been testing players at this stage, ridiculous.

    Only Armani, Guzman, Fazio, Lo Celso and Ansaldi have not played so far.

  59. European football is growing
    south American football is de-growing

    because of those European teams are started to pick their players from local club

    but in south American teams are picking their squads from non local club

  60. dear friends,
    got some very good news that is

    sampa is going to pick fresh blood from local club based players upon contract conditions

    1)players should not sign to European club or any other clubs.

    2) those players should spend training time at Arg football Academy whenever getting free.

    3) they should be unite whenever going out.

    this is the reason behind foyth and emanuel cecchini are coming again to local club

  61. For this rumour lineup, i can see that all the players are the old players who should be playing their last world cup. Probably the coaching staff know these desperate players will try their best in this final chance.

    I like this 4-2-3-1 formation which has worked well in both the Haiti and Iceland matches, if this same formation was used against croatia, i dont think we would have lost.

    Anyway, good to finally see Armani instead of Caballero, but I think Biglia is at the same level as Caballero, please use Lo Celso instead. Tagliafico and Salvio have been great, please use them also, so my lineup will be:

    Armani
    Salvio Otamendi Fazio Tagliafico
    Mascherano Lo Celso
    Banega Messi Di Maria
    Aguero

  62. Some fuckers are happy with the copa confederation and Olympic but football’s biggest prize is world cup and that generation maximum giving to quarter final and group stage exist..

    • LOL

      You talk like as if Messi ever win a cup for Argentina. Until now its ZERO, NADA, NIL. Win a cup first then talk about insulting the previous generation.

      I hope he wins this WC though.

  63. If Argentina field this team and miserably LOSE to Nigeria, I would be content leaving the WC knowing it was just not meant to be.
    What is frustrating is this lineup (arguably the best XI) has never been tried!!!!!!!!!

    Armani
    Mercado Otamendi Fazio Rojo
    Mascherano Lo Celso
    Messi
    Dybala Aguero Di Maria

    Sampaoli has tried everything to use Messi as a forward as that’s his best position. The reality is there is no one in arg that can play CAM better than Messi (even if that’s not his best position). A forward line of dybala, aguero and Di Maria being supplied by Messi, Lo Celso and Mascherano will always be better than whatever SHIT we’ve been fielding the past 2 games.
    Whats even better is aguero can be subbed out for Banega for better stability to play a 433 with messi now the false 9.

  64. Thank you for those who helped to support Nigeria for their match against Iceland, because we never give up, we are still alive in this world cup, i hope the arg players and the coaching staff appreciate our effort, and never give up and pay us back in our match vs Nigeria by winning and qualifying for the last 16.

    God has given another chance to Messi and co, either they give up in the last match and regret for the rest of their lifes, or they play their best to win, this is really the last chance for players like Messi, Mascherano, Aguero, Di Maria, etc to win the world cup, if we win it this way, i dont think any other team can repeat the same thing in the future.

  65. Argentina 3-0 Nigeria Messi 2 goals with another scorer.

    Caballero cannot start, we have this luck where we beat Nigeria in the WC always. I don’t get why Sampaoli doesn’t play a known formation amongst the players like 4-2-3-1. Anyway Hopefully Croatia win/draw, if they lose better be 1-0, we’d have to better Iceland by +2. We struggled in 2014, we owned doubters, we struggled against Ecuador, we owned doubters and now we’re going to own doubters again.

  66. Tyc sport starting line up

    —————-Armani ——————–
    Mercado Otamendi Rojo Tagliafico
    Pavon Masche Banega Acuna
    ———-Messi Aguero ——–

    I prefer Dybala Locelso to start

  67. Messi must go as soon as possible. Dybala is player that will give us more and will not be anti-team player. He is better penalty and freekicker than Messi and is not distorting the team by monopol for creating, dribling, passing, sucking and everything. He will keep much more his right side and left to play other players the other areas. He will not ocuppy every zone of pitch. Dribling from his wing side to the middle looking from shoots from behind penalty is his typical behavoiur just like Messi likes that most. But I feel like Dybala is already better on this. His left foot shoot is better and he is not abusing driblings retaining pass if there’s not space to shoot – like Messi is doing.

    Yes, he is already better player for NT. He is not someone who will block process of team buliding by his ego. After WC Messi must go Dybala should take his place. Someone other should take captain role. We need real captain finall.

    Now we have penalty kicker who is not our best penalty kicker. We have captain who is no leader. It’s possible only in Argentina. Totally distorted by Messi.

      • Icardi is a Must i guess he is a leader and a fighter, I think again our Defence and Midfield will be a head ache even in the upcoming generation.

        Goal Keeping i think will get better Rulli(Error Prone by the way) i have huge hopes on Axel Werner, Battalla??

        Defense i don’t see that many quality, Bustos, Tagliafico can carry the Full back burden, but centre backs?? Mammanna, Foyth, Conti?? may be Pezzella too I don’t know many others.

        Midfield Lo Celso – Paredes – Ascacibar (A decent trio) add Lamela and Lanzini(Both can be important players for us but have to stay fit), Kranevitter, Battaglia, Vadala, Colombatto add Meza and Acuna too.(See there r too many Destroyers but creative midfielders is very rare nowadays, Reynoso, Barcos may be)

        Attack (Always too many to choose) – Icardi, Dybala, Angel Correa, Pavon, J Correa, Alario, Lautaro Martinez (too many)

        • I want to add: Pol Fernandez (Godoy Cruz wanted by River), Matias Vargas of Velez (wanted by Fiorentina, Torino), Joaquin Torres of Newell’s wanted by Benfica and Sporting, Cristian Romero (Genoa) partner for Foyth. Alexander Barboza, Bustos, Nicolas Gonzalez (Inter?), Marcos Angileri (Godoy Cruz wanted by RIver), Gaston Lodico (Lanus), Lucas RObertone (Velez)

          • Alexander Barboza one name i missed he and Foyth can be good Center back pairing. Usually Great Center back Duos makes a great Team. Its a base which the team confidently build on. Sadly we didn’t have anything Memorable recently.

    • do you know why messi is worrying? because he is loosing his golden boot and ballon d or award to ronaldo.
      he is not worrying for nation. this is the fact

  68. These f*cking Messi fanboys always brag about “three finals” and belittle the previous generations.
    They forget that Batistuta won Copa 91, Confederation Cup 92, Copa 93. That’s also “three finals”. ALL WON, let alone the topscorer in Copa.

    The generation after also had Olympic 1996 Final, Copa 2004 Final, Olympic 2004 Final (Gold medal), Confederation Cup 2005 Final, Copa America 2007 Final. Put aside the Olympics, that’s also “three finals”.

    Learn the history !!!!!!

    • Messi lost 3 Copa finals and fail at home COpa in 2011. Some people still want more signs he is not for us…

      But the most important – he is past his best and totally destroyed by his NT losts. He will not revive his faith in NT anymore. No matter which player will around.

    • We all know the history. I said this group of players took us to 3 finals. My favourite argentina team is the 1991 1997 era. And the 2006 WC team but with wrong trainer that was the best team in that world cup and we lost to germany in penalties plus requelme out and messi didnt play. Then again what i can say about pasarela in the wc 1998 where he didnt take caniggia and redondo because of hair.

      • Because of what? His goals against Ecuador? If not Messi distorting presence I’m sure we could find at least inderstanding between player, players that could find his personality on the pitch. And then we could qualify to WC without need to Messi save in last game.

  69. Simone is one of the best Coach in Europe and he slammed Messi and he said that the team is bad..now I am saying he played for argentina from 1993 I think he gave us only Copa America but no world cup.. in 1994 he played along with maradona batistuta cannigia Redondo but we exit from quarter final then he played at 1998 same thing happened then he again played 2002 and that WC was horrible we all know.. and after 2010 the Argentina team declined badly and after 2016 it was rapidly decreasing …only leonel Messi who lead the team from after 2010 WC and we reached final at WC 2014 after Italia 1990..no simione no batistuta no crespo no one can reach WC with best squad of all time..but Messi doesn’t get best squad tough he reached final consecutive 3 times with argentina.. if simione feel worst then why not he take charge after 2016 and build a team like beast?can he take charge after 2018 WC? And now as per coaching atletico has world best positional players but he doesn’t win any championes league so why he is so brutal to criticise messi?because simione doesn’t love his country but Messi loves his country ….if simione passionate about his country then he will resign from atletico and take charge his country…so don’t tell any harsh word about Messi and about the team..

  70. Start all younger players

    Pavon Meza Dybala Tagliafico Lo celso

    Dybala Locelso Pavon should start a game
    They deserved it
    Other greats have failed

  71. After having seen the two latest matches, I’m so disappointed not only by the results but upmost by Messi’s attitude. To me, it seems like he has already left this world cup, at least in his mind, and the decisive moment was probably when he missed the penalty. I think his self doubtness came to surface, that he after all is not the anointed one, the messiah of Argentina, the goat. I think he began to think back to all the chances that he missed in the last three championships, and came to realise that it is not his fate to bring eternal glory to Argentina and himself.

    If true, then this of course the mind of a child, and in my view, there are many signs of Messi having a childish mentality, for instance why the goat campaign ahead of WC? In a way, I think Messi is still the same child as when he left Argentina for Barcelona, and that his inner driver is to feel connection with friends and family rather than winning trophies. This could explain his loyalty to his teammates, his “friends”. Winning titles is a way for him to earn love from supporters which is what he desires most. And this is an important differentiator between Messi and CR7 and Maradona. CR7 is selfish and kind of ruthless in his chase for personal glory, but this mindset has obviously brought titles to his teams. In Maradona’s case, his inner driver seems to be the one of a survivor as he came from extreme poor conditions, in a way explaining the foul manners that he has shown occasionally, reminding of a street thug.

    In terms of skills, I believe Messi is second to none, but I rate Maradona as the goat since he combines the skills and the never die attitude. I also fear that CR7 will be remembered as the superior one compared with Messi in the future. Hell, I think even Iniesta will be remembered as a superior due to his skills and titles. I start to think if Messi had not been lucky to play with one of Barcas finest generation of all time, then he would not have been able to win as many titles and reputation as the potential goat. There are clear indications of Messi playing his best football when the results are favorable and caving in (walking around the pitch with head down) when facing headwinds. I kind of doubt that Messi would have won as many titles if he would have been at for instance Atletico Madrid.

    Now, Messi has been given a last chance to get self redemption and take his place as the best ever but I fear that his mental condition is not at the right place. If he does not have to right attitude, I would prefer him not playing against Nigeria as it could soil his reputation even further and shrink Argentinas chances of winning the match. I hope that I’m proven wrong and that Messi finally shows some fighting spirit in his potentially last WC match.

  72. I see a lot of blame game here, in truth the person who should be blamed are:
    1. AFA of Grandona and the normalization committee for appointing bad coaches after sabella, for not retaining sabella, for appointing a coach like bauza…tapia did all he could after he came but there was no time, have you ever scene national team travel in a chartered plane? Sampaoli had no time whatsoever to find a combination, he had 11 matches before the world cup, 5-6 of which were do or die qualify matches with no scope to experiment.

    2. Sampaoli should be blamed for trying to impose a new idea in a crunch match vs croatia, but remember before the mistake of caballero we werent playing badly, you can say why play caballero, well tell me how many coaches will field an uncapped goal keeper in a world cup?

    3. Messi,,,, for only one reason,,, that he seems to get muted when the times are bad,,, but thats his personality,,, i wish he could scream like maradona in the field, i know he feels the shirt but he just cannot show it, a word from messi can be huge boost for the players but he just seems get muted when the times are bad.

  73. Guys, when you say someting, say something based on REALITY, not your wishful thinking. What do I mean? This is the fact:
    1. Messi wants to play with his friends
    2. Messi can’t work together with the new players

    Here you want to create Argentina with your favorite players plus Messi. That is not realistic as read again number 2: Messi can NOT work together with the new players.

    I seem to defend the senior players, but I am actually talking about the reality. First of all, we have 3 days to go. Messi only wants to play with his friends. Now what? I wanna join force with most of you (and Argentina journalists) and criticize Messi? Why in the world would I do that?

    Even if we all criticize Messi to not want to play with the newbies, WOULD THAT CHANGE ANYTHING? Do you think that would make Messi want to play with the newbies after hearing our critiques? Answer yourself.

    So being a realist, I have to support the team. If Messi wants to play with the senior players, support him for the sake of our team!

    IF today the situation were the complete opposite. Say that Messi does not want to play with the senior players, he would just want to play with the newbies. You know what I would do? I WOULD SUPPORT THE NEWBIES TO START.

    I will support whatever it takes as long as we win.

    But please guys read news, know the situation out there. This is what is happening out there:

    Messi ONLY wants to play with his friends.

    If you force him to play with the newbies, read what Emmanuel Petit says yesterday:

    “He’s not a leader. He’s no Ronaldo in that regard. Messi is one of the best players ever, but he needs to show that mentality,” Petit told Paddy Power .

    “He needs to wake up! When things go well with Barcelona he’s a terrific player.

    “We’ve seen it in the Champions League though, when things don’t go well, he can disappear on the pitch.

    “He’s not there anymore. He’s not running, he’s walking. He’s not concerned about the ball. Come on.”

    Do you want to see Messi walking and not interested in the game in 3 days? Do you want to see that version of Messi?

    Not me! Support the team.

    I am not that huge fan of Messi in the first place, but I am trying to be realistic. We have him and we need to maximize him by making him happy!

    Stop being upset because Messi doesn’t like to play with your favorite players. This is the real face of Messi. This is the reality whether you like it or not. Accept him the way he is. He is not the Messi of playstation that would combine well with any players you want.

  74. Argentina needs to play with urgency and speed. Teams at this tournament are playing fast football and slow teams like Argentina will suffer. That rumored team with old horses will be butchered. Sampa has to be brave. His style works but was chosing wrong arsenal. He needs to tell his team to work hard and press high up in the field. You can’t expect Biglia to run that much. They need young blood like Pavon, Lo Celso, Daybala for an injection of pace and urgency. It doesn’t pay to introduce good young talent as subs of last resort. By then, there will be so much pressure and difficult to deliver. Give them a chance from the beginning. Meza is good but slow for Sampa’s style of play. One person capable of playing quick passes with Messi is Daybala. That team with old guards will be humiliated to say the least. Otherwise, they will murdered!

  75. ……….,…………Armani…………………

    Ansaldi……otamendi……fazio……..tagliafico…..

    …………………mascerano……………….

    …Salvio/benega……..giovane lo celco…….

    …………………….Messi………………………

    ………..aguero…………….. Dimaria…….

    Please play this squad and we r through dear sampaoli……..we r even the contenders of world cup coz of the quality….

    • I’m at the point where I just want whoever is selected in the lineup to play with heart, passion (huevos) and represent Argentina well. We have the talent to go far which makes all this mess even more frustrating.

    • Puks I agree with specially on Ansaldi. That guy is a machine, by far best right back that Argentina has had in recent decades. He is our own Dani Alves (at his best). I wonder why Sampa doesn’t play him. Lo Celso is another super engine. He is a version of Pablo Sorin on steroids! However, I don’t agree with you on Di Maria and Benenga. It has to be Pavon and Daybala. You need pace and urgency to suite Sampa’s style of play.

  76. I don’t know how much of this friends club thing is a reality. It is preposterous to suggest that Messi threw a match to get his friends back into the team. Can’t believe Messi will ruin world cup chances for this. But quite evidently there is something wrong with team selection. Especially when LoCelso who used to start in friendlies is suddenly benched and not even used as a sub. If Messi is indeed having a say in team selection, i would like to believe that it’s on account of sporting reasons rather than to accommodate his friends. But I can’t bring myself to comprehend the exclusion of a creative midfielder in favor of a defensive mid when we were playing Iceland. All of us knew Iceland will park the bus. I hope someone will come clear on these choices soon. Neither the teams tactics nor the allegations levelled against the seniors make sense to me. Anyways this generation is playing it’s last wc. We have come so far, we are almost out now. Let them play the last remaining games of their lives. The next generation maybe delayed to that extent. But still 4 years is there to build a new young team to challenge for Qatar world cup.

    • Messi does not decide anything. The coach is a mule and he does not want dybala, Icarda, lo celso, pavon to start. At this point I want Pastore, Rulli, Fazio, Garay, Correa, Lavezzi, Zabaletta

  77. We got a helping hand because of Nigeria, Frankly saying we don’t deserve to get to the second round, We are not even playing 10 passes together no matter which player is playing, There is no midfield, Defense or even attack (Goal keeper – Sigh), The players look dejected and disorganized, They don’t want to win (Obviously because of the back room issues) This Chaos and all. And i don’t think we can beat Nigeria at this stage, May be the players will not play well to get Sampaoli out from the NT (That too a possibility). Never in my worst dreams had think this much chaos will happen for us that too in between a Freaking World Cup Dammit.

    Also never imagined that Caballero will play such badly too, (Irony is i thought he will be an upgrade over Romero, He is experienced, Looks imposing, Great in Penalty stopping etc etc)Now i m saying Sorry Romero(Its late) But Doubts came back after the 6-1 defeat vs Spain. That’s why wanted to see Armani(Frankly saying no idea how he will play for us), Actually the funny thing is its Guzman who should be our logical starter he is been with this team for around 3 years i guess. So he must have a better understanding with defense definitely, How on earth Caballero came in between?? Well may be Bald likes Bald(Kidding). Anyway lets see what Armani(If he starts) can bring to us, He wont be worse than Caballero isn’t it.

    And for the above 11 Biglia-Masche-Banega (Sigh) nothing to say, At least play Lo Celso and Banega together, Whatever, Lets hope for a Miracle (As fans we still have slight HOPE, But My Blue & White Heart is already broken & Bleeding)

    • No matter how joke of a coach Sampaoli is , that was very unprofessional from messi and co. They have no respect for the millions of fans across the world. I don’t care who plays just win the next match and get us to the 2nd round. Rojo Biglia Dimaria Masche higuain all can play but please for the love of god give us a win against Nigeria. I don’t want to think about 2nd round as Its too early to worry about the French!

  78. Where did you get this line up? According to Argentine newspapers there will Armani at goal bar, team wlill return with 4 backline as marcedo-otamendi-fazio/rojo-tagliafico. In midfield either biglia or mascerano with banega. In attack pavon with Messi and aguero, another spot will go to either for acuna or dimaria.

  79. I still have no hope,
    The team is still a complete mess.
    The perforamce must have changed in the second game.
    Nigeria will play for a draw , nd i dnt think the players are metally there anymore. The media slaughtered messi , I dnt knw if he deserved it or no

  80. It’s a great chance for comeback@Argentina & we have complete faith on Leo & Team Argentina. Please motivate yourself as team. still we have a chance to dreams come true.
    Argentina we are all with you & 4-3-3 is a idle combination. my starting 11 is —Armani—-Marcado-Fajio-Otamendi-Rojo —Mascherano—Lo-celso—Banega —- Messi—Aguero—Di maria

    Substitute should Pavon & dybala must.

  81. Now this blog is turning from Argentina supporters to Messi haters. Bunch of Messi haters posts this and that. I am watching Argentina since 1998 and first time in 2014 they reached final due to Mascherano, Higuain and Messi brilliance. Their so called stars like Batistuta, Crespo, Tevez always failed but no..they are stars , they are idols so they cant be touched but Yes , we need to blame Messi for everything because he should have played for Spain with their citizenship but still choose Argentina.

    It’s a Shame that Messi was born in Argentina. Messi should have been in Spain really.Till now I always watched Argentina’s each and every games and I followed them since I know football but I swear I didnt know the attitude of these Argentine people. With their behavior against Messi , Now I hate these Disrespectful Argentines the most and after Messi retires, I swear , I will never support these disrespectful people’s team.

    I bet , This is your last world cup Argentina… Let us see what your Pavon, Lo celso and other players will do in next world cup selection without Messi, Mascherano, Higuain, Aguero (in your language Friends group ) etc..

    Negative minded Messi haters,Messi has lost his hope because of people like you. Argentina is not winning because of people like you.. God will never forgive Argentine football for such stupid fans disrespectful behavior towards Messi..

    • MESSI Carried a shitty group of players for 10 years. Messi got argentina to the Finals ( Batistuta, Diego, Canigia, Crespo) garbage. Messi Goat, the other players play like Batistuta generation may be worse

      • dear friend,

        you dont say messi alone carried Argentina team to final 2014 then
        1) what about romero brilliance?
        2) what about gago contribution?
        3) what about garay, federico Fernandez, basanta, demischellis Co operation in back line?

        this is the team work not single man playing.

        if it was messi means why didn’t he score goal vs nederland?
        Ans: we doesn’t have midfield (gago type player)
        why didn’t he score vs Germany in final? we did not play with gago with offensive. we played defensive with masch, biglia, enzo.

        if he alone carried us to 2014 final means

        he alone play football without 10 player support
        he should goal keeping, he should defend, he should create a pass to him, he should score alone

        you dont neglect others

    • In recent time if Argentina played well and played as a team in any match it was against Italy where he did not play due to suspicious injury, it means Argentina can play well against good side without him. He does not play in friendlies due to his Barcelona commitment but always ready to appear in major events. As team has to change everything to make him comfortable those friendlies become worthless to create cohesion among players. Argentina went to the final of last three major events but Messi had very little impact in knock out stages where it matter most. He knows well he does not have mental ability to inspire a team in bad times but don’t want to leave captaincy, on the other hand Neymer left captaincy when saw it was not for him. Nobody above a team, the way he played first two matches doest not deserve to play the next team. Bench him and play Dybala instead. If he can get preference due to his club records why not other players ?

    • Hahaha..when it comes to victory , its not Messi alone and when it comes to loss or bad performance Messi alone is to blame..wow ..

      ITS A SHAME THAT MESSI IS STILL AN ARGENTINIAN. HE SHOULD HAVE LEFT HIS COUNTRY IN 2007. THEN THESE PEOPLE WOULD SEE .

  82. Ok, I have remained silent long enough….CARAJAO DE MIERDA!!!!

    I just wanna call out SAN Insidro – I feel your pain hermano and totally agree with everything you have said here.

    No fucking player is bigger than the country they represent. We’ve had to put up with this Silver Era of players ( Definitely not a golden era cause the players have won jack shit) for 10 years. They’re a bunch of high school bitches!!!

    I’m Argentino and these players & coach have made me ashamed to be Argentino. The way they carried on when they were down and out was totally unprofessional and disgraceful against Croatia.

    This Messi era cannot come to an end fast enough. They have have failed their people, more in their bitchy and arrogant attitudes than anything else. I mean what fucking leader of a team carries on like a bitch if his friends arent selected. I have finally lost total respect for Messi after seeing him not show up for this WC

    Actions speak louder than words…this groups actions have demonstrated they are weak bitches who do not have the pride and courage to wear the beautiful colours of Argentina!

    This needed to happen in my opinion in order to have a total clean out of this shitty culture that has lingered for 10 years.

    I apologise for my negative rant but when you’re a passionate Argentino like me and get continually disappointed with crap player selection, crap coaches, crap culture, crap attitude etc, you get to a point where the straw has finally broken the camels back!

  83. Serbia vs Switzerland, what a match! that’s how you play on the level of world cup, it was captivating.
    Spain vs Portugal- Breathtaking
    Mexico vs Germany- most entertaining match so far and most thrilling match from 1st min.

    That’s how you play at this level of competition.

  84. messi is the main culprit in barca and Argentina. that was the reason enrique left now valvarde. he is selecting the player who is in/out.

    • hahahahaha..Without Messi your so called Argentina and Barcelona is a disaster. Without Messi , this world cup would be without Argentina. Still you blame Messi lol lol lol…

      People like you are shame to this world.

    • SFUP Messi got Argentina to the finals for three times with bunch of losers ( staff, coaches, and players) we saw what happened when argentina and barcelona were without him. And stop saying Messi friends he hates them they always lose. Also, every teams has a number 10 hazard, neymar, ect…. does that mean the team is built around them ? In belguim Hazard is a regular player.

  85. I think lot of people here think the players are good and keep tinkering with names Sampaoli tried all of them and they are horrible:

    – Di Maria on a good day his brilliant but he is off most of the time that is why he does not start with PSG
    – Aguero I still have to see him score for Argentina
    – Same goes for Higuain
    – Mascherano repect only one to carry the team for 8 years
    – Messi carried a sinking ship for too long
    – Biglia I have no words for him most boring soccer player I have ever seen And I used to hate Veron I miss these days
    – PAVON, Acuna, Lo celso are average they remind me of Aimar and will never explode in Europe
    – If riquelme was in this squad may be I can see it because one pass from him to Messi can flip the game
    – the defense is a joke whoever u start
    – Egos they all think they are super stars
    – Coach is stupid
    – Press destroying morals

    After the team collapsed in Germany final actually the team showed signs of collapse before the final but Messi carried them like the qualification the team should ve been dismantled way before and make space for a new generation but it seems players like Dybala have ego problems 2 and they can not play with Messi what a circus this remind of the collapse of France

    • You know nothing about Pablo Aimar. He won two La Liga titles, a Europa title and was a UCL runners up with Valencia. I remember watching La Liga back in the days when Aimar and Ronaldinho used to go head to head on the weekends.

      • Ronaldinho and Aimar ? are you serious. Also, Aimar was nothing in the argentina squad Ronaldinho won the cup….He played 204 games for Valencia scored 34 goals nothing in comparison to Ronaldinho nothing in comparison to Rivaldo…nothing in comparison to coutinho….Aimar, Gago were horrible for argentina. Also, last world cup Lavezzi, Mascherano, Dimechilis, Rojo, Zabaleta, Garay they carried the team with Messi. The rest Aguero, Di Maria, Higuain, ect. Are as bad as four years ago. … You can not teach an old dog new tricks.

  86. What makes you think that argentina will beat nigeria? with super eagles’ performance against iceland, I doubt messi and friends can do it. Lets hope luck stands with us. And Sampaoli, do not use awful tactics again!!! no more three center backs. Utilize dybala and lo celso!!! if you could not do it, kindly step down!! there are more than enough talented head coach available for albiceleste (marcelo gallardo, matias almeyda, so on). and stop wandering around in front of the bench. that is disturbing and make us all unrest. SIT DOWN and ANALYZE the match well!!!

  87. Is this a joke? This lineup?
    I think Sampaoli has given up on this squad once and for all.
    Dybala must start to take the pressure of Messi, enough of the similar style bullshit, with Messi simply not being himself and tensed the hell out, it’s time for Dybala to shine.
    Lo Celso and Pavon not starting even after a 3-0 defeat means Sampaoli has lost his mind and doesn’t want to win at all
    Biglia and the headless chicken returning?
    Haha good joke Baldy. As if we couldn’t be the laughing stock of this world cup, now we are aiming to get the worst group stage exit in history.
    No way we are winning against Nigeria with this sorry excuse of a team.

    • Excuse me? why it’s a joke. It’s a proper line up, authorized and approved by customs, mafia, and most importantly the Chair Person of Friends Club. I see this line up legally certified and all players have up to date valid membership in Club De Amigos. Even Wanda cancelled her festival after she heard the club actively back and running for the next game. Circus show will be broadcasted on Tuesday so perhaps temporary retirement announcement will follow, then the return to the Club again the season of Copa America.

  88. At least a win by 2 clear goals will be required. As croatia will not play at full potential against iceland and they might rest some players. Argentina should go for a 3-0 victory..anything less than 2 goal victory margin it will all over.

  90. Actually, why not replace Biglia with Higuain? We need a win and we have Fab 4 with Aguero and Higuain (granted a substitute) appear to performing better.

  91. After huge debacle still no lo celso no dybala ….. But this is rumoured line up..mid field should be mascherano banega and lo celso…and dybala obviously replaced Di Maria then Messi playing freely from right to middle

  94. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/messi-fan-goes-missing-in-kerala-after-argentina-loss-police-suspect-suicide-5229727/

    my heart was broken…. if portugal.. draw three games in group stage… then went to win a tourment… we are knocked… but we are not out… i have still have hope…

    the haters enjoying now with their cmts… they dont know how real fans suffered.. last few days…

    they did before equadar game… now their time…. but my time will come………….

  95. Forget about who plays or doesn’t play after this World Cup. We should all be able to unanimously agree that Messi being the captain of this team is a pure sham.
    Any leadership abilities that people thought Messi has have been dispelled.

    • Captains have hardly any role today in football. Heard it from multiple football pundits that coach today is responsible for 40% of the game outcome and players are 60%. For me a coach can make or break a team. I for sure do not believe in Messi and team rubbish. The issue is players are pissed off with coaches going in with a very bad formation which they are not comfortable with. Messi has not been able to convince Sampoli to get away from 343 formation with the current players we have. Yes he could have had an argument with Sampaoli and I think that reflected in his body language. If it was Maradona he would have fought with a coach and refused to play. If Messi does the same, many of the folks here and at Argentina will pounce on him as an Anti National. Let us leave it there.

      There is a pattern to the happenings in Argentine football. Yes AFA and Media are responsible for it.

    • Messi,dmaria,mescharano,bigila,benega,higain,augro,will b the last match for argentina.so fucking sampoli give them chance for last match.sampoli destroy Argentina.2-4 defeat against Nigeria in friendly also verdict earlier.then spain sucks again.worst coach ever.a argentina qualify only due to messi hatric against ecuador.in sampoli resign argentina played worst football in decade

  96. Replace biglia with lo Celso, with him and Mascherano it’ll give stability.
    Banega is fine because obviously Acuna didn’t give much difference the other day. Rojo replacing Tagliafico is so so. I’d still choose Tagliafico in the end in this position since it’s his position for a long time now.
    Di Maria? Should start Pavon from the beginning and left position.

    ARMANI; MERCADO, OTAMENDI, FAZIO, TAGLIAFICO; MASCHERANO, LO CELSO, BANEGA; MESSI, PAVON, AGUERO

    I’d love to see some radical thing such as Sampa benching Messi for Dybala, then see what happens, if it doesn’t look good, replace Dybala after 45 mins or 50 mins. It does good for people criticizing Messi, see if they’re right or wrong. And for one moment, it would disrupt Nigeria’s concentration too, as they could’ve prepare a strategy to exclude messi, only to find shocking revelation, and then subbing in Messi when stamina are dropping. It could be one great story.. or the opposite, one great circus. Well, everything seems wrong at this moment, better put some element of surprise. Dybala is the same type as Messi anyway, it doesn’t ruin overall strategy.

    • I am not sure on this talk about benching Messi. How many more results you want like what happened in the world cup qualifiers. I think folks are fans of some other player and do not want Messi to do well. That is the unfortunate part of being Messi. Anyway world cup is not the time to do that. Messi should excuse himself from playing friendlies for Argentina till next Copa America and all the wishes of Messi haters will come true. Even in frfiendlies I hope people remember 4-2, 6-1

  97. Thanks NIgeria!!

    Finally something to cheer in this world cup. Yes we do have a good chance. Nigeria cannot park the bus like European teams. Their lack of discipline will let them down. As I had written earlier I hope he plays

    Armani
    Ansaladi-Fazio-Otamendi-Rojo
    Mascherano-Banega
    Dybala-Messi-Aguero
    Higuain

    Taglifico, Meza and Pavon need time with the national team. Acuna and Salvio experiment has been a failure. The issue in both the matches were these folks were not sure when to pass and where to position themselves. Against park the bus teams you need to trust your teammates and learn to move the ball quicker. Barcelona have failed against park the bus teams. Yesterday Brazil was 6 minutes away from being humiliated by Costa Rica. The curse of having Messi is all teams have decided to Park the bus against us and to hit us on counter attack. To succeed against these teams you need good chemistry.

    Sampaoli has used 110 odd players in the last year or so, with no two starting eleven being the same. How do you expect the team to deliver.

    Let us forget the past and hope he gets his act right now. Messi and friends as some of you try to demean Messi for me is the solution in the current situation. I have been an Argentina fan from 1982 and have been on this website from Seba’s time. Yes I started with Maradona, then Batigol and Messi now. The common thread is being an Argentina fan. I see the younger generation just missing out on football tactics, needing immediate change and going against a player without looking at things holistically

    Just put aside your ego and support the team. Our hope is more than ever on Messi. That is the reality because of the limited talent we have and the lack of playing time amongst the current squad. Sampaoli is another Maradona. Extremely disorganized in his thinking and he can be successful maybe in managing athletic teams that play against open teams. He just does not understand the technicality of Argentine players and the type of opponents we play.

    I am not justifying the pathetic performance of the team against Croatia. I am just hoping that was a kick on the back for the coach and the players, so that what we do from now propels us in the right direction

    Miracles do happen in football. Euro 2016 is a classic case.

    Belief in life is everything. Do not give up on hope

  98. Positives:
    – No matter how much you don’t like them, Messi has an understanding with Aguero, Di Maria, Mascherano, etc. Mascherano makes those overhead passes that Messi loves to receive, that Suarez and Iniesta give him in Barcelona.
    – This team have gone to 3 different finals together, they know each other’s style of play, interact, trust each other, all those qualities teammates have. Messi obviously doesn’t trust Meza, Lo Celso, Salvio, even Pavon. All he said was he was fast, that’s it. Salvio is fast too, doesn’t mean he can play.
    – Defense of Mercado, Fazio, Otamendi, and Rojo is not too bad at all IMO. I still think Tagliafico should be LB, but he has no Chemistry with Di Maria, but Rojo does.
    – I actually like Banega, I’m one of the few. He’s a steady player, doesn’t put in performances like Messi did against Croatia. He’s no Iniesta but he’s decent enough, one of the best Argentina has at the moment like it or not.
    Negatives
    – They’re all around the age of 30. Probably will be the oldest team this WC if they pass.
    – Biglia & Mascherano means one thing… goals against. (Hopefully Otamendi and Fazio can clean it up at the back tho.

    My Line up would be:
    Armani
    Mercado-Fazio-Otamendi-Tagliafico
    Di Maria-Lo Celso-Banega
    Messi-Aguero-Dybala
    – still a lot of players from the “friends club” but the ones who actually can play lol. The ones who can’t replaced by younger and better players.
    There is a chance this could work. Fingers crossed 🤞🏼

    • I prefer this system to any of the others, however I would make one change and that would be Lo Celso for Biglia. Meza is not ready, Pavon is not ready. Meza has been so poor, he is been sloppy and it’s probably because he is out of his depth and so nervous. We must have strong base to play from and this midfield will give us solid foundation. I know Messi will play with his heart.

      • I don’t agree with pavon though, if I’m not mistaken he was put on the right (replacing salvio) at Croatia game which is not his best position. We have see his potential when playing on the left. But someone please do check,I’m not sure if this is the case or he actually still play at left before later substituting Perez for Dybala. He shoul’ve replace meza.

        • Right now, potential ain’t getting us nothing! We need experience! Spain has an experienced team, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, etc. we need experience!

          Last time these players had played together was a 3-0 win over Colombia! The only exceptions were Rojo and Aguero.
          Now we have Fazio added to the mix. I think this might actually work!

          Remember the reason why Argentina aren’t defending champions right now is All because of Higuain! Now that he’s out of the picture (hopefully permanently) then we might actually get somewhere!
          Changes I would make would be Lo Celso for Biglia and Dybala for Di Maria and that’s about the strongest this team could get.
          Vamos Argentina!!!!

  99. At 2-0, I wanted the match stop before getting more ridiculous. It was the 1st time in my life I have this feeling for Argentina team. Even against Germany in 2010, at 4-0 I know the team kept on fighting and tried to score at least 1 goal to save the honor. I am sure that if there is another additional time of 10min, we would have lost 4-0 or 5-0. It’s so predictable the failure. Players don’t believe in their coach anymore, no motivation on the pitch, when a ball is lost, nobody rushed to win it back quickly, slowness in defensive replacement, there was a big gap between midfielders and defense, so lot of freedom for the opponents. Samapoli may have realized that he has no more control on it because of his naivety and incompetnence.

    The good news is they should have realized that it’s stupid to fire the coach during the competition. They should stuck together and try to play a good game against Nigeria, no matter the outcome. There are fans who made sacrifices to travel to Russia for them.

  100. AFA, Coaching staff and Senior players had lunch together and they have agreed to put aside their differences. This is positive news.

  101. What really shocked me this team is whenever a player lost the ball, he just stay there and didn’t move quickly to win back the ball. Biglia is an example. How could Otamendi stay 2m away from Modric for the 2nd goal? Tagliafico is a hard-worker but few tackle worked. Salvio was always late in his replacement. Maschereno was great against Iceland because it was an attack-defense game, but we saw the reality vs Croatia. Adding Biglia who was the absolute catastrophe to Maschereno is just insane.

    So much fantasies around his 343, 3331, 2323, 2332, …etc., finally he found nothing and keep on changing his system even during the world cup, even his key players, worst coaching ever in a world cup.

  102. Sampaoli benched Biglia and Di Maria so Messi refused to play and didn’t show up. This line up is the last chance if they deliver they will play against France if not it was the last chance for them before they retire. Sampaoli gave up this Team for this world cup. This lineup is the outcome of the recent meeting. Sampaoli will start over after the world cup.

  104. Great team selection … If this rumour is going play in real mark my word Argentina will digest another 3-0 goal… Come on have wome fresh legs like pavon dybala lesolso.. well i am not expecting anything else from our arrogant idiot coach… God bless Argentina… God bless Messi…

  105. News is coming out of all angels on what is going on inside the camp. They said sampaoli assaulted a woman, messi & others fought sampa for biglia inclusion,players want sampa out before nigeria game,messi is crying day&night, messi wants only his old friends to play. It is not just the usual suspects(maradona,mendes dogs) but this is more than that it is an all out assault on argentina & it is being like this for few weeks now.

  106. You get my point all of you. Messi wants to play with his buddies. He refused to support the young players against Croatia so they can get him all the mafia of his friends club. Here we go again.

    Messi is bigger than Argentina. What a shame.

  107. Perfect. Finally we can play as a team since the chemistry is there as well as experience and skills. I have no doubt we can not only qalify but go far with this XI. and prove the world wrong. specially who wrote off argentina already. Mr. Sampaoli i think u found the best XI to get the best out of everyone in ur XI. we got this!!! We are Argentina. we ll show them Argentine football

  108. Do you realize that ARG could have won both games if it wasn’t for Willy’s stupidity and NONE of this would have been an issue.
    It is crazy how one thing leads to another which leads to a disaster and please don’t say Messi demanded Willy’s inclusion either.

    • Agree… while one can say nah, CRO would have still edged us out given the way they were threatening but things were still in a a balance then. I believe things got freakingly more complicated the moment the champion of a goalkeeper decided he could flick the ball over the oncoming opponent. Already a bundle of nerves and every time he got the passback a CRO player would be onto him yet he still did that. What.the.fuck. It wasn’t even a miskick or mistimed clearance but an attempt to flick the ball gone disastrously and horribly wrong.

  110. Whatever the line up is, I believe Sampaoli realizes his mistake and won’t force us to play the likes of Meza, or Salvio, or Tagliafico anymore. These players are fine, but we are Argentina trying to compete for the World Cup trophy. They are just BACK UPS.

    I just want to see at least Messi happy. That’s all I want.

    • Agree.. let’s watch Leo’s demeanour when walking out and at the anthem. Hopefully experience trumps over NIG’s raw pace and power, and this bunch shows the rest of the team just how to get things done! VAMOS ARGENTINA!

  111. From 4 2 3 1 to 3 4 3 and now to 4 3 3 system.

    I think this is the best system for argentina.

    But why does he give dybala, lo celso and pavon no chance to start ???

    I dont think that we was so bad in this group stage.

    We did not want to lose to iceland in the first game, so iceland parked the bus and in the second game, all the advantages were on croatia’s side, so they played defensively and waited for mistakes.

    And now against nigeria the same, they have the advantage on their side and can play defensive and wait for mistakes.

    And why could croatia win the two games? Since it was an open game, nigeria had to attack and thus there was more space for the croatian midfielder to combine and nigeria could not defend that.

    And against argentina, they leaned back to have the possibilities to counterattack.

    Thats all. We was scared not to lose in this two games and made only one point.

    The question is, can nigeria park the bus like island ?

      • Both matches will be played at the same time. So I am sure how Nigeria play will depend on the other match. Nigeria goal difference is only 2-2 with 3 points. Even if they just want to have a draw with Argentina, there is no guarantee that they will go through because Iceland can win and have better goal difference.

        So Nigeria won’t just play for a draw most likely. They will want to win too, which is good for us. No more park the bus team.

        • I hope so too.. right now, NIG is in the best position to qualify coz a draw would just be sufficient and if ICL doesn’t win CRO by more than 3 goals. Depending on how you rate the difficulty, we’ll need to win AND if ICL also win against CRO, outscore the former. In the case that we outscore by 1 goal only, our head-to-head with ICL is the draw, then it would be simply down to goals scored for right?

  112. This lineup rumor is absurd. It’s like somebody is on hallucinogens in front of a dart board with 23 names on it.

    So glad to hear Willy is taking a seat but I would play Guzman personally.

    Please don’t drop Tagliafico – he is easily our best defender. Please don’t drop Meza (easily the best O midi). Fazio deserves a shot after the shambles last night. Same with Dybala (need some other creative threat besides Messi on the field)

    Guzman
    Mercado-Otamendi-Fazio-Tagliafico
    Mascherano
    Lo Celso-Meza
    Dybala-Messi-Aguero

      • Very surprised why ansaldi is not given a chance. We should play locelso ,pavon, tagliafico in starting 11. Armani is a no brainer. 4-4-2 Pls. Our defence will not survive with 3. Irrespective of result, we should play good attacking football & At least leave with some pride.
        Incidentally I felt mascherano played ok considering that everyone felt he will be a disaster.
        For me it is :
        Armani
        Ansaldi – otamendi-fazio-tagliafco
        Salvio -lo celso – masch(enzo)- pavon
        Messi- aguero

      • I am also a big fan of Nico. But that was a horrible behaviour he showed in end against rakitic. He shld apologize for that

  113. I have to say Sampa doesn’t read games well. Even after Willy’s mistake the team was still mounting attacks. It’s only after he subbed Dybala for Enzo that the team lost the midfield completely. I think it was far to early to go all out attack when goal differencecan be the deciding factor. Moving forward Sampaoli needs to keep calm and not throw the kitchen sink on the field when the games are still in balance.

  114. Argentina needed 4-0 at least against Peru in 1978 and we got 6-0 and we finally were the champ!

    This time we need a better victory margin than Iceland (if they beat Croatia). Finally a better line up, I hope it is not too late. Messi please be happy….

    • still you are trusting these bull dogs. messi is a shit kind of player I won’t agree he is a super human he is the only person destroying Argentina football. I think sampa you are the manager, you are the accountable when team is losing so you can test new team better than those bull dogs. if the team does not give you respect you put them on dust bin. this is the opprtunity you should show something to these bull dogs. if you won this match without these bull dogs whole ARG nation could understand who is right who is wrong.

  118. Croatian coach confirmed that many of their first team won’t play the Iceland game.
    A win for Iceland is possible. 1-0, 2-0 is ok. We have to score 2-0,3-0 in those case. If they score more than 2 goals things will be complicated. If they win 3-1, we need to win 3-0 or 4-0? I think its 4-0 in this case…! And almost impossible…!!

    For Nigeria, they have a chance even with a draw. So they will fight until the end.
    Nigerian star Ahmed Mousa said: It is not difficult to score against Argentina. I have always scored against Messi.
    Argentina will need to outscore them. Currently, Nigeria conceded just two. One is penalty and other is an own goal..! It is more than a KO match for Argentina. Not easy at all..!

    • yes i don’t Trust the Croatians
      And before the games there is group c match maybe Denmark will win against France nothing is impossible in football and at the moment nobody want face France maybe they will lose with big margin and hope that Nigeria win against Argentina

      • Nigeria deserve to win. better Argentina let them a way to Grp 16. when they entered that stage they can give shock either denmark/france

    • I don’t think Croatia will give the victory to Iceland. They need to be in a good form in the second round vs. Denmark/Australia. A loss will affect them. Maybe they will use some bench players, but at best they will want to have a draw at least.

      We just need to beat Nigeria, it is that simple!

  120. I have some questions to you?
    Do you love this team or just some players?
    If you love this team then aren’t you tired of being humiliated?
    We have become a joke all over the World.
    Memes making fun of us.
    Do you guys have any honor?
    Aren’t you proud?
    We have been given a chance and this is the solution?
    Really?
    Do you love this team or not?
    Everyone that supports this shit has no honor or love for this team.
    If this is indeed the team that will play then we deserve all the suffering and torture.

    • The players are not to blame for this
      if you wanna blame, blame afa and not the afa of tapia, they did what they could, blame the afa of grandona and the normalization comittee.

    • I agree 100 percent. The majority of the new fans are Messi fans not Argentina fans.
      This group of players are a bunch of selfish prima donnas. NOT MY ARGENTINA

      • I have been an argentina fan since 2002, and messi has given me the taste of playing semi finals in all the tournaments I have seen,,,, argentinian people and fans have a habbit of throwing all the shit to messi no matter what.

  121. This line up is the only way to make Messi happy. You don’t like it, don’t watch.
    I would rather see him happy even if his teammates are 10 Jose Sosa or 10 Nelson Vivas than him being unhappy being around your favorite players.

    Messi is not god, but he is our hope, biggest weapon that no other team has. We need to unleash him. Read what Sabella said when he just took over the team and for your information, Messi has almost a one goal/game ratio for Sabella’s team. Higher than any of Argentina coaches he has played for.

    He is THAT lethal when he is happy.

  122. During Nigeria first goal against Iceland the midfielder who took the ball into attack clocked 12 seconds, this is Olympic track 100 meter preliminary round times..How in the world is this Argentina team (especially midfielders) going to cope with Nigeria pace? Di Maria again as a default winger? At least take out Biglia, put Di Maria in his place and put Pavon on the left wing.

    Argentina vs France and Brazil vs Germany would be good tv though.I don’t mind Argentina squeezing through and having a go at France in the round of 16.

  124. As much as a lot of you wanted Mesa, Tagliafico etc… sometimes but don’t know what you have until it’s gone! Control the game with midfielders… stop the counters of Nigeria and let’s pray we score one, somehow! Vamos argentina! NO TAGLIAFICO NO MEZA!

  125. Oh boy more Biglia back passes and speculative longshots to look forward to. Still, Pavon was in the lineups and then suddenly wasn’t. Hopefully Rojo and Biglia lose out in the end.

  127. Lionel Messi needs to be happy to play at his best – Argentina’s Alejandro Sabella
    By Subhankar Mondal
    The 56-year-old Argentine trainer reiterated that the Barcelona forward “is the best player in the world” and believes that he should be treated with more patience
    Argentina national team coach Alejandro Sabella has underlined the importance of giving Lionel Messi freedom on the pitch to weave his magic.

    Regarded by many as the best player in the world, the Barcelona forward has often struggled to play at his best for his country, although he did turn on the style against Venezuela in a friendly international in India last week.

    Wearing the captain’s armband for Argentina in what was Sabella’s debut game as coach of the South American giants in front of over 100,000 spectators at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium, Messi provided the corner that Nicolas Otamendi turned home to give the two-time world champions a 1-0 win.

    It was one of the Messi’s best performances for his country, and Sabella is confident that the Fifa Ballon d’Or winner will continue to display many such fine displays.

    “We must let him be happy,” said the 56-year-old at a press conference in Bangladesh, where Argentina will take on Nigeria on Tuesday in another friendly. “We must let him play completely freely on the pitch.

    “I am waiting for him to score. We must give him the tranquility. He is the best player in the world.”

    Nigeria beat Argentina’s second team 4-1 in June but Sabella says that he is not looking to avenge that comprehensive defeat.

    “I don’t think revenge is a good word,” he explained. “It’s not good for human beings. It’s not good for anyone. It’s a football game and we’ll try to win.

    “It’s a different game. It’s a different country. A neutral country. We don’t have too much time to prepare.

    “I am a new coach. I just started to know all the players and the players started to know me.”

    • Sabella was just unlucky. If the fantastic 4 hadn’t arrived lacking fitness he would have won that WC at a stroll. He made the best of what he had and I wish he had led the team at those Copas.

  128. Pitting Masche, Biglia, and Banega against a fast 5 man midfield is dumb. We need to win – and by a few, if possible.

    4-2-3-1

    Armani
    Ansaldi – Otamendi – Fazio – Tagliafico/Rojo
    Banega – Lo Celso
    Dybala – Messi – Pavon
    Aguero

    This is, to me, the most fluid lineup. It gives us a linked, creative midfield. Banega has played DM in the past and can do it again. Now is the time to throw all the cards on the table.

  129. now Argentina XI Armani Guzman 1986-87 born, Marcado 1986-87, Fazio 1986-87, Biglia 1986-87, Messi 1986-87, sure shoot sub Higuain 1986-87, Argentina is winning🏆

    • This is messi line up, messi was against Croatia line up shows in national anthem and result in front of everyone. Lets play messi generation farewell match, the golden generation of Argentina football.

      • Messi did not prefer 3-4-3, but Sampaoli still played it against Croatia. We should not attribute the reason for a team formation to Messi, although he may provide feedback to Sampaoli, but Messi does not have the final say.

  131. This is what happens when players feel they are entitled , they feel it’s their right to get what they want pampered and spoiled more over asking a nation as passionate as Argentina to accept 3 finals as a consolation prize , then in mutany in the middle of a world cup i respect sampoli ( as a human) more than all the players combined who have asked to sack him – chunks of shit do it before the game and get your way than after it – and then decides to retire because of what ??

    i still reserve my opinion on this friends Club theory because it’s mind boggling to even wrap my mind around this concept .. it’s a national team not a local club you get along with your worst enemy of he is good to be on the team and try to make things work if not choose the next best player not the 3/4/5 best player in that position ,you play so that the individual benefits from the team and the team benefits from the individual not a team built around an individual .. what happens he has a bad day or if he decides to sulk on that day ..

    And Sampa u don’t go public and tell the world that an individual.was not shinning coz the team around him.were no good enough how will it be good for the other 10 players ..
    Messi and Sampa SEEM like very good humans but as professionals they need help ..
    And the line up sucks again ..

    • The news about players asking for Sampaoli to be removed could be fake news. The friends club is just a good narrative that sells newspapers; I don’t think that is the case at all.

  132. I broke a promise I made a few months ago that if Biglia, Mascherano and Banega start a match together, I will not watch the match. If this rumoured line up is confirmed, this time I will not watch the match seriously. These washed up club of friends primadonnas want to humiliate us further. Even when Argentina is given a life, the coaching staff is overpowered and sabotaged by this FC Amigos faction in the squad. Fazio and Armani are the only good news here.

    • Biglia should not be there. He contributed nothing in the Iceland match. Hope these rumours are baseless. And why do we need to disclose our formation before the match? Where do all these rumours come from? We should keep it a secret until the start of the match!

  133. This the best line up, could have been better if lo celso is there but that can be risky too. Many are saying young gurd or old gurd, Meza flopped badly, pavon cost last match. This can be the last match of golden Argentine generation or can be the the beginning of winning the tournament

    • This is what messi want. Let him have it and lets see. They all are responsible. Couches dont matter any more. They will play there last game together and continue or retire. They are all together they played 3 finals together let them have there last chance. The formation in the back is what i wanted from the start. I banega and di maria play what they can we will see good football

      • Messi did not prefer 3-4-3, but Sampaoli still played it against Croatia. We should not attribute the reason for a team formation to Messi, although he may provide feedback to Sampaoli, but Messi does not have the final say.

      • agree with you, don’t need to change old guards whom send Argentina back to back 3finals now on the verge of group exit, let them play farewell game and trust them for Argentina progress

  134. I hope the players do not assume any ball is off-side until it is safe to protest to the referee. If they had tried to defend the ball, and not stopped running to look at the referee to appeal for off-side, they may not have conceded the 3rd goal against Croatia and they would be in a better position now in the table.

    • This is no time for emotional feel-good farewell. It should be a go-all-out must-win match for the last chance in salvaging this WC campaign.

      • I fear they are not motivated…may be they don’t want to fight anymore….seeing this lineup it feels they just want a goodbye match nothing else….
        I hope I am very wrong…. but if this things really happens, then this must be the worst moment for us as an albiceleste fan 🙁

        • Messi may look mild, but he is a fighter. He showed it at the Ecuador match when we needed to win to qualify for WC. Mascherano, Otamendi and Ageuro are also fighters. For all the faults of Rojo, he is also a fighter.

  138. in Sabela system zero creativity with strong defense and Argentina reach the final but Sampaoli trying to attack from wings and press high and on the verge of group exit, don’t talk rubbish for creativity in midfield if Cr7 with Portugal did it messi will do much better if defense support

  140. I’m honestly curious as to what happened to Lo Celso. He was supposed to be the jewel of the tournament for us. The great link between defense and attack that we have been waiting on for so many years. Now, he may not even get a minute in the world cup despite playing almost all the games for Argentina’s friendlies in recent times. I have to assume at this point that he is injured or there is some rift between the players that is not allowing him to start.

  141. Argentina has worst defense in the world Cup, forget creativity just hope Nigeria don’t destroy us and wait for messi magic

  142. God have given Argentina another life Why we Must ruin it with Masche biglia midfield , mercado ,rojo?????? Please learn from the mistakes
    —————armani————
    ——otamendi—fazio———-
    Ansaldi——Mascherano——taglafico
    Messi—-locelso—-Pavón/di Maria——
    —-dyballa——aguero——

    Maybe messi and dyballa can more often switch position during game

    • Tagliafico can’t defend and lo celso sidelined for unknown reason, if Argentina able to progress then Rojo must bring back his 2014 form and hope for the best

      • The thing is Argentina’s Defence is one of the worst in this WC
        But we must attack from minute1
        Rojo is in Bad Form
        Look at spain game and Iceland game
        We must learn from our mistakes

        • worst thing is Argentina don’t have tall and fast defender apart from Rojl. Tagliafico can’t contribute in defense much plus poor in areal ball. Rojo have to get back his best in order to Argentina progress

    • Now that you mention this, it can be the case. Basically just having the old guard play the match for a final farewell. I think all of these players bar Otamendi will retire after this cup is over. Lo Celso, Dybala, Pavon etc will be for the rebuilding phase. If Sampaoli sticks around, I hope he utilizes these new players to build a great team for Copa America first.

      • This is no time for emotional feel-good farewell. It should be a go-all-out must-win match for the last chance in salvaging this WC campaign.

  145. The reason we lost last match and drew first game was Willy. I don’t want to blame him. It should be Sampaoli’s job to know that Willy has passed it. Rojo and Biglia can’t start again. Tagliafico is miles ahead of Rojo and may be Ansaldi for slow Mercado! I have a feeling Locelso might play instead of Biglia. Even friend’s club know that Biglia is done.

    • He should have kicked the ball far away hard if he was nervous. But he chose to play dangerously as though his close ball control is good. So I think he bears some responsibility.

  147. not enough creativity in midfield. We need LoCelso in stead of Masche or Biglia and Dybala for DiMaria.

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