Turkish referee to officiate Argentina match, good omen

By
Roy Nemer
-
137
Argentina Netherlands World Cup Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi playing for the Argentina National Team.

Turkish referee Cuneyt CAKIR will officiate Argentina’s final group (and potentially World Cup) match against Nigeria on Tuesday.

Unlike the referee for the game against Croatia, this one could be seen as a good omen. CAKIR was in charge of three matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The first was the Brazil against Mexico match in the group stages, the second being Algeria vs. Russia once more in the group stages and the final being Argentina vs. Netherlands in the semi finals.

It was confirmed by FIFA Media on Sunday.

 

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137 Comments

  1. Is there any chance of Dybala playing against Nigeria? And any recent update from the latest training sessions?

  2. The fact that Tata got to 2 finals and ppl hate him shows no one happy with any coach
    He got beat out of Messi
    Messi was awesome with 2007 squad
    In 2 copas too

    In 2007 with peak tevez veron riquelme aimar Zanetti – awesome team

    No more
    Never mind Messi we will never have the standards of

    Samuel Zanetti cambiasso crespo Kily Lucho

    How many of this squad gets into those previous squads

  4. Ok, i’ve been a mild spectator on this site for a while now but lets be frank with ourselves, argentina as a team is crap they don’t have good chemistry at all with each other and expect Messi the messiah to save them every time. I remember watching the WCQ against ecuador with my fingers crossed hoping that Argentina would qualify, after the first goal (by ecuador) everyone over here was shell shocked but messi entered his zone and saved the day. Why am i talking about this now, well if u look closely at that game, who exactly played well in that game? lets be frank, all across the pitch everyone was poor except for messi and di maria and messi is such a good player that he doesn’t need the entire eleven to be functional he just needs that one player that gets him. In that game, di maria beat him man time and time again, he dragged defenders out of messi’s way to provide him that space he required to score, to be blunt Messi carried the team to this WC but di maria was his man behind the scenes.

    Ok now fast forward today what is happening why are Argentina losing this badly and why was Messi disturbed even before the game? well it’s because he looks at his team

    callbalero – Not someone he can put his trust in goal
    Mercado – reliable but slow
    Otamendi – can he really handle this
    Acuna – didn’t give a good cross through out the whole game smh
    salvio – just too green and not ready for the world cup
    enzo and masche – just too slow with no creativity ( Most frustratingly for me was they mastered the art of side passing and gave no edge both in defence or offense )
    Meza – well i don’t know what to say about this guy he looked like he was lost through out the game and never really did anything that signalled brilliance.
    Aguero – was bullied out of the game because of his prolific striking tendencies

    and then messi ask’s himself whats goin on why i’m I not playing well today well after some minutes he realises it croatia based their game plan around messi they made sure they blocked him at cut of all passing lanes to him because as modric said ‘He is the most dangerous player’ i’m sure when argentina released thier starting line up modric, rakitic and brozovic must have been licking their lip because apart from messi and aguero in the entire line up who would they have been scared of their best creative midfiled force were on the bench (lo and banega) their midfield consisted of aging veterans who couldn’t even cover the midfield and croatia had 3 world class midfielders on SMH. Meza didn’t open up well or make runs in behind the defence heck he could atleast have occupied one defender that would have made the job easier for aguero but noooooo he had to go and get fucking lost ok the first half went by but no goals not because both teams played excellent football but because the game was scrappy and you could see it, even the guys from argentina knew this but they found comfort that atleast they hadn’t conceded and that was a huge plus for them until callbalero decides that the game needed a goal against better judgement and that was the thing that broke messi everyone could see, the team was having a hard time finding each other on the field they could even string accurate short passes in the game, the midfield couldn’t connect with defence or offense and this dunce had to go and give a goal messi just said in his mind ‘You know what i’m done u guys play watever u want to play’ then he parks himself at the line sampaoli stomping around like a fucking retard then decides to bring in huguain (which in I think made a lot of sense because the team needed a focal point if they wanted to go long) but what he does nextsurprises the entire football hemisphere he removes aguero friggin aguero that can score, for huguain he should have played double strikers but noooooo coach knows best then he does the unbelievable, the midfield that was strugling to cope with the midfield battle against croatia, see’s the likes of enzo replaced for dybala at first i taught it was a good sub as enzo wasn’t functioning and dybala with his creativity may actually breathe life into the midfield but wat the idiot does is wat busted my small brain he leaves the midfield then fuckin takes Messi’s position if i was messi i would just be laughing because it was evident they didn’t know wat they were doing worst part dybala though he was taking messi’s space didn’t even try to force messi into play which was more shocking, he had several chances to pass the ball to messi and force him into play but nooooo he decided that crossing the ball in the box was the smartest thing now I ask, to who are you crossing ur dead ball to your imaginery friend worst part it was now evident that there was a hole in the argentina midfield and thats when modric and co attacked. Dybala didn’t even track back (who the fuck do u think you are) even messi tracked back during the time croatia scored the last goal so dybala u fucked up ur best chance to show everyone that u are capable and u fucked up. So for those in this site that are saying Dybala should play more, i’m sorry but that guy clearly showed that he can’t ever work with messi though i’m not sure what’s going through his head maybe he thinks he’s better well her isn’t in everyway possible, be its dribbling, picking the right pass bringin others into play, shot power, vision, shot accurcacy, pass accuracy, creating space e.t.c he just isn’t comparable. Also for those who feel messi was wrong to park himself at the corner, if u were in his place wat would u have done, it’s said that teach a goat to swim and it will drown in ur fucking face. should he have taught eleven player how they were meant to play? obviously he can’t even if he wanted to the only option was to play desperately like in the iceland game which he obviously promised he wasn’t ever going to do again. When i put myself in his place it makes sense what he did cause nothing pains more than having to watch people bottleneck our chances of scoring though i’m not a professional player i know that when i play with the guys and they can’t string actual passes and can’t even find me, I’ll have to drop deep which isn’t nice or risk conceding a goal and a thing that happens to people who are actually on the field is before a game match ends it’s possible for you to know if u still have a chance or there’s no hope and let’s be frank we all were’nt hoping for argentina to score we lost hope long ago, we were hoping for messi to produce an instance of magic, brilliance cause lets face it the team played crappy football.

    So my wishful line up is;

    Armani
    ansaldi/mercado – Otamendi – Fazio/tagliafico – tagliafico/rojo
    banega (as DM yeah, we need a creative midfielder that connects passes defence to offence and can sniff a pass from deep)
    Di maria – lo celsio
    messi – Aguero – Pavon

    vamos argentina

  5. zee, sad but true ! i wonder though if there would have never ever been an argentine goach who would have been able to get best out of leo like barca had done with several coaches, but i think we will never be able to know this because saddly it looks like gameover for leo with argentina, again i wish to be wrong and again i get myself emotionally blown away with keep on still wishing for miracle to happen not only for argentina but also for leo !

    zee :
    Happy birthday Leo. Shame on you Mundo Albiceleste. No mention of Leo’s Birthday? Surely Argentina doesn’t deserve him. Years from now there’ll be a new generation who’ll know who the GOAT was in soccer. And how his country had dealt with him.

  6. campeoness 18, yes i think in the end everybody’s wishes are same as yours, even our favourite players dont seem to get the chance to play which offcourse would have been great to see, but like u said just wish that our guys make it at least to 2nd round, never mind who’s in charge or playing !
    Mighty be an empty wish again but at least it is the last wish of mine, because clearly our favourite players are not going to play this time, even how hard we wish for that to happen it aint going to happen !

    campeonesd 18 :
    If veterans are going to win us this match against Nigeria, i Don’t care if my favourite young kids missing the chance or not. I’m just cheering for the team. I don’t care anything else.. just win it. Score 3 goals. Go to Knockouts. Play like Argentina.
    Argentina deserves to go to knock outs, irrespective of how worse we are now. Just make it guys.

  7. Happy birthday Leo. Shame on you Mundo Albiceleste. No mention of Leo’s Birthday? Surely Argentina doesn’t deserve him. Years from now there’ll be a new generation who’ll know who the GOAT was in soccer. And how his country had dealt with him.

  8. If veterans are going to win us this match against Nigeria, i Don’t care if my favourite young kids missing the chance or not. I’m just cheering for the team. I don’t care anything else.. just win it. Score 3 goals. Go to Knockouts. Play like Argentina.
    Argentina deserves to go to knock outs, irrespective of how worse we are now. Just make it guys.

  9. Rhaelyn, spot on about what pekerman gave us before with our youths !

    Rhaelyn : Pekerman also done many positive things for argentina. He gave us 3 under 20 world cups and possibly responsible for 2 more u-20 wc

  10. i have doubt before but now i am sure about you (@gonzalo ), you are fraud . you don’t even want to see argentina as victorious because some of your favourite players are not going play against nigeria and some are not selected. i know you are the one who was supporting sitty lineup and tactics against croatia because your favourite players were playing but when these tactics does not work out and cost us almost exit from world cup . so now people like you want argentina lose for such a cheap reason . Actually i am huge fan of lo celso and i have watched every game of locelco from last year, i want him to play in every match ( i know he deserve it) but i don’t care who will play against nigeria but i just want to see argentina as victorious and delighted messi. so put your ego aside and just support argnetina .
    we can win ,we would win .
    vamos argentina!!!
    “goat will save the king again”

  11. duongna, yes u are absolutly right about bielsa, passarella and basile vs pekerman even we did not win germany with him but at least it was quite close few errors and we lost, but still we played as team and much better football than his precissors and deffinetly more better than with our current moron or should i say our moron’s instead ? Still wishing for our guys to get playing as team and they should deffinetly watch for example how columbia beat poland today because if the polish would have played against iceland and croatians i think they would have at least got maybe two draw’s or even maybe a one win, well hard to tell and very easy to comment after the columbians defeated poland in such stylish way as true team playing together ! But i think like san isidro said in one his posts before so far he has watched allmost evey single game like myself and i have to say that against japan the colombians we’re very unlucky to get offcourse red carded and maybe the first game was allways going to be the most difficult one for them even they have not yet played against senegal which managed to win the polish also so maybe in the end the polish were not that great than many people would have expected and it lookk’s like japan will pull a surprise and advance to next round as i think they will top their group and columbians eill battle it with senegal for the second place to go trough and i think if they fo play like today against the polish they will be able to beat senegal but after that it will get much more difgicult for them because i think belgium will win england and top their group and maybe even go all the way to the final ! so i think the colombians are maybe allready wishing for england to be able somehow to beat the belgiums because i think against england they might even have a chance of winning england if they keep on playing like this !
    why i’m thinking like this because if u dont count belgium then the group where the colombians are playing is much better group for me than the one with england and belgium because obviously panama is one most weakest team of the whole tournament and even the english had a hard time beating the tunisian’s i still rank japan, senegal and even poland who’s is out allready now much better teams than tunisia and specially panama. But once again this site is for our team and maybe we should not discuss so much of the other teams performances, but so far our team has looked so poor that there is not much to really talk about them than just keep on ranting them, which they do deserve by judging their performances so far !

    duongna : He did better than the kind of Bielsa, Passarella, Basile. Yes, that hurts to recall that loss but at least we played as a team.
    Reply

  12. Both Poland and Colombia lost their opening game, so both teams needed to win..This was an open game, nothing like what we have seen in Argentina two recent games. Poland didn’t have four players in defense and five players in midfield parking the bus. Moreover, I didn’t see the Polish with a game plan to man mark and hack James with two players every time he touches the ball. Every team goes 4-5-1 against Argentina, it’s hard to counter attack against the 4-5-1 formation especially when the opponent uses a lot of long ball to their lone number 9 in the attack. It is more easier to counter attack using 4-5-1 than any other formation. Colombia was using 4-5-1 and Poland was using 3-4-3..What the Colombia vs Poland game prove is that once again, playing a three man back line is not viable, this is the most overrated and pathetic formation ever, you will always lose against a well discipline team with counter attacking players especially when they pack the midfield..

    So the other day I said Nigeria would setup with a 4-5-1 formation, but this was before I knew what I know right now. Nigeria will have no choice but to play open and attacking football given the situation in the group and that both games in the group will be playing simultaneously..If Nigeria choose to play attacking football, I would take that any day because no matter how fast the Nigeria players are, open football will always favor Argentina over Nigeria. And if the game turn out to be end to end action, I like Argentina chances against Nigeria.

    The Argentina national team players need to tune out the local media and some of the gullible fans especially the ones from their homeland. Just stay focus on the game and on your team mates. Play with your heart, dig deep, stay persistent for the entire 90 minutes and defend as a unit. This is all I ask for, all the best on Tuesday!

    • Why would Nigeria want to play an open game? A draw will be enough to get them through unless Iceland beat Croatia 3-0 which is unrealistic at its best. Nigeria will be playing deep and counter attacking with pace. It will be exactly the same thing Croatia did. They may not be able to park the bus as good as the Vikings but any team will do that to us. That’s a winning formula for our opponents.
      So does it mean we are hopeless? I don’t think so. It will be very much dependent on whether we can open the score within the first 20-30 minutes before our weak defense start to suffer. With 1 goal in our bag Nigeria will have no other choice than to attack and it will be easy for us to score more and secure a spot in the 1/8 round.
      However it will be wrong if we start the match all out attacking. We will concede in their fist counters and that will be too late for us. We should keep calm and penetrate their defense from the middle and expect for their fouls. Free kicks, long shot, or even corner set pieces will be the key. Or a genius moment from Messi.
      I am keeping hope but it will be very tough. The players must play a match of their life and may the luck be in our side this time.
      Vamos Argentina

    • It is possible for NIG to do either or both at different stages of the match depending on how things pan out – attack to secure the win or sit deep and counter attack. Either way, we have to win and outscore (including goal difference) ICL.

      I don’t know how we are going to cope with Musa and their pace but I do hope the team has a plan! If Japan who are much smaller in physical size can handle the towering and pacy Senegalese, we can do it too! We’ve really got to play calmly and score goals…. The onus is squarely on us to score goals. I fear the longer the match remains goalless (I can’t recall the number of times we’ve been in this situation and i’m just staring at the clock as it moves past thr first 20 mins, then 30 then 45 then 65 then 80), the more nervous we will be and the more safer lateral and back passes are made and then mistakes creep in. Help me guys, I’m freaking out again……

  13. In this world cup, if you can’t counter attack and score, it’s hard to advance. Too sad we don’t know how arrange a counter attack like Sabella’s era.

    • we didn t have that chance to play like this because we needed to score. Iceland park the bus and with Croatia we was running behind score.

      if we go to knock out against France then we will have the opportunity for counter attack game.

  14. Our imbeciles players should watch Columbia vs Poland match!!!!! How much they are running…chasing every dead ball, defending with the whole team, making no chances into a chance and scoring!!!! Other match Japan draws with Senegal..a much much physical team than Japan!!! Our imbeciles are busy to show their Tatto…Rojo busy to show his faggotic ear diamond jewelry !!! Fak these mother fakars!!!

  16. What I find most fascinating about the teams Messi plays for and Messi himself is something most of us here know..that all discussion and tactic can become completely irrelevant on the field if Messi has the desire inside, I don’t mean fabricated desire, we can all wish for somethings in life but I mean the genuine desire and fire to make something happen. Of course it’s a team game but Messi himself can change the fortune of Argentina.

    Everyone has favourites for the World Cup and put everyone so high above Argentina for so many years. To me, the Messi we watched from 17 years old can drop any single defence to its knees, even the strongest defence assembled by Mourinho. This is probably the biggest reason I follow Argentina with such intensity, knowing Messi can single handedly change games. I find myself trundling through comments and articles looking for some sort of logic on the matter. I think the real frustration for Argentinians, fans and maybe Messi himself comes from knowing that if Messi has the genuine desire, relaxed, focussed desire to play his game, I feel this desire is not a decision Messi can just make in his mind but comes from within, no matter what else is going on then Argentina can break apart any team put in front of them, hopefully starting with the Nigeria team!!

    I believe in this team.

  17. you don t have to support Argentina team.
    you are a fanatic fan of yourself.

    it is not my business to speak to you
    and you are free and i respect you to say free your opinion

    just i write to you because i am very disturbed with the use of my country flag icon
    from you. it is not fit with your words “i refuse to support that team. it is mafia team”.

    i am Argentinian and that offend my country.

  18. Why don’t you just fuck off and take a leave from this site unless we are out? (hopefully that is after lifting the cup – As long as we have the slightest hope and Messi, we have hope)

    You can come back with all your negativity and come hard at those players you never liked once everything is over.

    • Malabari Albiceleste: You are right. Gonzalo’s outlook is way too negative. Such pessimistic loser should only be ignored.

  19. I just want three things in Argentina vs Nigeria Messi Goals & dimaria assists, Aguero 2nd half goal, Armani clean sheet Finally Argentina win greater margin than Iceland if they win

  20. Cuadrado was everywhere on pitch for Colombia, runs from defending to midfield to attack and put pressure on the polish defense. James was waving to crowd to cheer for the team louder and not to stop or be quiet, now that was a pure leadership and a compelling spirit to fight and win.

    • They didn t do anything strange this is the professional atitude that s it those people are making millions they are showing that they are doing their job giving their best they play as a team not as roomates

  21. I just rewatched the 3rd goal conceded against Croatia. I hope our players do not assume off-side and would just kick the ball away first in our penalty box before appealing for anything in future matches! Once a player raise his hand for off-side, he may influence his team mates to think it is really off-side and stop chasing the ball. We should always assume the worst and play safe first! If there had been more players chasing after the ball to defend or block it, there would be a chance for this 3rd goal to be prevented.

  22. This veterans team is going to terrorize the Nigeria defense. The veterans will be out to prove a point. Players like Masche, Enzo & DiMaria must have that angry feeling inside to play their best game. The classic 4 men defense & Armani will provide the much needed security at the back which will make our defense a lot better.

    And finally, Messi will be motivated to prove who he is. We are gonna witness the resurrection of Messiah!

    Just bring Lo Celso for Enzo, Dybala for Banega & Pavon for DiMaria in the second to bolster the attack and add a couple of late goals.

    Result: Argentina 4 – Nigeria 1

    • malabari albiceleste, i truly hope u are right about your predictions against nigerians, 4-1 i think deffinetly get us at least to second round and then we’ll see what will follow ?

    • Ok, how blind are you man? 4 goals? We score 1 goal in 2 games and 4 against Nigeria. Yes because Nigeria wants us to advance.
      Every time I see somebody saying things like this it automatically makes me realize they don’t know shit about football or the international game. Keep dreaming

      • Change of formation, Change of players, Change of state of mind, Bringing that fighting spirit & unity which we lacked in earlier games & finally a happy Messi are more than enough to turn around a 3-0 loss to a 4-1 loss. If you don’t see it can happen, you know nothing about Football.

        Barcelona lost 4-0 against PSG, yet they came back with a 6-1 win.

        During 2018 WCQ, Argentina lost against Ecuador 2-0 at home in our first game. Yet, we won 3-1 away in our last game to make a great come back.

        This is football we are talking about. Don’t let people realize that you know shit about Football.

    • There is a fine line between hope and delusion and you’ve sadly crossed it and where do you honestly think the goals are gonna come from? Choker Higuain, headless chicken Dimaria or quitter messi? Honestly I take no pleasure in p*ssing on people’s hopes but a modicum of pragmatism is in order.

  23. This site is full of Brazil and RM supporters and lately Israel has joined…..as if everyone understands football except those who are playing…

  24. Happy Birthday to our hope ! The very reason why all of us argentine fans still believe that maybe all is not lost and there is still sum miracle waitin for us down the corner….maybe the media & the so called football pundits wud be proven wron and may we have the last laugh, happy birthday Messi , time to reply bk to the world with your magic in the pitch!!!

  25. insider, u are propably right about getting rid of “el jefecito” which for me according to his nickname allready explain’s at least half of this whole mess we are going throuhg at the moment !
    But how do we actually get rid of him if he is running everything at the moment ? Even if he is not running everything i higly doubt that he won’t play so either he has to get injured before the game against nigerians or somebody has take him out in another way, which i personally dont know how or who will be able to do it ? But, yes i totally agree with u that he should not deffenetly play at all or either be in russia, but offcourse because he is the “el jefecito” he could not say no nor no one else had the balls to tell him to go fuck himself instead of coming to russia ! So i’m prettty sure and very sad that once again he will be in our starting eleven against nigerians ! Hopefully this time he will at least deliver for us, firstly for his own sake, but and most importantly for his country’s sake which i’m still not sure that he even understands this all by now, even in how many worldcups he has allready been ?

    insider :
    If we can field a team without Mascherano we will win..! He was there in our almost every loss recently.
    Did you guys analyze Croatia match? Apart from that howler, how did they score the other two goals? Whos at fault of those goals?
    Everybody discussed here we were in trouble most time because of 3 men back and Acuna, Meza didn’t play well etc. Agree. Still, can you watch it again the second and third goal? What was the ‘current coach in charge’ Mascherano doing there? He was not at all protecting the backline. Whats his position in the team actually? After Enzo was replaced, Mascherano exposed. Modric and Raktic unleashed.

  27. If we can field a team without Mascherano we will win..! He was there in our almost every loss recently.
    Did you guys analyze Croatia match? Apart from that howler, how did they score the other two goals? Whos at fault of those goals?
    Everybody discussed here we were in trouble most time because of 3 men back and Acuna, Meza didn’t play well etc. Agree. Still, can you watch it again the second and third goal? What was the ‘current coach in charge’ Mascherano doing there? He was not at all protecting the backline. Whats his position in the team actually? After Enzo was replaced, Mascherano exposed. Modric and Raktic unleashed.

    • may be that’s why enzo/biglia starting ahead of lo celso, nevertheless this friend club needs farewell match

        • The lineup sounded like 3-5-2 at first. But on the pitch it was 3-2-5. Once Enzo was replaced with Dybala, it became 3-1-6. LOL

          • Meza, Acuna & Salvio were too dumb to understand their role in that system. Sampaoli paid the price for believing in those 3 players. What I wonder is, why didn’t he replace Meza with Dybala. He replaced Enzo instead which fucked up our midfield even more. Lo Celso should have brought in to replace Enzo.

    • Enzo wasn’t replaced with a midfielder though. It was with Dybala. That will expose any team and I maintain that sub sentenced us to defeat because far too much time was left in the game.

      • Yes, offcourse. Sampaoli got it completely wrong with the subs.

        Enzo should have been replaced with Lo Celso and Dybala should have replaced Meza.

        The subs were like Sampa saying: “Hell, My strategies got fucked. Let the players try their own now.” But the team was fucked up further with that change.

        Dybala sub made the team even worse from 3-2-5 to 3-1-6. A one man midfield against the mighty midfield of Croatia. LOL!

    • There is pic of Three croatian players inside the box & masche is behind waving like it is offside with messi behind him watching.

  28. Franco Armani has never played for the senior Argentina team before, yet he could be the goalkeeper tasked with keeping out enough goals at the World Cup to allow Lionel Messi’s magic at the other end to mean something. His debut is expected to come in the Albiceleste’s final warm-up game against Israel on Saturday, but he will not go to Russia with more than one cap to his name.

    So how has Armani made it to the front row of the grid in the nation’s goalkeeping race? He didn’t even take any part in qualifying, only making his first ever Argentina squad last month.

    Well, the 31-year-old shot-stopper has put together a truly sensational first half of 2018 and has made a late surge up the Argentine goalkeeping depth chart, earning his ticket to Russia based on wonderful form.

    The man from Santa Fe came through the Estudiantes youth system, but forged a career in the sport in Colombia after moving to Atlético Nacional in 2010. He played eight years in Medellín and became a fan favourite, struggling at first before finding God and changing his outlook on life. He spent his final four years there as the undisputed starter after compatriot Gastón Pezzuti’s exit and made a name for himself in South American football as a top shot-stopper with rapid reactions. It was with Armani in goal that the club won the 2016 Copa Libertadores, one of the Argentine’s 13 titles with the club, making him their most decorated player ever.

    So impressed were the Colombian FA with his performances in their league that there was talk of nationalising Armani and making him eligible to travel to Russia with Los Cafeteros. Instead, he was brought back to Argentina at the beginning of 2018, with River Plate playing a fee of around €3m euros. Now he will go to the World Cup, but with his home nation.

    Back in Argentina, he hit the ground running… and saving. One of Armani’s first major matches with his new club was a SuperClásico against Boca Juniors with a trophy on the line, the Argentine Super Cup. River Plate took the contest 2-0, but Armani was kept busy and his performance was vital in winning the title. He was so vital, in fact, that he was made man of the match, literally being coroneted with a plastic golden crown from sponsors Burger King.

    As ridiculous as that moment was, perhaps it did symbolise a changing of the guard. That performance and his other displays for River Plate – he kept clean sheets in 13 of his 21 matches and has saved 52 of 62 shots at his goal – started a conversation in Argentina. Why isn’t this guy a contender to start for the selección, for the national team? Why is it assumed is should be one of Sergio Romero or Willy Caballero, two Premier League backups? The 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Spain, during which Caballero was especially poor, only furthered the debate.

    While starting Armani would be a risk, there is a sense that Argentina must be bold and roll the dice if they’re to have any chance of going all the way. As former national team goalkeeper Luis Islas put it on TyC Sports several weeks ago, “Based on his current form, Armani has to start at the World Cup, even if you do have to think about it a lot because we don’t know how he would respond with the national team”.

    The knee injury suffered by Romero, the regular starter since 2010, in May then made a fresh change at the goalkeeper position a reality, rather than a fan fantasy. It’s heartbreaking for Sergio Romero as he approaches 100 caps, but it’s not that much of a loss, was the general consensus.

    For now, Caballero is the most experienced goalkeeper in the squad and the one who Jorge Sampaoli has said is the front-runner to start, but it hasn’t been ruled out that Armani – who has a good relationship with Sampaoli, as they both hail from the same town of Casilda – could be the starter by the time of the first match against Iceland on June 16th. “He has started training well and the decision will be made a little further down the line,” Olé have reported.

    Even if Armani has a good relationship with Caballero, he is determined to battle with the Chelsea goalkeeper for that honour. “Being on the 23-man list fills me with pride, but I’m not satisfied with that,” he recently told Radio 10. “I have prepared myself in the best way possible and I want to get an opportunity at the World Cup.”

    The previous two times Argentina won the World Cup they did so with a goalkeeper from River Plate starting in goals, Ubaldo Fillol in 1978 and then Nery Pumpido in 1986. If Armani keeps pushing and becomes the starter in Russia, the omens suggest there might soon be a third star on the blue and white shirt.

    This gives me hope. This guy stopped 52 of 62 shot on goal against him and his clean sheet record is 9 clean sheet in his last 10 games for River Plate.

    It is not too late. Just hope he won’t make any mistake.

  29. It s quite simple messi doesn’t deserve argentina shirt and argentina doesn t deserve him as well. He could not still missing his level and nobody could criticise him after having so much done for the country the fact is not simple finally
    Don t forget that argentina hadn t played wc final since diego s time and we were champions without the bad luck that s why i was sure that we deserve at least this title unless those fucking babies ego fucked up the whole story unfortunately as you had seen with other teams it s not about the selected players or the subs it s in the mental where the wining spirit spins
    Our players are missing this cause as you see there s too much pressure from the country unfortunately and they still dont know how to overcome it, messi do not and when he s not it s totally a disaster he could not cover the whole country as other players

  30. If we go defensive in this match by aiming 1-0 win, we will be out probably.
    Argentina has to plan for a scenario Iceland defeating Croatia like 3-1, a probable scenario considering they are playing to Croatian B team. Then we have to win 4-0 or 4-1 or even 5-2. A 3-0 won’t help us in that case.
    So we should play an attacking football. We have to outscore Nigeria.
    If we cant make it still to the second round..its ok. We tried. Otherwise winning the match 1-0 or 2-0 and still, cant qualify is not good. We have to unleash all the attacking potential we have. Play for as many goals.

    • Iceland won’t be able to score more than 2 goals against Croatia, also Croatia doesn’t want to be thrashed and wants to keep a momentum. I can see 2-0 or 2-1 against Croatia. Having said that, we need score 3 or 4 goals if want to qualify which I doubt because we don’t have goals scorers. I see other teams scoring goals left and right, but we can’t utilize our attacking force.

      • Iceland is not a good attacking team. They are only good at counter attack, that’s all. If they want to attack from the beginning, just like they did against Nigeria, they would pay the price. For me, it would be a draw game between Iceland and Croatia.

        Iceland is a very strong team against a stronger team than them that wants to win against them.

    • Well I don’t think the Croatia can afford to play with all backs up because in the case of nigeria winning 3.0 or something like that. And Croatia loosing they would loose the 1st seed in witch that’s bad for them. And also both of the games will be played at the same time. Come on guys let’s keep our hopes up. I was so devastated on Thursday but after the win by nigeria I had hope again. Let’s pray that messi and the team play a bad asss game. And give them strength to do good the rest of the tournament. Vamossss argentinaaaa porfavorrrr te lo pidooo.

  32. This is so much like France in 2010. Fully dysfunctional. Even if the ref is Maradona, Argentina will find a way to lose.

    It’s probably for good. Argentina never knew how to build a team around Messi, and had always fronted a team of stars. AFA is corrupt and decadent. Time for a clean up. Even the under-17 team looks to be in shambles.

    Argentina Football needs a revival from the ground up. This world cup should be a good catalyst.

    • Lets build a team for 2022, Never give up, future is brighter.
      Argentina always produces best players, so let’s hope for Qatar tournament. Fresh blood and team work- no more one man show.

      • In 2002, 2 teams will be very strong on paper: France and England. France because their wonderkids will be more matured: Mbappe, Dambele, etc. And their leaders will be at their peak such as Varane, Griezmann, or Pogba.

        I hate to say it but England youngsters look good and will be at around 26’s by 2002. Plus they won the World Cup u20 recently and they take advantage of those players.

        In the last 2 editions of WC U20, our youngsters won nothing lately, and not even close (all fail in the group stage or was in danger of not qualifying to WC U20). I am talking about The group of Driussi/Espinoza/Mammana/Pavon and the group of Lautaro Martinez/Foyth/Ascacibar.

        Hope it will change in the WC U20 next year.

        Germany and Argentina golden generation will be completely done by 2022. But Germany youngsters look better than ours so far.

        Unless we have some “late bloomers” like Otamendi, we wouldn’t even be close to being among the favorites in 2002 as the French or English youngsters are in different league from ours.

        Yes our youngsters are quite talented, but I don’t want to sound like some of you here who always believe that our youngsters are the next gods. As talented as our youngsters are, no one want to buy them $100-$150 million unlike French youngsters for example. Mbappe’s/Dambele’s price alone is more than our whole team value. That’s how the big teams value others youngsters compared to our youngsters.

        I am talking about this from a very realistic point of view, not from a biased Argentina fan.

        Maybe a lot of you will be happy when our senior players all retired, but if you think that we will be even stronger? So far it does not look that way. Again, unless the likes of Foyth, Ascacibar (not just strikers, you can’t win the World Cup by just having good strikers) will turn into world class and play as key players for teams like Barca or Madrid or Chelsea or something.

    • you will see it very soon because anyway if we don t succeed against Nigeria then
      Tuesday game will be the farewell for Messi and the most of our players,

        • i don t like it of course. just as we speak now he want to retire this time for good. i believe you know it.

          i hope we win Nigeria and continue in world cup and he change his idea.

      • Here is what in my view if we benched Messi, his friends and even the guy most pple have an issue with (salvio).
        We should still be able to beat Nigeria, if players were playing as they should .
        What has changed tho is the emotional and mental state of the team. And that i think is the greatest hurdle to overcome here.
        Further from that i haven’t seen any real world beaters at this WC. So as stated before this WC is very open.

    • Bench Messi?

      1. But Alba defended Messi, who is still searching for his first senior trophy with Argentina.

      “I can’t imagine it. He is being criticised and I don’t understand it at all,” he told Marca .

      “Argentina is immensely better with him than without him. They should be proud to have Messi in their national team.

      “He is a unique player, who unfortunately hasn’t won the three finals he has played with Argentina and that isn’t easy.

      2. It is hot happening even if you wish because there is not even a rumor of him considering not playing the final match.

      3. Argentina with Messi: Won 6; Drawn 3; Lost 1; Win percentage 60%
      Argentina without Messi: Won 1; Drawn 4; Lost 3; Win percentage 12.5%

      You still want him benched?

      • @el_principe
        1. Like Kun would say; Alba can say what he wants. Infact if you believe in the friends theory Alba is one.
        2. I know i expect him to play as well.
        3. I Don’t always believe stats tell the whole story but Messi playing will lead to a better outcome.

        Anyways my suggestion simply stem due to the fact that so much has been suggested here even outlandish stuff so i just added one more.

        • Damn now even Alba is a friend clubber? News to me or we’d have had a competent LB over the last few years. If people want to know Messi’s actual friends it’s people like Suarez and Fabregas who goes on family vacations with.

    • Messi is jus 31 bro…….even in 35 he will be the best deep lying mid fielder in the world……..having mid like locelso , Messi , ascasibar with Pavon , dybala, icardi…….we can be unstoppable in the future……..so chill bro….u talking about greatest player of all time GOAT………not a regular player

      • Messi 2022 will show us an improved version of Zidane 2006.

        Those who want him retired are mentally retarded people. Don’t take them seriously.

        They want Dybala to replace Messi. After a year, they would be thirsty for his blood.

        In other countries, experienced players are called just “veterans”, in Argentina media have given them a nick name – “Club Amigos”.

        Any experienced players would take charge in a situation that Argentina are currently going through. If Messi was an outspoken player like Maradona, we would have played Croatia match without a coach.

        Any coach will have to take their players into trust with his strategy and formations. I have always rated Sampaoli highly. But experimenting at world cup was taking it a bit far.

  34. i don t know from where are you from and really it is not important
    but really you have so much hate inside you. you are not Argentinian that is why you speak so
    disrespectful and bad for people that offered to my country national team so much.

    if you be Argentinian or even if you lived in Argentina for little time you could never speak like this.
    you could know what means Javier Mascherano for Argentinians.

    anyway.
    you are free to say your opinion of course and i respect you
    but really i am so sad about you if you really support Argentina.

    anyway. as i said i respect you.

  37. Fuck physical advantage!! Look at Japan how tiny these guys are and playing very well against tall, rough mighty figures Senegal …..fuck these Argentine team lazy money monger ..

  38. Ok, after a shave, shower and a cup of coffee, I’m awake now. Though he is a good REF. but then again he is a no nonsense either and will give out yellows and reds if need be and hopefully it will be the Nigerians on the receiving end of his wrath.

  39. Mexico’s high rated goalie Ochoa also gifted similar error, fortunately for him it didn’t result in a goal.

    Any GK can make mistakes. The problem with Willy was he was too shaky. That’s catastrophe for a football.

  41. Players who should not start in this world cup for us.

    Willy < Armani
    Biglia < Mascherano, Enzo
    Meza < Lo Celso, Banega
    Acuna < Pavon, DiMaria

    And recommended:
    Salvio < Ansaldi, Mercado

  42. Knowing Fifa, Argentina’s absence means loss of Revenue. Being a true lover of football, it wouldn’t be satisfying winning ugly. I know it’s not possible to win fairly always still would like to see Argentina play beautifully and qualify. Vamos Argentina

  43. Question for everyone, I’ve watched most of the games in this World Cup. Is it me or do we just look slower everywhere than all the other teams?

  44. If the line up is as reported; 4-4-2 or any. I think Argentina on the field will be like this…! Mostly on attacking mode…!

    Mercado-Mascherano-Otamendi
    Salvio-Enzo-Banega-Tagliafico
    —–Messi——-Dimaria——
    ———–Higuain

    Can Banega play his best as deep lying playmaker? If yes, We will win.
    Nigeria will try to defend our three forwards and counter-attack. Can we stop their counter? I worry about Salvio. Can he perform his best ever performance? If yes, We will win.
    Messi can win all his own if he is Messi again..!
    Higuain and Di Maria is a lottery. It can be too good or too worse..!

  45. Dile a Sampaoli que elija a Lo Celso en el medio y Fazio en la defensa. No queremos volver a llorar por sus alocados experimentos. Este tipo acaba de destruir el equipo
    Idiont, despiadado

    • Dile a Sampaoli que elija a Lo Celso en el medio y Fazio en la defensa. No queremos volver a llorar por sus alocados experimentos. Este tipo acaba de destruir el equipo
      Idiont, despiadado

  46. Mascherano is an absolute professional like Messi.

    You guys atleast pick a candidate so that those who are not idiots might also believe you.

  47. In the other games i was very negative from the beginning. For messi for the team. This time i am very positive. About the lane up and about messi. I dont know but its a feeling . I dont know what we happen because the picture of the team is very bad. But how is possible in the last 2 years one team so strong look so bad. The couch the formation the moral the goalkeeper. If all this change maybe we will play good and win with deference. I was watching yesterday the game Argentina vs croatia 2-1 friendly game and our team played very good 4-3-3 with messi playmaker i think this is our system

  48. Bad news.Probably Croatia will play with bench players and B team,caz they know that already they are on top of the group whether Iceland win or not.They have already 6 points and 5 goal difference.Even if Nijeria beats Argentina they will be on top.

  49. guled, oh my god ! fucking fifa, infantino, christiana, our mad scientist and AFA, and some stuborn idiot players who don’t know when it is the right time to retire their career’s and all the rest against us too ! fuck them all !

    guled june 24, 2018 at 10:41 am
    Real madrid referee for argentina match well done fifa.
    Reply

  50. 4-3-3

    Armani
    Mercado-Fazio-Otamendi-Tagliafico
    Di María-Mascherano-Banega
    Messi-Aguero-Dybala

    If the coach even thinks about starting Salvio again, or Higuain or leaving Dybala on the bench, or starting Rojo or Caballero again…
    Pack your bags boys, there is no hope!
    It amazes me how much of an IDIOT this coach is. He will go down in history as the manager responsible for Argentina’s WORST World Cup Campaign EVER!!!!!
    Messi, WAKE UP!!!!

    • I have my reservations about Dybala after the last game. It seems that he can’t really adapt to the game. Messi was out wide but he still stayed outside Messi for the time he was on. There was a gaping hole in the middle; he could have been a good central midfielder playmaker for us. I am beginning to think maybe sometimes it is really difficult for a player to play differently from how he is used to playing unless there are enough practice drills and test matches to attempt to do so.

  51. Hmm good sign then. We can win this.
    Now it all depends which Argentina team comes on to the pitch.
    The ugly disunited mess with a forelorn Messi or one with a fighting spirit, determined to rise from the ashes like a phoenix, hungry for redemption.

  52. well great news, indeed ! so now the referee will give us 10 penalties so we should at least to be able to score 3 of them, lol ! sorry, roy ! it seems like i cant get over my great frustration unfortunatly anymore ! But i think Sula V is right about his comment below :

    Sula V :
    Do you guys really think that after all the fiasco mad Scientist Sampaoli will get to continue his mad experiments of Meza Acuna Salvio and Willy? He will still decide the starting lineup and crazy formations? Why do you think AFA president is physically present during the training sessions.Sampaoli is just there to pretend to be our coach now for the media . If friends club want Salvio to start he will otherwise he will sit out. I am with the friends club now. Sampaoli is by far the worst coach we have had in last 4 years. Let the Friends club decide the formation and playing XI. I am very hopeful Friends club still have what it takes to beat average team like Nigeria. I am more worried about Croatian team letting Iceland win just to get back to imbecile Sampa because he ignored to shake hands with their coach.

  53. Right now only Banega and Lo ceso can master the midfield of Argentina and only Taglafico and Ansaldi can provide the width to the attack. This would be enough to beat any team.Rest are almost secured just Fazio is the case.He should come.Say no to Biglia Salvio Meza Acuna(may be or may not be) and Caballero…

  54. best outcome is to start the best line up and formation.

    442 or 433

    Higuain

    Dybala – Messi

    Banega – Masche – Lo Celso

    Tagliafico – Otamendi – Fazio – Ansaldi

    Armani

    Im sure we roll over Nigeria with this squad. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make it happen!

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