Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez’s brother on Emiliano: “Psychologically, he ruins you”

By
Roy Nemer
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84

Emiliano Martinez has stolen the headlines in Argentina and across everything that is Copa America since the semi final win on Tuesday. He drove the Colombian players crazy during the penalty shootout and saved three of the five penalty kicks he faced.

If you missed it, you can read the translations of Emiliano Martinez’s comments by clicking here, with a video included. However, while his comments came as a surprise to many, it was no surprise to his brother. His older brother Alejandro spoke in an interview with AmĂŠricaTV regarding Emiliano. Here’s what he had to say:

“He’s daring, he always drove me crazy. Psychologically, he ruins you and you can see that he was lucky and succeeded, hope he keeps it up. I had absolute faith in him, my heard was there with him. Emi has always had a commanding voice, he’s a leader in the area and as a person.

“I wouldn’t disregard that tomorrow he becomes captain, he’s a reference point and he has shown that in four or five matches. It’s difficult for any player and he’s done it his entire life just like when we used to play. Two years ago we bet on penalties to see who would wash the dishes.”

Martinez also became a father while with the Argentina national team and Alejandro commented on it too:

“It cost him a lot, he had to weigh everything out. He became a dad from a far and he is anxiously waiting to meet her.”

Alejandro also revealed that the reason why Emiliano Martinez wears the number 23 with Argentina is because his son is born on that date:

“It’s June 23, that’s why he wears number 23. They had given him the 12 and he asked for the other one. He brings his baby with him everywhere, he hits the ball very well and he’s only 3 years old. He’s left footed too, impressive.”

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84 Comments

  1. My gosh. Nothing is more of a mood killer than knowing that CONMEBOL is probably planning everything in order for Brazil to win. FIFA and CONMEBOL are just a bunch of snakes, rats, and pigs. Today I went on social media to take a look at what people in South America think about everything, and I was delighted to notice that pretty much EVERYONE in South America outside of Brazil wants Argentina to win (based on how social media works I’d think it is a pretty accurate reflection of the general population). I scrolled through a lot of comments and these people range from Uruguayans (many of whom are happy about the Yerry Mina thing), many many Peruvians, some Colombians, Ecuadorians, and even many Chileans. Turns out they are JUST as sick of VARzil’s shit as we are, as many of them have experienced it first hand as well. Every Spanish speaking nation in South America wants FOOTBALL to win and not corruption. Not sure if anyone else has noticed this because on the sites I looked on it was fairly overwhelming. It is not even that all of these people are fond of Argentina, they just want Brazil to lose. Brazil is surrounded by enemies on all sides. I think the only way we can lose is if the ref is on their side or if we are missing good players. A complete squad and fairness can go a long way for us.
    LET FOOTBALL WIN! LET CORRUPTION LOSE!

    • Allowing 7k fans is a disgusting decision. Basically letting in 10s, 100s, 1000s Covid cases into the stadium. What the hell is going on?? Dumbass Bolsonaro and Trump are cut from the same conservative trash cloth.

      A lot of Brazilians actually do care about this. They have massive problem with Covid and many were against Brazil hosting to begin with.

  2. If Scaloni wants to play it smart and safe he has to play LM Quatra on the right side. Molina+Montiel don’t give half of a right back. With either one we are in deep sh*t. The Only option we have is to put LM Quatra on the right side and only attack on the left side. Therefore Nico Gonzalez has to play in order to help out when the left back attacks. It is very difficult, Scaloni is regretting the Foyth decision. He makes mistakes for sure but it would have been our only choice…. Vamos Argentina, makes us proud and happy

  3. Seriously i dont know how are we gonna beat Brazil with all the outside support they have. Pound to Pound player to player we can beat them fair and square but with Refree in their hand its near impossible. If any one who thinks its gonna be fair and square match is dreaming. Its happening in Brazil they dont wanna loss to us in Maracana.We have to score goals thats the only way.They will do everything to prevent us from winning. Other way we can win is via Penalty shootout. But its risky. Their GK is also is good.

    We need all the luck and Messi magic to beat them at their own yard.

  4. News update:

    As Mafioso said, the media speculates that the return on C. Romero is unlikely even if he recovers in time. The reason is 2 weeks without activity. I hope that is only what media thinks not Scaloni. Anytime you have your best defender available, u have to play him no matter what.

    Di Maria was injured against Belgium and it was what? Also around 2 weeks before the final. I don’t think the reason why Di Maria was not playing in the final was because “he was out for 2 weeks, so we can’t play him”. The only reason was only the Real Madrid interference and the fact that he was not healthy enough yet.

    Also the probable starting line up of the latest news. 3 positions are still questionable:
    1. DC as always: Pezzella or Romero
    2. LB: Acuna or Tagliafico
    3. MC: Lo Celso or Paredes

    So the probable starting line up is:
    Emi; Molina, Pezzella/Romero, Otamendi, Acuna/Tagli; Guido, De Paul, Lo Celso/Paredes; Messi, Lautaro, Di Maria.

    As for Di Maria, he seems to have won the battle against Nico Gonzales which is good news.

    If Di Maria will start, I would tell him to go all out for 45 minutes with all energy he has because he WILL be substituted in the 60th minute or the 70th minute anyway.

    Man if Romero does play and Di Maria is back to the starting line up, it is pretty much close to our best or strongest line up. And it will be revealed only in the final match against Brazil.

    • lo celso was the creator of the goal vs colombia .. he give the ball to messi then messi done the rest.. lautaro make the easy chance… do you want to leave him behind…

      this is wrong decision leaving locelso from starting eleven… playing lautaro in starting eleven is big no from me … he brings the workrate which will much effective in second half…

      i will say scaloni is worst manager if he don’t know how to manage his sources yet… even if he won copa..

      some mundoers so much pundits they just talk like #**** pundits of espn

      • Pezzella or Romero
        Acuna or Tagliafico
        Lo Celso or Paredes

        The first one mentioned have bigger chance to start. I think Paredes is the one who will be left out. I agree with you, Lo Celso is important.

        Also Commebol will probably allow 10% of the stadium audience for the final. So Brazil is asking: The commebol, the referee, the Var team, and the audience (10% will be around 7000 fans) to help them win against us.

        With or without fans really mean a lot. In American major sports, the home team and the away team got pretty much equal record of 50-50 when having no fans allowed and much higher percentage of winning for the home team when fans are allowed.

        • So stupid. Are Argentinians even going to have time to travel to Brazil? This short notice seems specifically designed to f with Argentina. I literally can not believe it.

  5. Imagine going into a final knowing that the referee and CONMEBOL are waiting for any little mistake to be made so they can punish you. This isn’t lip service from excuse makers or Argentina fan’s. This is coming from journalists/Pundits and Argentina’s game must be beyond perfect in order to win. Anything is possible and I truly hope for it for Messi’s sake but I really have my doubts…Line ups do not matter when your loss is planned 3 days in advance. Imagine Argentina beating Brazil in a final in the Maracana and Messi tying or even beating Pele’s goal scoring record while doing it. Does anyone honestly believe that this would ever be allowed…Ever? Brazil owns CONMEBOL, Their country saved the tournament and FIFA hates Argentina so much that even though Maradona won player of the century FIFA stepped in and made him share it with Pele. Messi was critical of the refereeing in 2019’s Copa and he was immidiately red carded in the thrid place game and banned for almost nothing. Argentina will pay for Maradona’s lifestyle, The quarter final against Brazil at Italia 90 and the hand of god forever. FIFA, UEFA and CONMEBOL are full of disgusting pigs that shove each other to put their filthy mouths at the money trough…Case in point, England has had the easiest route to the final and has only had to play away from home once this whole EURO. If there is any biased refereeing or questionable calls that ensure a Brazil victory I will seriously consider retiring from watching international football…May as well be WWE Wrestling.
    Anyway Arriba Argentina

    • The fact that the venue suddenly changed to Brazil says alot about conmebol love relationship with varzil. If there’s no crowd in the venue and the players stays at hotel all the time with strict protocol, then whats the difference if its played in Argentina/Colombia? Nothing. Except varzil now being awarded an adventage as a host as a gift.

      • Its the optics, Argentina winning it in their backyard would be a national embarrassment, There is more to it than just advantage. This is clearly a political move to defer attention away from the way Bolsonaro handled COVID, He wants to be elected again and a COPA win will convince uninformed lower class Brazilians to vote for him, Well off Highly educated Brazilians will not care either way. Bolsonaro will use this victory as a platform for his election, Even the Brazilian players said they didnt want to be used as a political tool. That’s why they wanted to boycott it. If you would like to know why i think this is the way it is its because my wife is Brazilian and I have a lot of friends in Brazil and most people there think this is only a political move to gain votes from people in favelas….They can vote too….Only diff is they aren’t very educated and are easily swayed by a soccer victory. CONMEBOL and FIFA will never allow a national tragedy like 1950 ever again. If Argentina lose fair and square, I’ll accept it…I don’t think its gonna be fair though….I’ll still support Argentina on Saturday though

      • Argentina govt rejected conmebal and said they can’t organize the event now so they move to other countries. Brazil government accept the hosting.

  6. According Brazilian media, Brazil will play the same XI of semi-final. That means Richarlison CF, Neymar LW and Everton Soares of Porto in RW.

    Brazil don’t have any natural RW, Soares is not very good as RW. Suspension of Gabriel Jesus is huge plus. Neither Ricarlison is very good at being CF. As Basile has said it’s only Neymar. He is not wrong.

    Paqueta will play at hole in 4-2-3-1 system. With Paqueta, Neymar has some sort of chemistry. But certainly it is not as good as 2017-2018 Coutinho.

    Casemiro and Fred are two holding mid. Pressing them is very important. They are very good defensively and physically but average on the ball. Arthur was not worldclass but he knew how to hold the ball under pressure.

    Danilo-Silva-Marquinhos-Lodi with Ederson makes the defence. Lodi is the most dangerous among the two fullbacks. He is very good and partner of Neymar in attack. It should be ensured he does not cross the half line. According to latest news, Di Maria has higher chance to start. It may help to contain Lodi.

    In my opinion these are most important players for Brazil : Neymar, Lodi, Paqueta and Danilo.

  7. depaul creativity is not seen in final third he should left the duty what he is doing till now.. guido and depaul is double rdp will help molina or quarta to handle there right

  8. messi,dimaria,a.correa,loceslo is big match player and proven player.. they have experience in big matches … use them best way possible… use a.correa this is time.. he is fully fit and don’t used, he has the energy don’t left him with small minutes

  9. this is the best :

    ——–correa———
    gomes–locelso–messi
    ——guido–rdp——-
    acuna-ota-rom-mol/quarta

    ———–emi———–

    sub… dimaria for gomes in 50 minutes
    sub… lautaro for correa in 60 to 65 minutes
    sub… paredes for guido in 75 minutes..
    sub… loceslo for aguero in 75 minutes..
    sub… molina for martines quarta in 70 minutes

    about dimaria play is about 120 minutes… best scenario for him bring him in second half as early as can
    when substitute happen messi can move his position as copein points

    no more bullsh**t this is the best scenario for argentina…

    no more bullshits this is the best attacking senario for argentina

    don’t use lautaro and nico in your starting eleven… if argentina leads then brings nico he will helps defence and with his pace quick counter attack

    • arguement of lautaro in second half… he has workrate .. he will be more effective and nuisance the opponent defence with his workrate when defence will lose some energy

    • when dimaria come for gomes locelso fill up that left side messi and dimaria share center and wings..
      when aguero comes or lautaro comes they will fill up that left side…
      using ur attack option as clear as simple …

  10. If Argentina has it in their fate to win, they will win even with armani and tractor Montiel. I just hope that apart from whatever mysterious power had supported them through this time, they should literally kill themselves for this match.

    Just like chilavert had said, ” Argentina needs to be beyond their best, because it’s not only Brazil and Neymar. It’s Brazil, VAR and the refree as well.”

    These were his words. And one thing, I’m very much calm about this match. I know Brazil is overwhelming favourites in this game and also they’re psychologically better structured from their previous triumph. So, on reverse Argentina should calm down their nerves and play the way they had played through this whole tournament.

    It’s important to stick to the plan!!!!

    Too much of passion is actually poison in disguise.

    Vamos argentino 🇦🇷🇦🇷

  11. Brazil’s defence is solid Papu Gomez is needed now.His creativity and technique to find spaces in final third would be crucial. Papu Gomez has good chemistry with Messi. They will score one or two goals in first half.
    If you want best out of Messi put good players around him and Messi will be better than he really is.

  12. Scaloni must teach his boys to stay CONCENTRATE full 90miuts and pray to God don’t give brz any extra advantage on the hands of Referee . A 90 minute full concentration with discipline is must against brz to Win this COPA for all our blessed fans..

  14. Brazil defense is strong..hard to score…they will try everything to block Messi and try to avoid conceding at any cost. What Argentina has to do?
    1: Keep the defense tight
    2: Mark Neymar
    3: Utilize the chances we get and score.
    4: Try to shoot from outside the penalty box, Brazil will block and intercept passes inside/near penalty box.
    5: Utilize all our weapons properly, DiMaria, Papu, and Aguero if we are behind.
    6: Fight till end…until the last second..!

  15. According to new reports, Cuti Romero is practically out of final, but as usual Scaloni will wait.

    In my opinion, make peace with it. If Romero starts, it will be a miracle. Not only he has injury but also has been inactive for two weeks. And a knee strain can take 2 weeks to heal. Romero was injured after bolivia game, in a practice. So it unlikely he will recover by final.

    If he starts, great. But if not, don’t be surprised and certainly don’t be hopeless. You can loose game with top defenders. We lost against Germany with Ayala at the back. Approach is more important.

    • Its a big blow but Scaloni should atleast sort out RB position, He should start LMQ there.
      ……………………………….Emi…………………………………
      Lmq………..Pezella…………….Ota……………..Acuna
      ….De paul…………….Guido…………..Lo celso. ..
      ….Messi………….Lautaro…………..Papu.

  16. I know all of you thought about it…………imagine going into that PK shootout and Armani was the goalkeeper!! yeah I know.

    Now there is finally a proper GK between the sticks who went up and beyond the call of duty to put ARG in the final and we say, CAN YOU DO IT AGAIN and EAT the Brazilians BRO??

    Any word on Romero?

  17. Emi in his post match interview , told one of the reporters that Scaloni is the best coach in the world.. I would strongly advise him to refrain from making these kind of remarks as he is giving corrupt CONMEBOL an excuse to conduct a dope test and ban our main players.

    JOKES APART, after a really long time we have three mentally strong players in our team… Emi, Papu and Romero. Mental strength is very important if you are to win any competition.. ask Higuain..if pipita had the mental strength of Emi we would have won the 2014 WC. If it was any other Goal Keeper against Columbia.. it was bye bye.. all of our on field players’ body language was defeated .. but this man had different plans.. he seems to be waiting for this opportunity to be a hero for his country. He stood up and sledged the fcuk out of the anxious Columbians ,destroyed their confidence and made outstanding 3 penalty saves!!

  18. How many times Columbia attack from right after Di Maria came 0. In whole 1st half molina didn’t cross half line because he was asked to defend. Because RW was so empty after Di Maria came Columbia stops.. it’s better try a defender at RB if you don’t want to use RB at advance role… LMQ OR LISANDARO. Lisandaro even help in attack.

  19. Otamendi and Pezella played nice in these two KO games. But some do not agree because they want their personal favorite player and disregard these two players. C. Romero is good he should play but o do not mind if Pezella and Otamendi plays in final. But I fear they both are in yellow card. Pezella saved the game in 91minute he just crashed into Colombian player to deny a counter attack that was smart move.
    Otamendi,Pezella and C. Romero should be in scene for World Cup 2022.

    • Yes..Pezella saved us in that final attack. It’s a very nervous moment indeed. But also shows how average Scaloni is. After our first goal we played in defensive mode. Colombia was literally dominating us with their pace. We went for attack after the introduction of Do Maria. But for the 90th minute Messi freekick how all our players went to their half ? Scaloni should have ordered to at least four five players in defense. It’s a massive fault. If not Pezella commit that foul Colombia might have scored in that last minute counter. Wilmar Barrios played a great game though. Totally commited in defensive midfielder role. Still we are missing a pure defensive midfielder. Guido is average but better than Paredes. Also we miss Dybala and his long range shooting. I think five subs can be used. Scaloni and all our cursing coaches in the past failed to use our subs. Italy’s bench depth and correct usage of subs is a massive factor for their uprise. Lot to be corrected but hope for the very best as no time left to make experiments at the moment.

    • One of the comments of an Aston Villa fan:

      Amazing to think that in literally 12 months, he has gone from a bench warmer at Arsenal, to loved and adored by the Villa fans…..to a literal National hero of Argentina!

      its like a fairytale story……

      —-
      I have to add in that 12 months “fairytale”. England national team strongly considered calling him up to the England national team knowing that he is better than all current English goalies before Argentina finally called Emi up for the WC qualifier.

      When Emi Martinez was injured against Colombia, it was Messi who looked extremely worry. I am sure Messi knows the quality of Emi Martinez. I don’t think Messi would have been that worried had Armani the one who got injured.

      • The confidence & positivity of Emi is incredible. To leave Arsenal to Aston Villa at start of season was a very tough decision for him. But he was so clear in mind to prioritize playing minutes to be a NT starter & he is a prime example of fortune favors the brave.

      • @el_principe,
        Emi is the classic product of high quality environment. He trained with top players at Arsenal, you know Fabregas, Van Persie, Chech and many others. He faces top strikers every week. Why would he be afraid of facing Cardona, Yerry Mina and Davidson Sanchez?

        Playing with top players, top clubs and top competition has clear advantage. Many tries to deny it but it is a fact.

        Think about Casemiro. That man played 3 CL final and won. He knows how to handle big games. Same goes for Di Maria and Messi. They played in CL finals and delivered top performance.

        You need big players for big games because those players became big by playing and winning big games. They know their business.

  22. Off topic . Franco Cervi picked in Coudet’s Celta Vigo. Wld have wished for some of our youth talents to join him . But atleast some Argentine manager contribution. Almada , de La Vega Europe attention seems to have gone cold last few weeks after initial marseille, fiorentina interests.

  23. To solve CB problem bring Garay for next world cup.He is 34 old.If chiellini(36) ,bonucci(34)can play why not Garay(34) or Rojo(31). atleast use them as a sub for Otamendi and Romero .To be honest Argentina dont have any good CB except Romero .Using Garay and Rojo as a bench player will solve Central back problem.Pezzella is not an option.
    Best option CB: Romero,Otamendi
    Alternative : Marcos Senesi,Lisandro,Palomino,(Rojo,Garay)

    For RB option i have no clue

  24. Why hasn’t J. Correa gotten chances?

    Instead of Rodrigo-De-Shit or Leandro-Pared-ass, he should have been played at least once.

    Imagine the boost our team would have gotten with Dybala man 🤣

  25. Hopefully that win hasn’t gotten into anyone’s head.
    We may have reached final by some miracle or talent, but Brazil are stronger in every aspect.

    Every part of their team is strong. I HEAVILY disagree with Basile’s comments. They are NOT AN AVERAGE TEAM WTF. They have so much talent and trusted first team youngsters. It is our mistake to let our mind sets go.

    Our goal is not to reach the final but WIN IT. VAMOS ARGENTINA 🇦🇷 !!!

      • and that’s not a threat to you? only player that is world class for us is Messi. everyone else is yet to really prove themselves long run lol

        stop underestimating them lol. we will have to put much more into the game to beat them

    • Today’s news that I read either in OLE or TYC- Cuti Romero still not 100% fit. He is able to train like everybody else in some routines but not all. If he cannot have atleast one full practice session with the team, I dont think Scaloni will play him.

      • Its been a crazy wait for him since June 22nd game. The timing is so unfortunate . Over last 3 seasons – his injury record at Genoa/ Atalanta has been extremely minimal . Especially considering his penchant for tackling . I am still not being able to figure out how is a player being able to train with everybody for atleast last 10+days & still not being able to be match fit.

  27. LOL he is always like this huh!!! I know all the Goal keepers do this (Imagine what Messi may have to endure while he is taking Penalties from the opposition Goal Keepers) But I don’t like this Un sporty behaviors, playing negative tactics in football is one thing but un sporty behavior is another. But if all these can bring an end to our 28-year Trophy drought, then be it. We will need all the luck and trash talking etc against Brazil.

    Elsewhere it looks like the EURO is finally coming home if that happens its better we all disconnect the internet services, otherwise we may have to listen to the nuisance created by these English channels and people will blabber around the Euro victory till next Euro happens. They will surely make Harry Kane & Sterling as Ballon d’Or contenders. Heck they will even nominate all their players in the Top 3 for the Ballon d’Or and all other individual awards. So much delusional are they that they always think that they are the Best in the world. There is a reason why in most sports they never win anything.

    These sick English fans even tried to blind the Denmark Goal Keeper by using Laser during the Harry Kane Penalty yesterday, which is what we can exactly expect from such an idiotic Sh** minded people.

    I have a gut feeling that Argentina will win the Copa and at the Same time to nullify that happiness England also will win the Euro. SMH.

    • “Elsewhere it looks like the EURO is finally coming home if that happens its better we all disconnect the internet services, otherwise we may have to listen to the nuisance created by these English channels and people will blabber around the Euro victory till next Euro happens. They will surely make Harry Kane & Sterling as Ballon d’Or contenders. Heck they will even nominate all their players in the Top 3 for the Ballon d’Or and all other individual awards. So much delusional are they that they always think that they are the Best in the world. There is a reason why in most sports they never win anything. ”

      Spot on mik

      • LOL…. One thing I like about this forum, other than obviously sharing our love/joy/disappointment for all things regarding the Albiceleste, is our general unanimous hate for Germany, England, Brazil, Chile. As things stand, I’d rather Argentina win Brazil the Copa on Sunday and let England win too if it has to be the case. F&ÂŁ$ it… just freaking win it Messi and Co. Win it please……

    • Nothing can nullify my happiness once Argentina wins the Copa. It will erase all negative vibes and bring infinite joy.

  29. People are praising Molina to just prove how bad montiel was. I don’t know which game game did they watch. Tbh both were equally horrible Molina lost the ball every time he was pressed and i don’t remember he had ever closed down his man on the left flank , he was easily dribbled past by some average players . Problem is Scaloni doesn’t analyase the game or he doesn’t learn . Thanks to covid which made Emi Martinez our GK otherwise Armani would still be the man. 3 years is a huge time to build the team , No manager in the world would have survived for 3 years playing like this.
    Molina/ Montiel was easily destroyed by some random players, forget about Neymar. Scaloni should have tried LMQ or Lisandro at RB position against Bolivia or some other matches experiment can not be done final.
    I don’t find a single reason to continue with a player Nico Gonzalez who is in worst form almost offer nothing , some peoples are saying here can defend, so did it work against Colombia or Ecuador, they were not able to stop their attack until they felt attacking threat of Dimaria.
    I see some mundo fans are so negative mentally since attackers defending becomes more important than their attacking ability come on this Argentina not Iran or Saudi Arabia .
    Ask any european or Brazilian fans attacker are mostly judged by their primary job , its good if he hleps in defene too.

    • Nico has had terrible to below average performances throughout Copa. Even sofascore has him at the bottom of the team. Meanwhile Gomez disappeared and ADM supersub only. sigh…

    • The right-back is the weakest position of Argentina. What do you think of Erik Lamela playing there (like Cuadrado did for Colombia)?

      Papu should be ahead of Nico in this tournament. A European manager would never put a player on the bench that takes his chances in limited role.

      Nico will get better but sometimes we praise players to quickly. Nico scores in friendlies and we expect him to be great, but the stage proved to be too big for him even though he hasn’t had luck. Had a ton of chances to score. Papu is world-class and exuberates confidence like Martinez (keeper). They have been waiting to this moment.

      • Personally I am not sure about Lamela specifically (someone tactically smarter will have to say something) but I do think Scaloni should consider turning someone into a RB. Not for the final obviously but in the near future it may be necessary. It is a desperate state. Maybe Ocampos. Not sure about Licha because he is left footed but at this point it may not matter. Or just revert to Foyth who I am starting to miss even after the mistakes.

      • Terrible idea compared to current options. Also, Lamela wont even get called as a mid let alone RB.

        Even with Foyths brain dead mistakes, i still think he has the highest ceiling right now. Best defensive RB, fast enough, and his long balls are not only accurate but creative. He’s not your modern wingback but he can contribute enough to the attack.
        If he improves dumbass fouls and learns 1-2s down the sideline, he could be desired by the best clubs and would instantly start for the NT.

    • With WC in another 16 odd months , we shld for sure fix this with Foyth / one of Molina & Montiel & also explore a makeshift player. There are examples of makeshift players adapting well to full back roles. Our advantage is the wider talent pool & Scaloni & gang need to find an interim solution . None of the youth pool RBs will scale up by that time. Maybe like someone said it can be Lisandro or LMQ or Balerdi or maybe even a agile CM/DM. Nicolas Calpado has been moved by Russo from a DM to RB role during his last few months in Boca & his ratings seemed ok. So something similar should be explored in upcoming friendlies & even WCQ. If Foyth or Molina develop well – we anyway have a solve.

  30. Yes, Still scaloni has to do a lot to become a good coach. Even Martinez came only because Armani had covid, just think of Armani in yesterday’s penalty shoot. Why he is obsessing with Pezzella, Montiel, Armani, LMQ and keep on-call them instead of better players. Romero should have been in the team before the last qualifiers. After Copa few mediocre players have to be axed and young talented players should be integrated into the team.
    Especially buendia, Medina, Lisandro martinez, Sensei, Foyth and dybala.

  31. HE RUINED THAT REFEREEs TOO 😛!
    After the colombian 4th penalty, that referee warned him, for speaking and celebrating.

    That’ s he asked the referee in expressions, after the last save 😃, is it goal? If I did anything? Can i celebrate?
    Thats why the referee face gone shame and shy 🙃🤭
    F**K Conmebol!

  32. Really happy to see Emi’s confidence..he is certainly in the top 5 GKs in the world right now.

    BUT, did we really play like we deserved to win? NO..

    We have to stop losing the ball like a 100 times every game. I am very disappointed we cannot play out the back.. Scaloni MUST focus on build up play if we were to compete with EU teams in the WC.

    • “…he is certainly in the top 5 GKs in the world right now.” A agree. He is only worth 27M and if that was from another country other than Argentina he’d be 50-70M worth.

  33. I posted this a minute ago and will repost her:

    Here we go… final with Brazil. This is going to be historical.

    We will need to make improvements to beat them, and the simple improvements start at playing Romero, Acuna, and Di Maria. I always fear Di Maria might play horribly but judging on recent form post Chile game he is playing like at PSG. Plus he will neutralize Lodi which will allow our RB to focus more solely on Neymar (which is going to be a major area of concern). People on this site seem to have some agenda against Montiel because most if not all of the complaints are directed at him being subbed on after Molina was horrible and made dangerous mistakes, like losing the ball in our half and failing to clear it in a silly manner which if I remember also led to a counter. I don’t know if people purposefully blind themselves to this because if Montiel had done that for all I know some mundoers would have gotten tickets to Argentina to burn down his house. Obviously Montiel was also poor and him and Pezzella’s bad defending nearly sent us to the devil if it were not for Dibu. But Scaloni has a tough decision on his hands because both of them are not geared up to defend against Neymar.

    Before the penalties was Mascherano around? Because someone must have told Martinez “hoy te convertis en heroe” (today you will become a hero). I was surprised to see De Paul miss because he is very concentrated, serious, usually confident, and a leader. For the nerves to catch up to him out of all players was surprising.

    The Colombians played a dirty game of fouling players. When Messi was rolling on the ground I felt my stomach sink. I am not surprised at all by Frank Fabra, I remember in a Santos-Boca game he stomped down on a Santos player’s stomach and got sent off. Imagine if Messi could not play the final because of him?

    Now here is a pattern I noticed. This year Inter won Serie A, Sporting won in Portugal, Lille won in France, Atletico Madrid won La Liga, Liverpool’s utter dominance from last year entirely gone, Colon won in Argentina (for those who don’t know this is a team that was fighting relegation a year ago and has spent its fair share of time in the second division. On top of that they sold some of their best players like Vigo and Chancalay this season, after which I thought they’d be entirely dead), Rangers won in Scotland, England actually has gotten to a final, Italy has also ended their horrible recent history (even though we have no winner yet). So for that reason this is a year in which I think we will win this final and change our luck. It seems like world football has been reset. But let’s not get too sentimental because concentration and focus is needed to win, not pre planned luck.

    Also even though I am generally supportive of Scaloni I must agree with Sula that his decisions do not always follow what is happening in games. For me I have a weird sensation that many of his substitutions are decided before the game with the team. They seem planned. I hope he is careful against Brazil and substitutes players as soon as necessary and brings on good players (instead of any Paredes for Lo Celso type thing). I believe with our talent on the bench that can be the difference between winning or not.

    • Di Maria debate is so debatable I feel. Judging by Argentina’s amazing starts we did most of it without Di Maria.
      What about him as a sub at the start of the 2nd half?

    • Yes Molina mistake at the end of the game was bad it led to that counter attack, but bro Montiel is a horrible player and With poor body language. His lack of game awareness led to that goal and I could say there is also fault on the midfielders they should have blocked that free kick from being taken too quick. Montiel should not get called again.

      • Regarding Montiel…. I am normaly not a player hater. I dont hate Montiel as well. But he is not a National team material for Argentina. I never said Molina is going to be super duper. He is not a traditional right back. He used to play as wing back in Udinese. So we cannot complain about Molina as we did with Montiel. Leaving Foyth out was a mistake. As Suresh said Montiel is poor starting from his body language.

        • Yes spot on, Molina did improve against Paraguay in the 2nd half. Against Columbia, he suffered a bit. Scaloni doesn’t have a choice other than starting Molina or change in the formation.

        • Right. I do want it to be known that I think Molina is better than Montiel but the position is incredibly weak nonetheless, Molina or not

          • yes thats the big decision for Scaloni . Should he try a surprise like Lisandro or LMQ or stick to one of Molina/Montiel . Seeing Scaloni’s style – i guess he will trust his preferred ones & Molina will start. Maybe the only time Scaloni surprised us in player position was when Nico G started as a LB in one of the qualifiers . & in football – u never know .. maybe Molina surprises us all & pockets Neymar in this match.

    • > I was surprised to see De Paul miss because he is very concentrated

      Me too. I surely thought he was going to make it but his face said it all. He did not look confident prior the pen. my wife called it out before he shot. She was like, “Oh no, this guy does not look good” lmao. Its ok though, happens to everyone (messi cough cough messi). RDP will come through next time….

      • De Paul missed his penalty because of his poor technique,he was predictable there,any goalkeeper would have judged him.He should not take penalty kick.

        • Kevin Tell me how on earth you can say that a player is predictable in penalty kicks just after the only pen he took? I think that can be said for Messi rather than RDP. You are driving serious football fans here crazy. Please try to limit your comments if possible so that you can hide some blunders from us.

        • DePaul was selected for penalties for the simple reason that he takes penalties in Serie A . Over last 3-4 Serie A seasons his penalty record is fair ( something like 10 scored & 3 missed ) . Last season he took 3 penalties & all converted. Rather than his penalty technique being predictable , Kevin’s analysis is being very predictable😊
          I was happy with all the other penalty takers who has precision & power. Most happy with Lautaro who after the miss in open play could have been a bundle of nerves. He showed grit & what a CF needs most – the ability to forget the immediate blunder & convert the next.

      • Right looking back at the video I have never seen him like that. For me confidence and calmness is very crucial in penalties — more so than luck. Because that is what enables you to score one well which is what you do every day in training. Without nerves it is not very hard.

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