Former Argentina man Ezequiel Garay announces retirement from football

By
Roy Nemer
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132

Ezequiel Garay has announced his retirement from football.

Former Argentina man Ezequiel Garay has announced through social media that he will not continue playing football. Still only 34 years, Garay spent many of his years playing in Spain.

Having started at Newell’s Old Boys from 2004-2005, Garay joined Racing Santander in Spain for three seasons. Having impressed at Racing, he made a move to Real Madrid.

Not a regular starter at Madrid, he was sent back on loan for one season at Racing. From there, he spent three years at Benfica where he started getting called-up to the Argentina national team.

After Benfica, he joined Zenit for two years before finally going back to Spain, joining Valencia. He played for them from 2016 until 2020 where he just announced his retirement.

With the Argentina national team, he won the U20 World Cup back in 2005 alongside Lionel Messi, Pablo Zabaleta and several others that would go on to play for the senior side.

He also won gold at the 2008 Olympics where he was a starter. He represented the sky blue and white 32 times at senior level. He was a rock and the heart of the Argentina national team back line.

Argentina made the 2014 World Cup final with Garay in the eleven. He took a crucial penalty, the second of the penalty shootout in the semi finals vs. the Netherlands. His penalty was unstoppable as Argentina made the final. Garay was also part of the 2015 Copa America team which made the final.

Thank you Ezequiel Garay for everything!

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132 Comments

  1. He was without a club after his contract ends with Valencia. The latter was in great financial difficulties and couldn’t resign him. Gray was hoping for a new challenge that unfortunately never came. He seems to be a very difficult guy, his relationship with the NT was very complicated and I think at 34 he could’ve something. He made his choice and I respect that. Thanks very much Garay, he put up some very good perfs for the NT and I hope you come back in football and help the youngsters….

  2. I just want to clarify something in my last comment for today.
    (Honestly, this can get real ugly if we don’t stop.)

    I love Messi. We all do.
    But Messi is not the only Argentina great.
    And if someone bashes one Argentina great for another, then it becomes obvious that they are fans of that particular player and not Argentina.

    I am from West Bengal in India.
    My father became an Argentina fan in 1978 (many years before my birth) – not because of Messi, not even because of Maradona(initially), but because of Kempes and the 1978 Argentina team.

    A person has the right to think who their favorite or “goat” is . There is no “statistics” that is “scientific” enough to prove who is the greatest. And there is always an element of subjectivity in these topics.

    However, one should expect some retaliation if they think they can bash one Argentina player for another. In this blog, it is ok to expect that most believe that some Argentina player is the GOAT. It is not ok to expect that everyone thinks that it is Messi. Nor is it ok to expect that they will change their minds if Messi wins a WC.

    Kempes has an opinion. If you don’t agree just state your opinion politely and move on. But at least don’t insult them with “senile”,”jealous”,etc..

    And Kempes is not the only one with that opinion.
    Many others including me think that way.
    I myself posted a video of Gary Kasparov sometime back saying that he thinks Maradona is the greatest after having seen all of them. Diego even won the FIFA vote.

    So yeah, anyone who thinks that people will unanimously say this or that are just deluded.

    • Well some probably had better international careers or tournaments but across all competitions including club level, Messi is the most consistently great player in history. 17 years of 8 out of 10 performances at minimum, in an era where every minute of every game is scrutinized. Football is much more accessible than ever before. So there’s players who may have had similar peaks ( though no one in modern history ever scored 91 goals in a calendar year) but Messi has managed to be a Ballon D’or contender at 19 and 34 and every year in between.

  3. Actually maximum of people start following Argentina because of Messi. I myself started following Argentina due to my love for messi. I know many people who are interested in Argentina because they know messi plays for Argentina.
    Messi is a very big attraction and reason for argentina support all across globe. He is a Superstar.
    That is why AFA is payed millions when messi appears in a friendly because many people come to stadium to see him play.

    • Don t take me wrong. i am not police here and i don t intend to be and my post was for specific people and reasons. You are welcome anyway. We all love Messi anyway. Messi is the biggest amdassador of Argentina in the new century. Everybody knows that. my post wasn t about Messi. it was for some specific idiots.

  4. Anuparno shóuld be Parasite.
    And Not a Argentine Fan. Making split in mundo fans and spreading Poison with us.
    Iam Argentine fan Enjoyed Maradona, Enjoying Messi and Will. Proud to be a fan of blue and white.. Anuparno just get out of here. Shame on you

    • He does have some interesting posts when he talks about football but then he will say stuff like “Brazil has a 99% chance of winning” he needs to tone the unnecessary stuff down

      • That was just trying to calm myself down as i was really tensed plus i thought Brazil will be heavily favored by referees bt in final they officiatee neutrally

  5. Anuparno

    stop provoke civil fights between Argentina fans here.
    we are not Maradona fans and Messi fans here.
    we are Argentina national team fans here.
    At least the majority inside here.

    • I could argue with them about Messi v Maradona but I think that on a fundamental basis it is silly. Both are from different times. Back then players were fouled more which supports Maradona, but back then it was also easier to take teams like Napoli to the top and today it is impossible for Messi to do that which then discredits Maradona. You can go back and forth forever with points that support each player and it will always remain even. That is why I think it is a waste of time. As Argentina fans it is a BLESSING to have two of the best players in the history of the world that can proudly wear our shirts and say they are Argentinian. No other country in the world has that. All that is left is for Messi to win the World Cup and make us even more proud. We should support Messi now to win more trophies and when he retires move on and see what the future holds. We should remember Maradona’s legacy and the incomparable things he did for us and be proud. But not bicker about Messi or Maradona. Even though Messi has been playing for 15 years it is still hard for me to believe that he is Argentinian and even exists. We are so lucky and the idiots that want to split the fan base and cause division can go compare Maradona and Messi FIFA cards for all I care

    • If you read the comments properly i never commented about messi vs Maradona i was just replying to el Diego fan who was unnecessarily supporting kempes and we as a messi fan can’t this things i have not insulted or bashed anyone just pointed out why with world cup win messi will surpass everyone including Maradona even i said no bad things for Maradona also i don’t know why u guys have a problem with my views. This is a public forum everyone can say their opinions. If there is no difference of opinion then this place will become boring bt i can’t support kempes comment that even with 4 world Cup messi cant beat Maradona thats unbearable. And there is no difference between messi fan or Argentina fans both r same.

      • Honestly you are free to have your believes. i am not police here and i don t have any desire like that. i mention you not because you believe Messi is better than Maradona. it is ok by me. i found before your post dividing.
        Anyhow some days before i post some views Argentines have about Maradona and Messi with motive Kempes opinion and i see that this issue turned to be debate Messi ve Maradona inside here. i don t like it. i don t understand why this should be subject for fight inside here.
        Anyway it is over from my side.

    • I love messi because he is Argentine… If he wasn’t, I wouldn’t care. Maradona is a bit different for me. I loved Argentina because of Maradona… 😀

  6. i said it in the past and i have to repeat myself again unfortunately with what i observe here again. the ONLY good thing that will come from Messi retire is that will disapear from here some idiots which is solo Messi fans and not Argentina fans.

    Just for not offended people that i am not talking about them i am refering to the one that said Pele is better than Maradona because a fly bite him maybe suddenly.
    after 2022 i will miss Messi but i will not miss his fans like him.

    • Keep telling that to yourself. Its not whether you are an Argentine fan or not, you should be aware with the facts and figures.
      Pele is obviously seen as the image of world football. Maradona is a genius, but Pele obviously surpasses him. It’s not only about the world cup titles, he had massive stats compared to Diego.
      Ask any neutral fan, everyone will vote for Pele over Maradona.

      • i don t give a damn for your opinion or the neutral fans opinion or for their vote. I DON T CARE. as about your “facts” and “figures” keep them for yourself playstation boy. You obviously learn football from there.

        i care only for my country people and Argentina fans opinion all around the world. All those KNOW VERY WELL what Diego Maradona meaning for my country. this is more than enough for me.

        • I understand the sentiments.
          But Emotion can’t play a factor in deciding who is the greatest!! It should be proven statistically.

          Maradona is a genius, no one can deny that. The world of football loves and adores him. Never seen a player ever getting that sort of tribute.

          I love him, but the obsession towards him by the oldies and downplaying other great legends, what the fuck is this??It’s not like Maradona single handedly won the WC for Argentina, did he? Was he the GK,Defender,Midfielder and Attacker simultaneously? no!

          For someone to be called the greatest, it should be scientifically proven and not by hypothetical logics (that favours emotion).

      • Agureo, have you seen multiple game replays of Maradona and Pele? Many people that have seen Pele and other players of his time in person are not as impressed as people from modern day that only look at his World Cup tally. What do you mean that everyone will vote for Pele? Funny enough, there actually was a vote for player of the century in which Maradona won.

  8. One of the reason for Arg not winning 2014 WC is sabellas exclusion of Carlos Tevez. He picked Rodrigo Palacio a instead of Tevez..

  9. Higuain missed tht goal chance in WC 2014 Against Ger at 21st Mt and in 2016 Copa he missed another at21 And Now Dmaria wins tht goal in 21 And finally tht in 2021…

  10. It is unnecessary from Great Kempis. It’s an insult to Leo at this beautiful time of Arg. football. Kempus and every Argtn must be proud about these Mega star players. These 2 are playing in different era of Soccer. It is unlucky leo not touched more trophies in his prime. Kempus must be remember Tht Leo reached almost near the trophy tht he participated. clear unluck tht he just missed his luck bywinning more trophies for Arg..

  12. I am hoping for 2022 WC now. With bit of luck..we can do that.
    Scaloni can replace anyone in this team. He’s finding backup for every position and sticking to his plan. Hopefully Lautaro Martinez, Nicolas Gonzalez and Emi Buendia will be a beast when Qatar 2022 WC arrives.
    Plus some more talents arise..?

    • Buendia not even play a single minute. We r shouting for him bt there is no surity that scaloni will include him plus scaloni needs to think seriously replacing otamendi now. When wc will come he will be close to 35 and needs to give confidence to foyth he will be ideal as we don’t need very attacking right back as acuna in left back is an attacking option

    • everything is matter of draw. we need luck there sure. we have good chances if we take the “correct” bracket. like England in Euro for example.

  13. One of the reason behind success of Messi is Ronaldinhos presence in Barca. He cares Leo in his starting carrear. Messi stood Barca long years.. Helps Messi to get ballon d’or several times. Similarly Neymer could do tht if he stays behind Messi..Changing clubs ruins his carrear

    • Frankly… Neymar is playing in wrong time. When Messi and Cristiano playing he has almost no chance to win Ballon d’or. He’s not upto that level.

      • Neymar is better than Cristiano if we consider about football skills alone. Neymar is a thorough professional and thats his problem.

        If he had stayed at Barca and put in great performance throughout, he would have won POTY by now. People might favour Neymar after they voted for Messi in the previous couple of years.

  14. For World Cup Argentina needs solid defenders in Copa defence was solid but for WC defence needs to strengthen more
    Emi Martinez is undisputed no.1
    C. Romero is undisputed starter.
    Otamendi looked good if he carry this form he’s also a starter.
    Pezella also looked good,with team for more than three year.
    Marcos Senesi also looks good. His speed is slow but he has high acceleration.
    Medina is also good.
    Foyth and Mollina should be RB
    Acuna, Tagliafico and Angilleri good for LB.

    • Foyth as a RB again, eh? How many more howlers does he have to make? I bet over 90% of posters here DO NOT want to see error prone Foyth.

      Montiel and Molina for now. For Foyth to be considered worthy of call-ups to the NT he has to do a few things IMO:

      – Cement his place as a starting RB at Villareal.
      – Not to dribble in his own half and ensure he is always concentrated.
      – Learn to overlap as a modern fullback and stretch the play. Cross the ball as a winger would. To this day, I’ve never seen him to that.

      I think his best position is a right sided CB in a back three where he could use his pace and passing range.

  15. I just read several posts bashing Kempes for saying that Messi will never be as big as Maradona even if he wins world cup. May be the comment is ill-timed, but I certainly don’t think that is an “insult” to Messi. Nor do I think it is “jealousy”.

    And people who make comments like “Messi has long surpassed prime Maradona” have clearly not bothered to see Maradona play even in match replays.

    I think I should explain why I agree with Kempes in that even winning a world cup will not be enough for Messi to be bigger than Maradona. And even winning the golden ball with a very very dominant performance will at best make him an equal, not a superior.

    A few statistics might illustrate how good Maradona was and how much he was feared:

    -> Maradona is the most marked man in world cup history.
    -> Maradona is the most fouled man in a single world cup tournament.
    -> Maradona is the most fouled man in a single world cup game.

    To put things into perspective – media made a lot of it when Neymar was fouled 10 times in a single world cup match in 2018. This was the highest in 20 years.
    In 1998 Ortega was fouled 12 times in a match. Guess what – Ortega was the first player who got the tag “new Maradona”. Ortega, in my opinion, was probably the most skilled dribbler in the period between Maradona and Messi.

    Now compare this with Maradona – Maradona was fouled around 20 or more times in a single game at least once in each of 1982, 1986 and 1990. He literally holds #1,#2,#3 spots for most fouled player in a single world cup tournament. These are official statistics.

    Maradona essentially played 3 world cups. I am not counting 1994 because he was shown the door by FIFA midway.
    In these 3 world cups he got one world cup, another finals.
    Most people don’t realize this but Maradona was never 100% fit in any of these 3 world cups.

    In 1982 he just came from injury and was heavily dependent on pain-killers.
    In 1986 he had a mild niggle in the knee.
    In 1990 his ankle injury was so bad that he had to change shoe and take painkillers at half time every game.

    Of course, he was closest to 100% in 1986 and we all know what he did.

    With national team –
    he first made a pretty average/ordinary Argentina side win a world cup.(1986)
    then despite injury took them to finals again with a little help from Goycochea.(1990)
    (and might have even won if not for that stupid Uruguan referee in finals)

    and even before all that he won the U-20 world cup.

    with clubs-
    He made a small team “Argentinos Juniors” first time ever runners up in Argentina and in the process beat giants like Boca and River several times.
    He made another small team “Napoli” Seria A champions, Copa Italia champions and even UEFA Cup Winners Cup champions for the first time in their history.

    Maradona was literally writing ‘fairy tales’ with small relegation fighting teams. Messi never played in a relegation fighting small team. In fact no one other than Maradona wrote such fairy tales.

    And Maradona cannot simply be meausured with trophy and goal/assist statistics.
    It is about how he did it – the quality and the impact.
    Maradona scored the greatest goal in world cup history against England, but he also scored scored another stunning goal against Belgium the next match. The technical difficulty of that goal can also place it in top 3 world cup goals in history.

    And remember his brilliant goal in 1994 after one-two combination with Redondo?

    And he also made some stunning assists. His assists to Buruchaga in 86 finals and to
    Cannigia against Brazil in 90 are stuff of legends.

    Maradona also scored probably the greatest goal in U-20 world cup history. In one match against Indonesia, he went past 4-5 defenders + goalkeeper and scored.

    Someone might say Messi plays in an era when football is faster. True, but defence in Maradona’s times were the harshest. And even the speed was pretty good. Certainly, it was much faster than say the joke defences of 60s.

    Don’t get me wrong, I am a big Messi lover and I desperately want him to win a world cup. Not only is he a great football player, but he is also such a nice human being. But simply winning a world cup cannot be enough in my opinion to put him above Diego. The levels that Messi needs to reach, I doubt he will be able to perform at that level at age 35, even though Messi is immensely talented.

    • Maradona is a great player of all time, but he can’t be the greatest, statistically he was not dominant to be the greatest.
      Winning a World cup, would not help the great Maradona to be the greatest.
      If the World cup is the sole criterion, Pele is the greatest. Period.

      Messi’s club career and goal tally is far above Maradona(The gap is massive). You are just being delusional to discredit Messi. He dragged Argentina into 4 finals, else Argentina wouldn’t have qualified for the Russia WC,2018.

      There is quote: Messi is Maradona every day, even Maradona wasn’t Maradona every day.
      Messi>Maradona.
      You may think whatever if you want, but it’s the fact.

      • Even the great players, pundits rate Messi and Pele as the greatest. Who the hell are you to degrade Messi to be inferior than Maradona.
        Like it or not,
        The top 4:
        1. Messi/Pele
        2. Messi/Pele
        3. Maradona
        4. Cristiano
        5. Cruyff
        Stop being delusional, emotion factor won’t give Maradona the pass to be the greatest.
        Please s

        • Did you hear Di Stefano..?
          Did you hear Garrincha…a Brazilian many believe better than Pele. And when him and Pele together Brazil never lost. When Pele injured Garrincha single handedly given Brazil WC that you count on Pele’s stats. Stats is not always true. There are many things behind it.
          Pele is far behind Maradona. Offside rule was not there when Pele scored for fun by standing just infront of the GK. Many doesn’t even count Pele in Top 10.

      • Dude, I have seen replays of all world cup matches of Pele. Pele was no where close to Maradaona.

        Pele certainly was a great footballer. He had great speed and shooting and good ball control and passing. But Pele is probably not even the best Brazillian player.
        Pele lost the ball far too often, even against defences which were much worse than Maradona’s times. Nor did he have the vision of passing that Maradona had.

        Even Neymar is probably better than Pele. And probably so is Luiz Ronaldo.
        In fact, Pele was probably not even the best player of his times.
        Nor did Pele win 3 world cups.
        In 1958 Pele only played 2-3 matches. In all of 1962 and 1966 combined Pele played only 2-3 matches.
        In 1962, Pele was injured very early. It was Didi, Vava, Garrincha etc who took Brazil to world cup. These guys were on a similar level to Pele,. Yet Pele fans make it as if Pele should get credit for a world cup that he barely played.
        In 1970, the only world cup that 29 year old Pele played fully, he was outshone by the likes of Jaerzinho and Rivelinho in his team. The 1970 Brazil could have easily won the world cup even without Pele.

        People keep talking about pundits, which pundits?
        Maradona was voted the greatest player of 20th century . Then FIFA had to conjure their own bunch of fake pundits so that Pele does not get left out.

        The reason Maradona did not score as much as Messi or Pele was because
        1>He was marked more.
        2> He played from a deeper position.
        3> He played less number of games.

        BTW, Mradona still has more goals and assists and trophies in world cup than Messi. So he is “statistically” not that bad.

        • El Diego fan, some older Brazilian fans that have seen football all their lives even claim that Mane Garrincha was better than Pele. Because Pele and Garrincha go so far back I don’t think that looking at world cups is a good summary of who they were because back then defenses were much easier. Better look at actual replays

        • Olive, I think world cup is the best yardstick we have for judging.

          Firstly, because it is the biggest stage.
          But also, the club match replays of older players mostly did not survive, but world cup replays did.

          Garrincha was certainly very impressive in world cups. As impressive as Pele.

          And yes, I already said defences were much easier in 60s. But isn’t it also true both at club level and national level?

      • Also, Maradona has scored goals from corner and by shooting from half-way line.
        I have followed Messi from start. Never seen Messi do that.

        Diego could do almost anything conceivable on football pitch.

        • I found a statistic from cca 5 years ago, Messi vs Maradona break down of their goals in Europe, at that time Messi 482 matches 412 goals, Maradona 346 matches 161 goals, the most interesting part: goals after 1+ dribbles Messi 99 Maradona 22, goals after 2+ dribbles Messi 31 Maradona 3, goals after 3+ dribbles Messi 15 Maradona 2, goals after 4+ dribbles Messi 2, Maradona 0. These stats only from european career. Other stats open play goals Messi 347 Maradona 82, goals after receiving ball outside the box Messi 141 Maradona 47, free kick goals Messi 16 (since then 50) Maradona 32, penalties Messi 49 Maradona 47, goals in finals Messi 20 (since then 31 goals) Maradona 3.

          • what is CCA?

            Not all matches of Napoli even survived in video. Where did the statistics come from?
            And Maradona did score a goal for Napoli beating 4 players + goalkeeper in a muddy pitch.
            It’s the goal at 3:16
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qquQqWGLJY

            It was a friendly, but an European game none the less.

            But the point I am trying to make is that Maradona cannot be measured with statistics. You have to see Maradona to know what he was.

            And Maradona always saved his best for Argentina. I formed my opinion based on his Argentina performances.

            Also, Maradona only played 2 champions league, because those days only champions were allowed to play in champions league. B

            And the year that Maradona left Napoli, Barcelona won champions league. He did play first half that season with Barcelona. So shouldn’t that count as a Champions league?

            Maradona did not win copa, but he did win the Artemio Franchi trophy.

          • what is CCA?

            Not all matches of Napoli even survived in video. Where did the statistics come from?
            And Maradona did score a goal for Napoli beating 4 players + goalkeeper in a muddy pitch.
            It’s the goal at 3:16
            www. youtube. com/ watch? v= 3qquQqWGLJY

            It was a friendly, but an European game none the less.

            But the point I am trying to make is that Maradona cannot be measured with statistics. You have to see Maradona to know what he was.

            And Maradona always saved his best for Argentina. I formed my opinion based on his Argentina performances.

            Also, Maradona only played 2 champions league, because those days only champions were allowed to play in champions league. Because Napoli only won twice.

            And the year that Maradona left Napoli, Barcelona won champions league. He did play first half that season with Barcelona. So shouldn’t that count as a Champions league?

            Maradona did not win copa, but he did win the Artemio Franchi trophy.

            Neither did Pele win copa btw.

          • Only from european competitive matches (champ+cup+european cups). Here is the link: twitter.com/MessiQuote/status/618132451802677248/photo/1
            the post was dated on 2015 07. 06., 6 years ago…

          • Insider Maradona was rather second striker, def in Argentinos, Boca and Barcelona, but in NT too only Valdano then Caniggia played over him, in Napoli only Careca, he is not Zidane or Riquelme, much more a striker than a midfielder like Zico or Rivaldo later. nowadays Messi asks the ball in his own half like Pirlo, still not a deep lying midnfielder. Messi AM/RFW/SS Maradona AM/SS.

    • Maradona is the most talented and most charismatic football player ever for me, Messi one of the most talented and the most consistent.
      Napoli at Maradona time was a new-rich club, like Manchester City or Chelsea in modern football (with those circumstances before Bosman-rule) winning cups with that team was fantastic but not miracle like winning UCL’s with Chelsea neither that nowadays. Only great archievements.
      Maradona has a lot of negative aspects in his career too, his Barcelona days, his Copa America career, his UCL (its predecessor and overall european cups career.) Unbelievable KO’s against much weaker teams CSKA Moscauw, Toulouse and a lot more.).
      Foults Maradona, Ortega and Neymar were players who provoke fouls, Messi is not, avoid fouls is a big skill and football intelligence, Neymar is fouled twice as many times Messi is, still Messi is the better dribbler, Neymar only provoke foult over and over again. Maradona was just like that.

      • In Maradona time and before a lot of smaller clubs won championships, it was not that big thing as Leicester City or Lille winnings nowadays, the differences of teams qualities are much bigger nowadays between bigger and smaller clubs. Hellas Verona!!! won Serie A in 85, Sampdoria won Seria A in 91. Nottingham Forest (twice) Steaua Bucuresti, Crvena Zvezda, PSV etc won UCL’s predecessor.

      • Before and After Maradona, Napoli has won nothing.
        Nor has Argentinos Juniors had such success since Maradona.

        Fluke victories happen, but they don’t repeat.

    • If Argentina win 2022 wc nobody will say Maradona better. No matter what Maradona fans say. We all see those matches the players may not be stars but they played cohesively and their chemistry passing possession sense tackling better than today’s Argentina team. And maradona’s club career nowhere near messi he never won ucl it was expected as napoli didn’t have big stars btw winning a league is not a big achievement we all saw with no stars Leicester did win premier League and Leicester didn’t have any maradona also. Both Argentina and napoli did have very good defense what helped him. Maradona didn’t even won copa America also. Not like he won everything. So 2 of the biggest tournament he never won with so much advancement of technologies was not there today’s defense is more tactical more structured. Messi if wins wc with all the trophies goals assists he will surpass everyone nostalgia has blinded u guys and Maradona fans will never accept messi’s supremacy i can understand

      • Agreed.
        No matter what Maradona’s fans will never credit Messi’s supremacy. It is very understable oldies (especially Argentines) have very much attachment towards Maradona as compared to Messi.
        I am from India and you won’t believe the fanbase Messi has here. The impact Messi made towards football is immense. He made people love football. The World Cup is only the missing piece from his career.
        Maradona is a genius, but when the two are compared, Messi’s stats are incomparable to those of Maradona.

        • No Maradona is still ahead because of world cup but kempes comment was idiotic. If messi even wins 4 wc still he is not ahead of Maradona what a stupid and hateful and full of jealosy this grannies has towards messi. Btw in India people started supporting Brazil because of pele and started to support Argentina because of Maradona. Im a messi fan bt never disrespect legends bt this kempes guy lol nobody gives damn to what he thinks apart from only argentines. He won a wc still nobody considers him even in top 20 players of alltime. That 1978 team won because of Caesar Luis menotti not because of kempes plus had home advantage

  16. We need to improve our midfield and fullback position if we want to win the Qatar wc. Our midfield is mediocre we have to accept it buendia may improve our midfield by a big way. And right back is a major concern i like to see foyth. Molina is shaky defensively. And acuna needs to improve in his crossing ability otherwise he is okay. My biggest concern still is our midfield and right back.

      • We didn’t win wc in last 10 years did we?? In last 10 years in 2014 we reached final because of our defense 2010 we were smashed 4-0 in quarters by germany in 2018 lost in 2nd round. If we have ambition to win wc thn we need to improve the midfield only depaul is world class other 2 can very well be rotated.we need another world class midfielder.

  17. That Valentine Barco guy who debuted last night for Boca looks like a very talented LB and he’s only 16yo. His speed and skills are quite impressive since he was initially playing as a striker. Hope he’s used more regularly this season but i’m quite confident that Boca will do that.

  19. When looking back at the 2014 WC just how close we were becoming the World Champions, it was a once in 2-decade chance. Considering the WC itself was conducted in SA it was a World Cup destined to be ours, And with prime Messi along with his Golden generation players. It was a wasted opportunity.It could have easily sealed Messi’s Legacy. Winning the WC is not easy. Now with so many European smaller teams like Switzerland, Croatia etc etc are getting stronger and stronger, it’s not surprising that these teams are going deeper in Bigger tournaments, It’s going to be a hell of a task to win the WC. Qatar 2022 looks like a peculiar WC, who will have an advantage in the Middle east climate? It’s going to be an entirely different WC for sure. We can fancy our chances with the strong group of players we have now. But it’s getting tougher and tougher.

    Garay meanwhile was such a class defender, He was slow but he marshaled our defense greatly during his tenure with us. He was great Penalty taker too, 99 out of 100 he scored for us isn’t it. Have a great life ahead Ezequiel Garay. Hope your physical pains gets lesser soon.

  20. Per Fabrizio Romano the Varane to United deal is progressing and may happen. This would free up a potential move for Romero to Real. I don’t know about you but I miss having Argentines representing Real Madrid (they used to a lot more) as now they have an obsession with overrated Brazilian kids. Personally I would prefer Romero to go to Barcelona or Atletico because of other Argentinians being there but to see him represent such a big club would be nice

    • There is currently no rumor of Real Madrid interest in Romero. It seems like they don’t wanna buy a replacement for Varane as they are confident with Militao-Alaba partnership.

      Barca is interested but not sure if they will have the money unless they let go Lenglet, Umtiti. Barca seriously need a good center back if they want to go further in the CL. Pique gets worse and Garcia is too inexperienced.

  21. Valentin Barco who played his first game for Boca today looks very promising at left back. Had a couple of shaky moments at the beginning of the match but some really good passes and good at running with the ball to the edge of the opponent’s cross to look for crosses or passes. He seems like a modern full back. I still have doubts about his defending and will have to see him pressured defensively. This is great because there is a massive void behind Acuna, Tagliafico, and Angileri in terms of age for left back and hopefully when they get too old Barco will be ready

  22. My curious mind wants to know, what Mundo specialists think about Matias Palacios, a 19 year old central midfielder who joins FC Basel this year..?? How it would have been if he had got the opportunity to play at this Olympic..?? What I personally think we make those young talents wearing that Argentine jersey bit late..
    Anyway, thanks to Garay, he brought solidity, calm and coolness in that sabella defense back then..
    Would love to hear about Matias Palacios from Mundo specialists..

  24. With no disrespect to Mascherano who was a beast, I ran into this video of Fernando Redondo on YouTube. For some of the younger followers of the albiceleste, make no mistake, Fernando Redondo was without any doubt the greatest defensive midfielder to ever put on an Argentina shirt. A shame Pasarella was too big of an idiot to fight with the guy and cut his career short. Enjoy the video.
    https://youtu.be/02rL4_4pOaM

    • Redondo was unbelievably good. Watching him play was pure joy. Like you mentioned Passarella’s ego took away a possible WC win from Argentina.

        • Redondo was not just good. He was phenomenal! For me he was the most charismatic defensive midfielder i have ever seen. Not just being good defensively, in terms of skills, technique and dribbling he was like a great enghance, his passing was also great but he was also physical and fast, running through opponents’ defence as well. But Redondo was not the only victim to Passarella’s homophobic, racistical ideas when he was Argentina’s manager back in 98 wc. The legendary Caniggia was the other one, both for the same reason, long hair. Don’t get me wrong, Passarella is no doubt one of the greatest defenders to have ever played the game, a true legend and of course i do respect and admire him, but i don’t agree with such disgreaceful beliefs by any means.

          However, even without Caniggia and Redondo, Argentina was a true class back then! Great players in almost every position, i will not tell you who they were, if you are young and don’t remember you can find out on your own, but statements like yours which say that Argentina seemed more of a mediocre team, are absurd to say the least!

          • World only remembers the winner. No matter how talented they were they not even reached semis. 1974 cruyff Netherlands was fantastic bt nobody talk about them enough just because they lost. Just like 2007 copa team had so much talent bt bottled in the final against a B side of Brazil. This 2021 copa side was nothing special bt they are the winner so they will be immortalised in the history.

      • He had a long stride and resembled a dance movement when he moved with the ball.
        He was the original master of one touch football.

        • I am a big Redondo fan as you can guess from my profile pic and watching him play was a joy. To be fair, defensively Masche was better than Redondo and I think in the past two and half decades there wasn’t a better DM than Masche in football world, but El Principe had that magic touch and elegance that no other Argentine midfielder had in his days and after. That sensational backheel against MU is still fresh in my mind. Had he played in 1998 WC Argentina’s fortune in that tournament could’ve been different, but Passarella was idiot enough to leave him behind.

    • Why do Argentina keep kicking the mega players? Redondo in 1998,2002 Zanetti, Samuel in 2006, Aimar in 2010, Pastore, Otamendi, Tevez, Banega in 2014. Who knows may be we would have won a world cup by now if those players were there.

  25. Locelso Messi Dmaria trio clicked well for scaloni&; arg.This combination brings more magic from LEO in coming matches.He is more free now. His pressure decreasing bcz of these players near him contributing more and helping him to play with good flow. Similarly Nico also doing well. If J.correa will also get into tht rhythm everything looking easy for Messy.Scaloni need to play Dybla in his system. He could adapt him well in his system.Its the Best time for Dybla to prove how worthy he is. Scaloni also need to find more playing time for ALARIO .He is also a star striker. Give some rest to Aguro and give more chance to Alario and Giovanni simioni. Scaloni needs to find one backup for LOCELSO also.

    • But if Scaloni does give chance to Dybala, Alario, Gio Simeone and he still have: Messi, Aguero, Di Maria, A. Correa, Nico Gonzales, J. Correa, and Alvarez/Papu Gomez upfront. Then how many forwards will he bring in a 23 players squad? 10?

  26. You know who I loved that doesn’t get much mention….?
    The Militio brothers.
    I used to like both Diego and Gabi! It felt like Diego became good once he got to an old age, I used to have his jersey, we used to call him Balboa because he looked like Stallone when he was young.
    I miss the tall poaching strikers like crespo and Militio. I also like higuain alot, but my family and friends treat him like the anti Christ 😂

  27. Just a couple of thoughts on my mind:
    First, I’ve been pinching myself since last Saturday night just to make sure that I’m awake and that ARGENTINA did win the Copa America after 28 years and that Messi finally got to lift the trophy and the scene in my mind that I fantasied about so many times happened………..Messi in the middle of half a circle with his teammates around him, smiles all around and confetti dropping from the sky…………it happened just as I imagined it.
    Why did they win? they won because they came together as a team, one body and one purpose and everybody contributed. We all knew Messi was going to put in the work but what about the rest of the team.
    Now, Imagine if the rest of them did what they did just that in 2014, 15 and 16……….all Higuain, Kun, Di Maria…….and the rest of them at their prime…….surely they would not beaten but destroyed Chile in back to back Copas and beaten Germany soundly.
    Point I’m making here is that when Di Maria scored that spectacular goal last week, he basically did what was overdue……………..had he GOD FORBID missed then what would’ve been the difference between that and all 3 Higuain misses or the many chances that were squandered in the 2011 COPA Vs Uruguay?

    • Di Maria didnt play in 2014 final, only played like 5 minutes in 2015 final, about 20 minutes as late sub in 2016 final. He’s injured all the time in those years. The game against Chile in 2016, if you watch the highlight again, Messi passed the Chilean defenders multiple times but he got no supports. Even in 2014 final, he squared the ball to the center few times in first half, Higuain was like 10 meters behind.

      Higuain , Palacio & even Aguero has been a disappointment in those finals. The midfield & defence did their job, they conceided just one in 360+ minutes in those 3 finals, the frontlines are the one to be blamed.

    • Dfox, I completely relate because before the game I would bring the image in my head of Messi running with the trophy to the group of players. Every time I felt my stomach drop in excitement and had to stop myself to avoid celebrating too soon. Just the thought of Messi lifting the trophy in my mind felt so unreal, and it actually happened. It is still shocking that after 28 years it ended and now we are living in a reality where we can say that not even a week ago we watched them lift the cup

    • Di Maria finishing is not too good BUT the lob goal that he scored in the final of Olympic n Copa is his signature move. He will almost always score that way 9 out of 10 times.

      BTW PSG squad looks scary this season:
      Donnarumma; Hakimi, Ramos, Marquinhos, Theo Hernandez; Verratti/Paredes, Wijnaldum; Neymar, Di Maria, Mbappe; Icardi

      Bench: Navas, Kimpembe, Bernat, Draxler, Rafinha, Sarabia.

      That is 100% world class.

      Way better than Barcelona currently.

  29. For those interested 2021 argentine league will start tonight after last years cancellation. There is a big chance Boca might debut 16 y.o left back Valentin Barco tonight.

    • I just came here to say that, a very young squad. Will be interesting to see especially Barco. Also a young right back Giampaoli. Also Zenon playing in Union. Also bad need that Gonzalo Maroni is going to Atlas of Mexico. So annoying to constantly lose talent to the MlS or Mexico

  30. All the best to Garay. Thanks to him for all the joy he gave us fans.

    Out of all the places in the World, in the last 28 years we played best in Brazil. Even in 2014. Playing a WC Final is not easy. Even Brazil themselves could not play a WC Final in the last 20 years.
    I think our 2022 team is going to be way more stronger than 2014. We need some luck too. Hopefully we will have an easier path.

    • 2014 team was quite strong. We literally dominated wc qualifiers plus messi dimaria higuain Aguero all was on their peaks Mascherano was a monster garay was a beast Romero was decent zabaleta is far better than anyone we have right now and even rojo played amazing at lb tough to become better than that team. With little more luck we could have won that wc easily

      • Aguero was injured; Di Maria had a poor tournament except the goal in ET against Switzerland & got injured in QF; Sabella’s trump card in MF, Gago was injured & was not fully fit, the main reason why we struggled to score goals; Not even in Group stages that team couldn’t play as they were in Qualifiers(Fab 4); Messi & Defence carried that team;
        Even Messi had some fitness issues, he was throwing up on the pitch.
        Coming into the tournament ARG defence was the weakest but they stood tall in the knockout stages of the tournament;

        • This team may won copa bt they didn’t dominated anybody except Bolivia. Lots of improvement needed in midfield and we also missed some sitters in every match. In wc where you won’t get much chances as teams will be tougher its necessary to be clinical in front of goal. Bt according to me major concern is our midfield control. As a team we should dominate oppositions bt we r playing like old Italian sides also locelso is overhyped like he is the world best. We should accept we have a mediocre midfield and we won this copa because of some individual brilliance from forward lines and our defense was solid. Scaloni knows we don’t have the talent in midfield to dominate quality oppositions that why he is setting up for a sitting deep and hit on counter approach i don’t see except depaul any other midfielder whose place is secured. This midfield crying for a midfielder like buendia or even luka romero can be an upgrade if he proves himself in Lazio

  32. i will keep a lot of memories with him.
    very good player. he was always give everything he had for the team.
    He honor our jersey.

    THANK YOU FOR THE MEMORIES.
    THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.

  33. One of the few past generation senior players I wouldn’t mind getting a call up even with this new squad. A lot of the older guys from 2014 have stopped playing or they aren’t in form(excluding the obvious people) but this guy was always a rock!

  35. Many questioned why he stopped playing for Argentina. The reason is Garay never played in friendlies, he would refuse or give some other excuse to avoid friendlies.

    First, he did not play 2015 Copa final, because of birth of his baby in USA. He left the camp to complete his baby’s birth certificate in order to become parent of US citizen. We lost the final in penalties.

    In next friendly, he refused the call. Martino was pissed and also Mori and Otamendi duo started playing well together. So Martino had no reason to call him.

    Yeah, Thanks Garay for everything but not the most committed player. I wish he were. With him, we would not loose penalties against Chile.

    • yes that was the reason that could have been most closely pieced together. it is very difficult to judge such a personal situation.
      on one hand you have garay, on other there is lautaro martinez who stayed in the covid bubble this time for 45 days straight and did not visit his wife who was delivering his daughter (i think?) and only met his new born after the finish of copa.
      two different people, two different choice. different coaches react to it differently. we can only judge their commitment, but not whether right or wrong personal choice.
      Thanks to him for the games he played.

        • ah thanks for correcting. got that mixed up. actually going back to the story it seems the colombia penalty game was only 3 days after the birth of his daughter. he could have been so easily distracted but his focus was total.
          On another note, it also mentions Martinez Quarta having a child in mid june also, so its possible his performance was also distracted.
          Congrats to both!

          infobae.com/america/deportes/2021/07/12/finalmente-asi-conocio-dibu-martinez-a-su-hija-nueve-dias-despues-de-su-nacimiento/

  37. Might be a stupid question, but all along the Copa I was always wondering if there was a way that both acuna and taglafico can start together. Can one of them play right back ? Or is that just suicide?

    • I think we should persist with our three options. See if Foyth gets his head in place, if Molina develops better after another season in Serie A, and if Montiel retains the type of performance he showed in the final. If none respond then we may have to consider switching someone into right back

    • Neither Acuna nor Tagliafico play as RB for their clubs, both are very left-footed for that.

      However in some games both of them can play on the left, Acuna going forward is better than Tagliafico but he can also help with defending. Kind of what Scaloni did vs Brazil. If it’s 4-4-2 both can play on the same flank.

      • yep. i don’t think either have ever been tried at RB. If its not Foyth, Montiel, or Molina, i’d rather Ocampos than either of the lefties.

        Also, the games with Tag at LB and Acuna at LCM were all really dreadful. For Brazil, the pair brought defensive stability but overall, i don’t like when both are the pitch together.

    • Tagliafico can play as a proper centre back. If I am not wrong he started as a CB!! But no , neither of them can play RB and we need to find a proper RB and rotate between Foyth and the other two. Especially Foyth offers nothing when pressing forward.

      • Let’s hope foyth can muster up some confidence after his bad showing and then getting dropped from the team. It’s pretty hard on a players mentality when he gets taken out of a team fully.

  38. Argentina has really good chance to win the 2022 World Cup. Argentina’s midfield and attack is solid,with new players like Emi Buendai it will become more solid.
    I think for Left Wing role Angel Correa is best suited watching him in Copa gave me hope that he can do awesome thing for Argentina. Simione believes in him so why not Argentina.
    Argentina defence is also looking good, C.Romero and Emi Martinez are most important, Otamendi looking like Man City Otamendi, Acuna is good his passing and first touch is phenomenal.For Right Back Foyth,Renzo Sarvia,Mollina,Montiel looks good.

  39. Garay was good player do not why he stopped played for Argentina suddenly. He could have been good CB for Argentina in 2018 World Cup but let bygones be bygones. Thank Garay for your services.

  40. Emi Martinez current value is the 7th most of expensive the world among GK.

    http://www.transfermarkt.us/spieler-statistik/wertvollstespieler/marktwertetop/plus/0/galerie/0?ausrichtung=alle&spielerposition_id=1&altersklasse=alle&jahrgang=0&land_id=0&kontinent_id=0&yt0=Show

    Cristian Romero value rank 25th among all Defender center.

    http://www.transfermarkt.us/spieler-statistik/wertvollstespieler/marktwertetop/plus/0/galerie/0?ausrichtung=alle&spielerposition_id=3&altersklasse=alle&jahrgang=0&land_id=0&kontinent_id=0&yt0=Show

  41. Garay was one solid guy. I used to watch Racing games regularly. The season before he joined Madrid, he scored 10 goals for Racing. Mostly penalties and free kicks.

    Somewhere along the line he lost the plot. I think he said he only wants to play in meaningful matches for NT and not friendlies. I think he lost the spot because of that. Then again at Valencia he terminated his contract and just could not find a club. He should have had a much better career for his capabilities.

    But again, he played good in 2014. The penalty was a rocket.

  42. Guys listen, Argentina have huge chance at Qatar world cup. Since it will be hosted in Winter time, around December, Messi tends to performs best during cold times. Call me superstitious or anything, Messi usually do not perform that well during hot times and especially if game is played during day time, early kick off. I can perfectly say that if WC 2014 final was hosted on later that day, we would have been Champion. I watch every barca games, Messi play worse in early kick offs.

    He was average in CL final vs Juventus and that was early kick off. I remember countless classicos where Messi played better in late kick off. Messi is true artist and true artist perform better in quiet environment. Off course Messi alone cannot win World cup(like no one) but with best Messi and confident supporting cast we can hopefully win world cup. This qatar world cup is set up best for Messi. I hope we can bring world cup to Argentina and shut off CR stans.

    • Without doubt the team will get better. Scaloni already finds the core of the team and will continue doing until the World Cup.

      He won’t be in a position like Sampaoli anymore: Having no clue who to play and keep changing players every match.

      He already has his players and he knows what he is doing.

      For sure Argentina, France, England, and Italy are the fave for the World Cup.

      • England is overrated. England will choke. France probably will have to face the World cup curse.
        I reckon Brazil and Spain to be a more likely contenders than England.

        • If we start momentum especially after group games, we could easily win World Cup. I think key is to not perform best on group stage rather grow as competitions moves further like this copa. Obviously we need to top the group.

        • We can beat Spain with counter attacking and Italy do not have good offense. As for Brazil we always bring A games vs them. I am scared of Germany as they play as a team and it seems they have our numbers.

          • Germany needs more time to be a WC winning team again (Champion Team) but they would still make atleast Quarters and can beat any other favorites on the way including us but I wont put my money on Germany to lift it. And France is breaking down within their dressing room.
            I think Spain is on the UP, Italy is on the best form, Brazil will be Dangerous in Asia/Arab and so are we, we are also getting better and better.
            Top Favorites to lift the cup-
            1) Italy
            2) Argentina
            3) Spain
            4) Brazil (God Forbid)

    • What a stupid logic 🙄 Qatar is practically one of the hottest place around. Yes they may operates ac to organize the matches bt there is a difference between natural temperature and human made temperature.

      • Hey mf don’t be stupid. I simply lay out the reasons. You could disagree but you can’t just say stupid .

  44. welldone E.Garrey.In 2014 WC he played crucial part .
    This Copa brings Arg two superstars EMI & Cuti. This Copa tournament shows us How valuable LOCELSO in Arts midfield. He is matured as a playmaker in Args midfield and fills tht gap. This Copa sees us how solid player DePaul in midfld for Arg. Emerged as a world-class D Midflr plus natural mudfldr..After a long time we filled the gap of Pablo sorin left in Arg team. Acuna is the man filled tht gap. He ia the main engin behind args tiredless fighting. Very useful allrounder Acuna can go well in remaining qualifiers..And finally this tournmnt shows how much danger when dmaria playing in right than left.

      • I agree with you 99%.
        Its true after Sorin, Acuna has been the best on LB. But we only seen this Acuna in Copa. Maybe Sevilla is doing good things for him. But he is still slightly behind Sorin on reliability. Not taking anything away from Acuna he was the best on that position in Copa but maybe he will be even better than Sorin in WC 2022. He has the potential.

  45. AFA needs to set up a defense school just to bring up more defenders in the next generations.
    I am confident that even after Messi hangs up his boots that we will have enough attackers to choose from .. but we need more Samuels and garays and Ayala’s soon.
    Btw, I hope Messi doesn’t retire. He can be a 40 year old that gets subbed in or out in the second half and he will still be superior to most players.

  46. Thanks for your services but I never understood why he stopped playing for the Albiceleste after 2014 when we desperately needed him. Some say he didn’t want to play, some said it was a coaches’ decision, some said he had issues with some current players………etc

    There is always something when it comes to some players playing for ARG! what gives!

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