Gonzalo Higuaín comments on Argentina, difficulties at World Cup, Gio Lo Celso

By
Roy Nemer
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37

Gonzalo Higuaín commented on the Argentina national team, the difficulties at a World Cup and Gio Lo Celso.

Higuaín played in three World Cups for Argentina, having reached one final in 2014 in Brazil. Having spoken about Lionel Messi and his speech prior to the 2021 Copa America final, Higuaín also spoke about the Argentina national team. Here is what he had to say:

“I see the national team as doing very well. Winning the Copa America unlocks the mental factor. Always winning makes your job much easier and you have more enthusiasm when facing the challenges that come your way.”

He also states that a World Cup is “completely different from everything.”

And to win the World Cup, “the planets have to be aligned, that no player gets injured.”

Regarding the opening match at a World Cup:

“It’s not easy for anyone. The first game is against Saudi Arabia but I wouldn’t categorize it as an easy game, far from it.”

About Argentina’s most recent opening games at World Cups:

“Argentina in the last World Cups has not won any of the first games with ease. It has always been difficult.”

How he arrived to the 2014 World Cup:

“I arrived at the World Cup in Brazil with a sprained ankle. But by having a month or so for the start, you can take a little more time to recover.”

Having the 2022 World Cup being played in November and December:

“There is something that I don’t agree with and that is when they say that the WOrld Cup is played in December, it’s much better. There are injuries and it’s even worse.

“When you play a World Cup in June, you play in a normal calendar.

“All the matches that you would have to play after January, many of them are put before the World Cup. The number of games in October and November is very high.”

About Argentina’s two strikers:

“Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez are the best strikers of Argentine football of the last 10 years.”

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37 Comments

  1. ” ‘The last day he came to Miami, we had a very long chat, very nice in which we didn’t talk about football. I got to know him deeper as a person and was pleasantly surprised’ ”

    I’m personally surprised that after all the years they played together, all the trials and tribulations……they didn’t know each other well enough.

    Anyway, THEY said he was timid, shy, didn’t care about the NT, prefers to be with his Barcelona teammates than being anywhere around his NT…….NOT Capitan Material……if hearing his speech didn’t show his detractors who Messi was is and will be then they’re lost.

    I honestly believe the turning point for Messi was the 2019 COPA, where they were clearly cheated by ’em Sons a BITCHES and to add insult to injury ARGENTINA loses the right to host COPA 2021 because of fucking Covid and it goes back to Banana bullshit yellow and he was Not having it anymore.

    As far as LO goes, the man is injured and if there is a possibility that he plays, then great if not then they shouldn’t dwell on it…..true he is an integral part of the team but they need their heads screwed on tight for this WC because of the obvious……..besides it’s good it happened NOW or few days ago than while in practice a day or two before the start of WC

    • I think Almada with Enzo should go. Almada will surprise alot people to be honest in our national team structure although alot will argue he plays in USA. He has everything to play in Gio place just maybe need some time & chemistry to build up a link between Messi and Co. Taking MacAllister will be over kill a position when we have Paredes, Guido & Enzo in that position who are better than him. Almada can be a surprise inclusion.

    • VAR proof to be meaningless. The two blatant fouls on Aguero againts Brazil were daylight clear, especially the elbow.

      I believe Otamendi intentionally threw elbowed in latest game againts Brazil as a revenge.

  2. My 26 for World cup…

    @@@@ Goalkeeper :-
    1/ Emi Martinez,
    2/Musso,
    3/Rulli,

    #### Defender :-
    4/Otamendi,
    5/Romero,
    6/lisandro Martinez ,
    7/Belardi,
    8/Monila ,
    9/Foyth,
    10/Acuna,
    11/Taglafico,

    $$$$ Defensive Midfielder :-
    12/Guido Rodriguez,
    13/ Enzo Fernandez ,
    14/Peradas ,
    15/ De paul ,

    &&&& Midfielder :-
    16/Angel Maria,
    17/Papu,
    18/ lo Celso,
    19/Nicholas Gonzalez,
    20/ j, Corria,

    %%%% Striker:-
    21/ Messi,
    22/lautaro,
    23/Alvarez,
    24/Dybala,
    25/ Simone,
    26/ Geancho,

  4. I totally forgot about the survey but it’s a good time to tally up the 42 votes. To Olive’s point, maybe posting closer to WC would result in 200+ participants like in Copa 19 so perhaps i’ll post later.

    1) 1 Manager
    91% chose La Scaloneta’s most recent form with 2022 and 9% picked 2021. I’m curious why the 9% believe we have regressed..

    2) 3 Keepers

    Emi and Rulli were heavy favorites although baffling how 1 person didn’t pick Mr Pelvis Thrust, followed by Musso for the 3rd spot. Armani missed out by 5 votes. Surprised to see few still loyal to El Chiquito.

    Emi 41 98%
    Rulli 32 76%
    Musso 24 57%
    Armani 19 45%
    Benitez 5 12%
    Romero 4 10%
    Marchesin 1 2%
    Andrada 0 0%
    Caballero 0 0%
    Gazzaniga 0 0%
    Guzman 0 0%

    3) 9 Defenders

    The defense is probably the least surprising result. 100% of mundo want Otamendi, Licha, Romero, and Molina followed closely by Tag, Acuna, and Foyth. Pezz and Montiel made it for final 2 spots.

    Otamendi 42 100%
    Licha 42 100%
    Romero 42 100%
    Molina 42 100%
    Tagliafico 41 98%
    Acuna 41 98%
    Foyth 38 90%
    Pezzella 32 76%
    Montiel 30 71%
    Medina 12 29%
    N Perez 6 14%
    Senesi 6 14%
    Quarta 3 7%
    Angileri 1 2%
    Fazio 0 0%

    3) 7 Mids

    The core RDP, GLC, Paredes, and Guido obviously made it with 100% + Enzo’s meteoric rise with 95%. Papu and Palacios clearly ahead with MacAllister out.

    De Paul 42 100%
    Lo Celso 42 100%
    Paredes 42 100%
    Guido 41 98%
    Enzo 40 95%
    Papu 36 86%
    Palacios 24 57%
    MacAllister 14 33%
    Almada 7 17%
    Buendia 2 5%
    Dominguez 2 5%
    Almendra 1 2%
    Meza 1 2%
    Ascacibar 0 0%
    Soule 0 0%
    Zaracho 0 0%

    5) 7 Attackers

    Messi, Di Maria, Nico, Alvarez, Dybala, Toro, and A Correa. Shocked to see Toro only had 86% but assuming they prefer Simeone, Alario, or Garnacho.

    Messi 42 100%
    Di Maria 42 100%
    Nico 39 93%
    Alvarez 39 93%
    Dybala 37 88%
    Toro 36 86%
    A. Correa 31 74%
    Simeone 12 29%
    J. Correa 7 17%
    Garnacho 6 14%
    Almada 2 5%
    Alario 1 2%
    Zebellos 0 0%
    Pavon 0 0%
    Boye 0 0%

    6) Starting Squad 11

    Mundo has chosen the Copa 19 squad with Tagliafico inching by Acuna. Hilarious 1 person didn’t pick Messi and Emi in the starting squad. I guess some people truly want to see the world burn 🙂

    Di Maria – Toro – Messi
    Lo Celso – Paredes – De Paul
    Tagliafico – Otam – Romero – Molina
    Emi

    • FW – Messi 41 98%
      MF – De Paul 41 98%
      KP – Emi 41 98%
      DF – Romero 40 95%
      MF – Lo Celso 39 93%
      FW – Toro 36 86%
      DF – Molina 36 86%
      MF – Paredes 30 71%
      DF – Otamendi 29 69%
      FW – Di Maria 26 62%
      DF – Tagliafico 19 45%
      DF – Acuna 18 43%
      DF – Licha 14 33%
      FW – Nico 12 29%
      MF – Enzo 8 19%
      DF – Foyth 5 12%
      MF – Guido 4 10%
      FW – Alvarez 2 5%
      FW – Simeone 2 5%
      MF – MacAllister 2 5%
      FW – Dybala 1 2%
      MF – Buendia 1 2%
      MF – Palacios 1 2%
      DF – Medina 1 2%
      DF – Montiel 1 2%
      KP – Romero 1 2%
      FW – Boye 0 0%
      FW – Alario 0 0%
      FW – Pavon 0 0%
      FW – Almada 0 0%
      FW – Garnacho 0 0
      FW – Zebellos 0 0
      FW – J. Correa 0 0
      FW – A. Correa 0 0
      MF – Papu 0 0
      MF – Soule 0 0
      MF – Almendra 0 0
      MF – Meza 0 0
      MF – Dominguez 0 0
      MF – Zaracho 0 0
      MF – Almada 0 0
      MF – Ascacibar 0 0
      DF – N Perez 0 0
      DF – Pezzella 0 0
      DF – Fazio 0 0
      DF – Angileri 0 0
      DF – Senesi 0 0
      DF – Quarta 0 0
      KP – Guzman 0 0
      KP – Caballero 0 0
      KP – Musso 0 0
      KP – Andrada 0 0
      KP – Benitez 0 0
      KP – Gazzaniga 0 0
      KP – Rulli 0 0
      KP – Armani 0 0
      KP – Marchesin 0 0

    • Btw I am surprised that MacAllister with his “huge fan base” here plus Anuparno who selects him because he is good at PK got only 14 votes or 33%. So that already includes a bunch of fake accounts who votes for him? Man that’s few. I guess most people are not blinded by his “amazing form” (yeah right) at Brighton at least. As here whenever he got the rating of 4 or 5 or 6 for Brighton, he was in amazing form.

  6. I hate to say this but it feels like Scaloni and Co are preparing for life without Lo-celso. If he isn’t able to feature in any matches in the group matches then it will be too risky to play him in the knockouts without any actual match minutes. Acuna, Nico, Papu can fill in for him to an extent but his absence will leave a big void in the midfield. It sucks but if he isn’t able to feature in group stage Scaloni will not take him. Otherwise the unfit players will hold us back like Aguero and Gago in 2014. Just hope that he somehow manages to get his fitness back on time like Dybala otherwise half fit Lo-celso playing means playing with 1 less player.

  7. Final list will be in 10 days.. As only 29 players are fighting for 26 place.. I hope they trust foyth this time. He had great year… And very much needed in defence..

  8. Lionel Messi is the player who received most passes from Giovani Lo Celso since Lionel Scaloni became coach:

    Messi 193
    Paredes 124
    Tagliafico 96
    De Paul 83
    Otamendi 82.

    • Messi literally comes deeper to help the midfield. Locelso’s quality shows in the fact that no forward except messi features in top 5 most pass receives interestingly a defender features in this list means he does lots of back pass and side passes. No wonder messi makes someone looks better than what he actually is.

        • So Messi relies on RDP so bad, Di Maria literally comes deeper to help the midfield. Messi’s quality shows in the fact that no forward except Di Maria features in top 5 most pass receives. Interestingly a defensive midfielder features in this list means Messi does lots of back pass and side passes. Messi is unable to find Lo Celso properly , but Lo Celso finds him easily, while Messi hardly moves without the ball. Conclusion genius?

          • Difference is locelso is a midfielder. His main objective is to provide services to forwards. Messi’s not much and here Molina attacks and not use as a proper defender. In barca dani alves provided highest assists to messi is the testament to it. This stats shows our midfield still quite dependant on messi its like give it to messi and pray. Lautaro not even receiving 4 passes per game from locelso is not a stat to boast of

          • Anuparno, a bit naive on your part, you are missing a few things.

            First, Lo Celso is a box-to-box midfielder so you would expect him to appear on both sides of the pitch and connect with the defenders, other midfielders and forwards.

            Second, Messi is no longer a pure forward or winger, he is something between a second striker and an attacking midfielder with a free roaming role. He wants the ball in many areas so it’s not Lo Celso’s fault. Because Messi is often man marked he has to be all over the pitch to evade personal attention.

            Third, to say that we give the ball to Messi and pray is completely unfair to the Scaloni era, this is no longer the case, we have good passers in Paredes, Lo Celso, De Paul, Papu, etc and Messi does not have to drop as deep as before. You are distorting the reality with that comment.

            Fourth, Scaloni likes to congest the middle of the park with a lot of players where they interchange the passes amongst themselves including Messi. Hence the need for attacking fullbacks because Di Maria on the right wing always drifts inside.

            Messi is a genius and in any team a lot of plays would go through him because he is vastly superior to anyone in terms of creativity, whether it’s PSG, Barcelona or Argentina.

          • @enganche i know locelso is a very good player and a very important player for scaloni but i wanted to show this type of stats doesn’t show the actual picture. This pass receiving stats doesn’t reveal anything.

  9. Gaston Edul reporting there are currently 29 players for the 26 spots. All not listed are pretty much out. They are
    GK: Emi Martinez, Rulli, Armani
    DF: Cuti, Otamendi, Licha, Pezzella, Molina, Montiel, Acuna, Tagliafico
    MF: Paredes, De Paul, Papu, Guido, MacAllister, Palacios, Enzo
    F: Messi, Di Maria, Lautaro, Nico Gonzales, Alvarez, J Correa, A Correa, Dybala

    These are the first 26

    The remaining 3 are: Lo Celso, Almada, Foyth

    I think it is very legit. Lo Celso moves to the back up list. If somehow he can make it then maybe Palacios/Enzo is out. Almada is the dark horse, then Foyth has always been the strongest candidate for the 9th defender.

    Those who are not listed are pretty much out such as Musso; Medina, Perez, Kanneman; Simeone, Garnacho, Alario, Buendia, and so on.

    IF there is no surprise, maybe Lo Celso, Almada, and one of the forwards is out. Foyth is in.

    • If both Foyth and Lo Celso will call in then Palacios and Angel Correa will miss out imo. So sad the WC squads not 28 men as in Copa. It would be perfect.

      • That will likely be case. But, I still do not see what will be the use of McAllister. He clearly hasn’t been good in DePaul or LoCelso’s position with Argentina. If I even consider him playing great for Brighton, it’s in Parades’s position, for which we have plenty of quality and makeshift alternatives. I just can’t get it.

    • This list is okay but scaloni is too safe in his team selection. No surprises in his team selection that’s boring. Some surprise call up could have been interesting. Only surprise i can see if almada gets selected

  11. He is a very humble guy…He is openly admitting that Lautaro and Alvarez are more talented than him…I have never hated him even though he missed sitters in WC final and Copa final

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