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Franco Armani, Gonzalo Montiel, Julian Alvarez called to Argentina team for World Cup qualifiers

Roy Nemer
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Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has called-up the River Plate trio of Franco Armani, Gonzalo Montiel and Julian Alvarez to the squad for next month’s World Cup qualifiers.

With the European based squad already having been announced, Scaloni has added three local based players to the team. A goalkeeper in Armani, a defender in Montiel and an attack minded player in Alvarez.

No player from Boca Juniors or any other club in Argentina has been selected, which means no Esteban Andrada in the squad.

The team will play Chile at home on June 3 before playing Colombia away on 8, just five days later. Here is the updated squad for next month’s World Cup qualifiers:

Marcos Acuña (Sevilla)
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Lucas Alario (Bayer Leverkusen)
Emiliano Buendia (Norwich City)
Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid)
Joaquin Correa (Lazio)
Rodrigo de Paul (Udinese)
Angel Di Maria (PSG)
Nicolas Dominguez (Bologna)
Juan Foyth (Villarreal)
Alejandro Papu Gomez (Sevilla)
Nicolas Gonzalez (Stuttgart)
Giovanni Lo Celso (Tottenham)
Agustin Marchesin (FC Porto)
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
Lisandro Martinez (Ajax)
Lucas Martinez Quarta (Fiorentina)
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Nahuel Molina (Udinese)
Juan Musso (Udinese)
Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis)
Cristian Romero (Atalanta)
Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla)
Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica)
Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen)
Jose Luis Palomino (Atalanta)
Leandro Paredes (PSG)
German Pezzella (Fiorentina)
Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax)
Franco Armani (River Plate)
Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate)
Julian Alvarez (River Plate)

Alexis Mac Allister a doubt for Argentina at Olympics, pending Brighton approval

Roy Nemer
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Alexis Mac Allister is a doubt for Argentina at the Olympics, not due to injury but pending the approval of Brighton.

Argentina Olympic coach Fernando Batista no doubt wants to count on the 22 year old in August but the Argentine’s coach at club level also counts on him. While he has not been included in Lionel Scaloni’s team for the World Cup qualifiers, Brighton coach Graham Potter is counting on him long term.

Speaking in an interview with The Argus, here is what Graham Potter had to say:

“We always have to take the discussion with the player and we will probably do that at the end of the season. But his focus would always be on playing for us and getting as much game time as he can.

“And then he is a very proud Argentinian. He wants to play for his country in whatever tournament it is. But that is obviously linked to how he is doing with us. They have had a short break and then this season again. The guys who have had internationals have had no breaks at all and it has been pretty full on.

“Everyone is at a point where they need a break, a bit of a recharge and hopefully get back to normal with the supporters. They can see their families a bit more and next season can be quite exciting.”

Since the Olympics are not organized by FIFA themselves, club coaches are under not obliged to release their players. A similar situation happened with Lionel Messi at the 2008 Olympics where the board was refusing to allow him to join the team while Messi himself wanted to win gold. In the end, Messi joined Argentina and the country won its second Olympic gold medal in football.

Hernan Crespo coaches Dani Alves and Sao Paulo to Paulista championship win

Roy Nemer
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Hernan Crespo has won his his second trophy this calendar year, this time winning the Campeonato Paulista with Sao Paulo.

Crespo has led Sao Paulo to their first trophy since 2012 as they defeated Palmeiras 2-0 in the final. The first match ended 0-0 with the second leg ending 2-0 in favor of Crespo’s team. Sao Paulo has the likes of Dani Alves and Miranda on the team.

The former Argentina man won the Sudamericana with Defensa y Justicia earlier in the year.

Congratulations to Crespo!

Will he, won’t he: Sergio Aguero will join FC Barcelona

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After weeks of constant rumors, Sergio Aguero will finally play for FC Barcelona. Kun will join the Catalan team after Manchester City’s Champions League final, on a 2-year contract that goes until June 2023. According to transfer market specialist Fabrizio Romano, the Argentine lowered his initial salary demands. Nonetheless, there is a bonus included in case Barça wins the Champions League in the future.

It is well known that both Argentine stars, Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi have been close friends for many years. For the first time, they will have the opportunity to play for the same club. Although they have shared many calls-ups to the National Team, they haven’t played much together with the “Albiceleste”. With Kun’s arrival, it now looks certain that Lionel Messi will stay in FC Barcelona.

After Luis Suarez’s less than stellar departure, FC Barcelona have yet to find a proper replacement in the striker position. Coach Ronald Koeman tried with Antoine Griezmann, making him play in a position the Frenchman is not too comfortable in, and Martin Braithwaite. None of them were solutions, besides a general poor level of the team itself. We will see if Sergio Aguero can help FC Barcelona in that part of the field.

Aguero had a fairlytale exit from Manchester City as the Argentine scored twice in his final Premier League match.

 

Sergio Aguero scores in Manchester City farewell, makes Premier League history

Roy Nemer
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Sergio Aguero had a memorable final Premier League match before the Champions League match.

Aguero started Manchester City’s final Premier League match on the bench when they hosted Everton. It was 3-0 for Pep Guardiola’s team when Aguero was substituted on for a standing ovation. All 10,000 fans in attendance stood to cheer on the City legend.

It took Aguero just six minutes to score after being on the pitch. A lovely dribble inside the penalty area gave City the fourth goal of the match. However, Kun wasn’t done just yet.

The Argentine had one more trick up his sleeve. A cross inside the penalty area found Aguero as he would head the ball for his final Premier League goal, making history in the process.

His two goals allowed him to reach a total of 184 goals for Manchester City which is the most goals ever scored by a player for a single Premier League team.

Manchester City were officially crowned Premier League champions a few days ago but the celebrations started immediately after the match. With fans in attendance, the trophy was brought out for everyone to celebrate. Here is what City coach Pep Guardiola had to say about the Argentine legend:

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