Lautaro MARTINEZ scores and Lisandro LOPEZ misses two penalty kicks

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April 20, 2018

It was a night of unbelievable events in the Copa Libertadores as Lautaro MARTINEZ scored and Lisandro LOPEZ missed two penalty kicks before finally convering on his third in Racing Club’s 4-0 win against Vasco da Gama.

Former FC Porto and Lyon man Lisandro LOPEZ missed a pair of first half penalty kicks for Racing Club despite his team scoring twice in the opening 45 minutes. Ricardi CENTURION opened the scoring in 33rd minute to give Racing a 1-0 lead. Lautaro MARTINEZ added a second for his club as his reputation continues to grow. Matias ZARACHO added a third for Racing Club.

The third time was definitely a charm for Lisandro LOPEZ as he finally got his goal off a penalty kick. There were some inevitable comparisons being done to Martin PALERMO’s infamous match against Colombia at the 1999 Copa America for Argentina where he missed three penalty kicks in a single match. However, LOPEZ wasn’t going to pull that kind of hattrick.

Jorge SAMPAOLI’s final leg European tour starts this Friday

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John

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April 20, 2018

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Argentine sports journalist Hernan Clause has reported on Ole that Jorge SAMPAOLI will board a plane for his latest European leg tour on Friday with shows taking place in 10 different cities.

The tour will kick start in Catalunya where he is expected to meet Lionel MESSI, before heading over to Seville (Ever BANEGA and Gabriel MERCADO), Liverpool (Ramiro FUNES MORI), Manchester (Sergio ROMERO, Marcos ROJO, Sergio AGUERO and Nicolas OTAMENDI), London (Manuel LANZINI, Willy CABALLERO, Erik LAMELA), Amsterdam (Nicolas TAGLIAFICO), Paris (Angel DI MARIA and Giovanni LO CELSO), Rome (Diego PEROTTI and Federico FAZIO), Turin (Paulo DYBALA and Gonzalo HIGUAIN), Milan (Mauro ICARDI and Lucas BIGLIA), and Lisbon (Marcos ACUNA and Eduardo SALVIO).

Apart from ICARDI, he is expected to name the rest of them in his preliminary squad of 35 players. Also expected to be in that list of those based in Russia (Matias KRANEVITTER, Leandro PAREDES and Emiliano RIGONI), Mexico (Patón GUZMAN) and China (Javier MASCHERANO).

The main focal point of this tour is expected to take place in Manchester, in which SAMPAOLI will assess AGUERO’s fitness level and readiness for the World Cup following the arthroscopic surgery on his knee.

SAMPAOLI will only make his final judgement upon returning to Buenos Aires. So, do mark your calendar on the date May 14th as all the answers to who is in the running for the trip to Russia will be announced. The final 23 squad will be announced on May 21st.

Jorge SAMPAOLI set to meet with Mauro ICARDI on Friday

By

Roy Nemer

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April 19, 2018

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FBL-WC-2018-ARG-VEN — Argentina's Mauro Icardi (R) is marked by Venezuela's Mike Villanueva during their 2018 World Cup qualifier football match in Buenos Aires, on September 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Alejandro PAGNI (Photo credit should read ALEJANDRO PAGNI/AFP/Getty Images)

Some positive news for Mauro ICARDI as Jorge SAMPAOLI is expected to speak with him on Friday.

A report by TyC Sports states that Argentina coach Jorge SAMPAOLI will speak with Mauro ICARDI. It appears as though ICARDI’s chances of making the World Cup aren’t totally dead in the water. With Sergio AGUERO’s fitness being an issue with his latest surgery maybe SAMPAOLI is considering taking a healthy and very much in form ICARDI.

Mauro ICARDI scores in Inter victory against Cagliari

By

Roy Nemer

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April 18, 2018

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Mauro ICARDI scored yet another goal for Inter as they picked up a 4-0 win against Cagliari.

Despite not being in Jorge SAMPAOLI’s plans for the World Cup in Russia, that hasn’t stopped Inter’s captain from scoring. ICARDI netted goal number 25 of his Serie A season which puts him up with elite names of the footballing world.

Last three players to score 25 Serie A goals for Inter:
Ronaldo (1997-1998 season)
Zalatan IBRAHIMOVIC (2008-2009 season)
Mauro ICARDI (2017-2018)

Mauro Icardi 🆚 Cagliari – His hold-up & link up play was brilliant and his 1st touch was close to immaculate last night.

A great performance to hit 25 goals in Serie A for the season. pic.twitter.com/UxkuSo4EFV

— InterYaSkriniar (@InterYaSkriniar) April 18, 2018

He has now scored 49 goals in his last 63 Serie A games, the most he has ever manged in a single season. Here’s how he’s been doing in Serie A:

2017-2018: 25 goals
2016-2017: 24 goals
2015-2016: 16 goals
2014-2015: 22 goals
2013-2014: 9 goals
2012-2013: 10 goals

Crazy to think that Jorge SAMPAOLI is not planning on calling him to the Argentina National Team for the FIFA World Cup.

AFA doctor on Sergio AGÜERO’s surgery: “It’s worrying”

By

Roy Nemer

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April 17, 2018

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Sergio Aguero Manchester City — Sergio Aguero while playing for Manchester City.

Alarm bells are ringing for the Argentina National Team as Sergio AGÜERO has underwent surgery.

As we reported earlier, Sergio AGÜERO had surgery on his knee and according to an AFA doctor, the recovery for it doesn’t take less than five weeks. Speaking to Radio 10, Homero D’AGOSTINO had this to say:

“That a player gets arthroscopic surgery 60 days before the World Cup is worrying. The recovery demands no less than five weeks.”

However, Sergio AGÜERO’s father was speaking with Radio La Red and stated the following:

“I spoke to him and he’s doing well. It was an emergency surgery. He’ll be out for a month. He got operated on to get to the World Cup without problems. He told me that in 20 days he’d be back in training. I don’t know if he’ll play a match with City.”