Guido PIZARRO on radar of Genoa, Tigres

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January 31, 2018

Guido PIZARRO is on the radar of two different clubs.

With the transfer market closing in a few hours, the Sevilla man is wanted by Italian club Genoa and his old club, Tigres. According to a report, Genoa are interested in signing the Argentina international but it does look fairly difficult as they must first convince Guido as well as find an agreement with Sevilla.

The other club is Mexican team Tigres, Guido PIZARRO’s old stomping ground. Per a report by ESPN, the midfielder will be returning to his old team in a move which is expected to be confirmed in the upcoming hours. The deal would be on a four year contract.

Worth noting that PIZARRO did not train with Sevilla on Tuesday morning.

Jorge SAMPAOLI to visit Argentine clubs

By

Roy Nemer

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January 31, 2018

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Jorge Sampaoli Independiente Argentine clubs

Argentina coach Jorge SAMPAOLI was present at Independiente’s training session on Wednesday and will continue to visit different Argentine clubs.

With his European journey now done and dusted, the Argentina coach has turned his attention to the domestic league back home. SAMPAOLI confirmed a few days ago that he would apply the same style which he used while in Europe meeting the players. This means that SAMPAOLI will be attending different training sessions and speaking with coaches.

Wednesday’s attention was on Independiente and three players: Fabricio BUSTOS, Juan SANCHEZ MINO and Maximiliano MEZA.

There’s another club which SAMPAOLI will reportedly be visiting, that of River Plate. The coach will attend their training session to keep an eye out on Franco ARMANI and Enzo PEREZ. ARMANI’s case is a bit of an interesting one as there were very strong rumors at one point that the goalkeeper would attain Colombian citizenship and play for Jose PEKERMAN’s men.

The 31 year old impressed during his time with Atletico Nacional winning many titles (one of which was the 2016 Copa Libertadores).

Argentina Fans From Kerala Meet Their Heroes!

By

John

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January 31, 2018

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Here is a bit info about the southern state of Kerala in India. Nicknamed as the Spice Garden of India or the Land of the Coconuts, renowned for its palm-lined beaches and backwaters. Like in most places in India, cricket is a popular sport in recent times but that doesn’t mean football is non-existence. As I’ve learned from Novy KAPADIA’s Barefoot to Boots : The Many Lives of Indian Football, it also a long-thriving football culture that dates back so many decades ago.

Thus it comes to no surprise the state boost the largest Argentine following in India. The Argentina Fans Kerala which was launched by July 2012 has amazed with 200,000 followings on his its Facebook page. To celebrate this, several members of this group have decided to make the trip to Dubai for an important mission.

Russian Premier League side, Zenit St. Petersburg were happened to be visiting the Middle East for a friendly and with not but five Argentine players in their squad, the group were presented with a great opportunity to meet their heroes in the flesh.

This is their story…

Happiness would become less of a befitting term to describe the emotions of few folks in Kerala(historically referred to as God’s own country) in South India, who are seemingly ‘on cloud nine’ for what was initially thought of as just a distant dream come to reality in Dubai last week. For them, the meetup with few of the best young jewels who have already represented Albiceleste colors in one format or the other could not have come at a better time and place.

To celebrate the milestone of 200k likes for a Facebook page named ‘Argentina Fans Kerala’ celebrating the achievements of Argentina in the game of soccer covering from historical legacy to day-to-day flashes of brilliance from even the fringe players in the reserves teams of Supeliga, meeting the quintet of Emanuel RIGONI, Matias KRANVITTER, Leandro PAREDES, Sebastian DRIUSSI, Emanuel MAMMANA from the Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg proved nothing short of a magical coincidence.

Few of the page admins or community craftsmen rather are from across the Middle East. This Facebook virtual community is backed by an intensely active dense pool of fans and well-wishers from across this small state who cheer for not just the wins, but even for any positive development in Argentina in footballing terms. It would never be an overstatement to say that these people in Kerala aren’t any short of passion or spirit compared to the true blue ‘argentinos’.

They identify themselves with Argentina and it’s passion for football way easier than any other group of people could with any other nation(love for one’s home nation discarded). Opportunity came beckoning as Mr. Noushad, staff at Al Shabab football club, based in Riyadh coordinated the whole meet up session after Zenit’s display at the stadium for a friendly match.

Abdul Khader, chief admin at the FB page couldn’t contain his excitement when asked about his experience talking to PAREDES, MAMMANA and KRANEVITTER who out of the five were found ‘super cool’ knowing there are people of different origin, race, color from a distant part of this world cheering for them as if they were their own cousins. The team from India also gifted the players a memento and in return, they wished all their support for the continued growth and expansion of the page.

Meanwhile, team ‘AFK'(as they fondly call themselves) is all pumped up with ‘Copa Mundial’ in Zenit’s own Rusia just five months away. They are all set to bleed ‘blue and white’ for their adopted country(purely for soccer’s sake)! “Vamos Vamós….”

A big thanks to Shihab Panthavooor and Mohammed Ameen for taking time to share their experience and also these amazing photos for Mundo Albiceleste!

Carlos TEVEZ: “The objective of the World Cup is there”

By

Roy Nemer

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January 30, 2018

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Carlos TEVEZ is back in Argentina and has his eyes set on the FIFA World Cup.

Now back from China and at his beloved Boca Juniors, Carlos TEVEZ is looking at not only doing well with Boca but at making the 2018 FIFA World Cup team. Argentina National Team coach Jorge SAMPAOLI has a lot to think about, especially when focusing on the attacking players. Lionel MESSI, Sergio AGUERO, Gonzalo HIGUAIN, Angel DI MARIA and Mauro ICARDI. That’s some attack. Throw in Joaquin CORREA, Angel CORREA, Lucas ALARIO, Cristian PAVON and possibly even Lautaro MARTINEZ and SAMPAOLI’s pool of strikers becomes bigger.

However, there’s one more name which is looking to be added to that pool as Carlos TEVEZ has thrown his hat in the ring and wants to be at Russia. Here’s what he had to say:

Carlos TEVEZ on making Argentina team:

“I’m working on getting to my best. I’m not going to make it easy for SAMPAOLI. It would be very nice to do great in these four months (leading up to the World Cup) and that the coach ends up having doubts. First I have to do well at Boca but the objective of the World Cup is there.”

After making Argentina’s 2006 FIFA World Cup squad under coach Jose PEKERMAN and the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Diego MARADONA at the helm, Carlos TEVEZ was left out of the 2014 team by Alejandro SABELLA when they made the final. Out went SABELLA and in came Tata MARTINO which saw Carlos TEVEZ return to the Argentina National Team.

Carlitos was part of the 2015 Copa America team but was left out of the 2016 tournament in the United States. The former Manchester United and Juventus man did not feature in a single match under previous coach Edgardo BAUZA nor current coach Alejandro SABELLA. There are two friendly matches in March against Spain and Italy, it’ll be very interesting to see if SAMPAOLI opts to go for the veteran or if he will continue to give a youth player such as Cristian PAVON a chance in the Argentina team.

Mauro ICARDI linked to shocking Real Madrid move

By

Roy Nemer

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January 29, 2018

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Mauro ICARDI is being linked in a shock move to Real Madrid.

The Inter captain posted a cryptic message on social media which then sparked controversy over the number 9’s future at the club. The Argentina number 9 tweeted “Bye Bye” while also posting on Instagram a picture saying “Growing up means being able to say goodbye”.

Inter director Piero AUSILIO spoke to Sky Sport and here’s what he had to say:

Piero AUSILIO on Mauro ICARDI

“ICARDI? I am not interested in things that I don’t have to response to.”

Chauu Chauuu 👋👋🤔

— MauroIcardi (@MauroIcardi) January 29, 2018

The Inter hitman is no stranger to Spain, having previously played for Barcelona’s B team prior to going to Italy. With only two days remaining until the end of the transfer window, should a move take place, it would have to be finalized very quickly. Jorge SAMPAOLI met with the former Sampdoria man while on a recent trip in Europe.