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Lautaro Martinez on his performance for Argentina at Copa America: “My form surprised me”

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Argentina striker Lautaro Martinez spoke about his form at the Copa America as well as playing with Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero.

Arguably Argentina’s breakout star at the Copa America, the Inter striker has had a very good start to his Argentina career. With six goals in 12 games, two of those goals came at the Copa America, a tournament where he started on the bench.

Speaking with TyC Sports, here’s what Lautaro had to say regarding his performance at the tournament:

“My form surprised me and the minutes which I got. I started (the Copa America) from the bench and as games went on, I won a place in the starting eleven. And this was important because I was just coming from a season where I didn’t play many minutes with my club and that did well for me as well as generated more confidence.

About playing with Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero:

“They are two players with a lot of experience, with extraordinary careers. I was picked to play with them and I was able to rapidly join the attack, where we had to do a bit of extra work to be able to play all three of us. You have to run more…

“We are happy with the Copa America we had, we got to third place with a lot of positive things and other things to correct.”

 

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni: “We will hope to take control” vs. Mexico

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Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni held a press conference in Texas before his team’s friendly match against Mexico on Tuesday.

Lionel Scaloni’s counterpart is no stranger to the Argentina national team or even Lionel Scaloni himself. Gerardo “Tata” Martino, current manager of Mexico, was Argentina’s coach just a few short years ago. As for Lionel Scaloni, the two are Newell’s Old Boys graduates.

However, Scaloni does expect a difficult match on Tuesday. Speaking at the press conference, he spoke about the Argentina team, the finals lost, “Tata” Martino and more. Talking about the team, here’s what he had to say:

“If we only thought about results, the call-up list would have been very different. At one point during the match against Chile, we lost control of the game. The team got together just a day prior and many of them are young. It’s difficult to maintain the rhythm for large periods of the game. Mexico takes control of the match and so do we. We will hope to take control.

“At the Copa America we played in a certain way because we had other players, we try to practically dot he same with different player characteristics and we hope it succeeds.”

Scaloni was asked about the finals lost and if they are a failure:

“Argentina played three finals. That could have meant winning two Copa’s America and a World Cup. There’s a very fine line. Had Argentina won the World Cup, we would not be saying this. Saying Argentina failed is complicated. Two of the finals lost were on penalties.

On playing against “Tata” Martino’s Mexico:

“We’re going up against a side with quality and for me, will soon be one of the best. They have great players and a coach with a very clear playing style.

“It will be a good test for us and for the players I’ve called-up to see how they will respond in this match. Mexico is practically playing at home and it will be a good test for what will come up against us.”

Argentina U23 win 3-1 vs. Colombia, preparation continues for pre-Olympic games

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It wasn’t the best of starts for the Argentina U23 team but after falling behind 1-0, the team rallied back to a 3-1 win.

With star man Adolfo Gaich with the senior team, Fernando Batista’s squad had more than enough goals in them to defeat Bolivia 5-0 last week. The second game against Colombia would prove to be a little bit more difficult.

Colombia scored the opening goal but Nicolas Gonzalez drew Argentina level. The Stuttgart man was at the end of a cross as his effort beat the Colombian goalkeeper.

Argentina would take the lead through Matias Vargas. A lovely pentalty to the goalkeeper’s left made it 2-1 for Batista’s team.

Julian Carranza would make it 3-1 and confirm the victory. Carranza received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and his low shot was enough for Argentina’s third.

The team will continue to prepare for January’s pre-Olympic tournament where they will try to qualify for next summer’s games.

Here was the starting eleven:

Joaquin Blazquez; Facundo Mura, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Francisco Ortega; Santiago Ascacibar, Nicolas Capaldo; Lucas Robertone, Nicolas Gonzalez, Matias Vargas; Ezequiel Ponce

Nicolas Otamendi, Gio Lo Celso out of Argentina team vs. Mexico, Lautaro, others to start

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Nicolas Otamendi and Giovani Lo Celso are out of the Argentina team as there are rumors of a potential line-up vs. Mexico on Tuesday.

Only four players who started in the 0-0 draw vs. Chile are expected to remain in the starting eleven. Lucas Martinez Quarta, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul and Lautaro Martinez are rumored to start, this per a report by TyC Sports.

As for Nicolas Otamendi and Giovani Lo Celso, the Manchester City man will travel back to England as was previously stipulated. Gio Lo Celso will miss out due to a knock he received in the first game.

Goalkeeper Esteban Andrada will start in place of Agustin Marchesin, who kept a clean sheet against Chile. German Pezzella and Marcos Acuna might get the start as well. Nicolas Tagliafico, Gonzalo Montiel and Paulo Dybala’s presence will depend on their recovery and fatigue.

 

Argentina cancels October friendly game vs. Basque Country

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Argentina have cancelled their October friendly game against the Basque Country.

The FVF, the Basque Country football federation, have announced that Argentina have cancelled their friendly game against them next month. The match was set to take place on October 13 in San Mames, the official stadium of Athletic Bilbao.

It remains to be seen if Argentina will announce an opponent as a replacement.