The Champions League is back, the qualifiers that is to say and Franco CERVI gave his team the win.
In leg 1 of the third qualifying round, Benfica were at home against Turkish club Fenerbahce and three Argentine players were in the starting eleven. Eduardo SALVIO, Facundo FERREYRA and Franco CERVI all started with German CONTI an unused substitute on the bench.
The ball found the former Rosario Central man who controlled it and under tight pressure shot with his left footo put it into the net.
Inter could reportedly go after Argentina midfielder Leandro PAREDES.
Per a report by TuttoSport, should Inter be unable to land midfielder Luka MODRIC from Real Madrid, the club would turn their attention to Zenit’s Leandro PAREDES. With Real Madrid having already sold star player Cristiano RONALDO, it appears difficult that they would also let go of a second star player.
PAREDES joined the Russian club last season (along with several other Argentine players) but a move to a bigger European club could certainly help his career and possibly even chances of being included in the Argentina National Team. He’s previously played in Serie A with Empoli, AS Roma and Chievo.
Argentina have made the final of the COTIF following a dramatic penalty shootout win against Uruguay.
After sufferign a shock 2-1 defeat against India, Lionel SCALONI’s U20 team were up against Uruguay in the semi-finals. With a match against Russia in the final up for grabs, Argentina managed a shootout win, despite going down to 10 men. Andres AYALA was shown his second yellow card of the match which got his sent off but it was Estudiantes goalkeeper Jeronimo Portau which was the star.
The final against Russia takes place on Wednesday and despite not playing well in their previous two matches, hopefully they’ll be able to put that behind them and win the tournament.
Two of Argentina’s starting players at the 2018 FIFA World Cup were the stars for their European club team as Sergio AGUERO and Angel DI MARIA both netted twice with Lautaro MARTINEZ giving Inter the win.
Sergio AGUERO has started off the season with two goals as his Manchester City took down Chelsea to win the Community Shield. The first goal came after just 13 minutes where a shot from just inside the edge of the area beat Willy CABALLERO. That goal was AGUERO’s 200th in a Manchester City shirt, a record.
However, that tally would not stand for long as shortly after the break, AGUERO netted goal number 201 with a lovely strike from inside the area. AGUERO looking ery sharp early in the season.
Over to Paris where DI MARIA lifted his own piece of silverware (along with Giovani LO CELSO) for PSG in their 4-0 win against Monaco to lift the Trophee des Champions. DI MARIA’s first was from a set piece as his free kick gave PSG the lead. A wonderful strike by the former Rosario Central man. Angel DI MARIA’s second goal of the night came from inside the area in injury team.
Lautaro MARTINEZ continues his excellent form for Inter in pre-season as he has now scored three goals. A pass sent into the Lyon penalty area found an unmarked Lautaro who scored ti give Lyon the 1-0 win.
It was a team goal deserving of winning a match – the @Mastercard goal of the match goes to Lautaro Martínez and @Inter, as they won 1-0 against @OL. #ICC2018 #ChampionsMeetHere pic.twitter.com/EmXNSqUWcw
— International Champions Cup (@IntChampionsCup) August 4, 2018
Lionel SCALONI’s Argentina U20 team are in the semi-finals of the COTIF tournament following a 2-0 win against MAURITANIA.
It took just two minutes for Argentina to find the back of the net following an Alvaro BARREAL volley. The assist coming from Adolfo GAICH (who scored both goals against Murcia). GAICH headed the ball forward into the area and BARREAL with a low volley’d shot put it past the goalkeeper. The first half ended 1-0 in favor of SCALONI’s boys.
Facundo COLIDIO took advantage of a massive defensive error by Mauritania as he chipped the ball over the goalkeeper and took a second shot to confirm the victory for his team.
Three wins out of three at COTIF and coach Lionel SCALONI is happy about it all. Following the victory, here’s what he had to say:
“Hopefully we can win the tournament. But if not, the important thing is that the kids leave with a feeling that they learned something important which is putting on this shirt and always giving it your all.
“Today, I was only thinking about the match against Mauritania. These kids deserve my utmost respect. If I start to think of what’s to come, it would be a lack of respect not only to them but to me as well.
“We have a footballing culture that very few countries have. If we can add proper behavior, humility and hard work, surely we will become what we once were at youth level.”
When asked about his good friend Pablo AIMAR, SCALONI had this to say:
“I have known Pablo (AIMAR) for a long time. Football wise, we think very similarly.”
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