Rodrigo DE PAUL has renewed his contract with Udinese.
The Argentina man has put pen to paper, inking a new deal which would keep him until at the Serie A club until 2023, which would bring his total time there to seven years. DE PAUL joined Udinese back in 2016 after bouncing around between Valencia and Racing Club.
Erik LAMELA of Tottenham is back in the Argentina squad.
Lionel SCALONI’s list of players for Argentina’s friendly matches vs. Mexico has been announced and there are some returns. Most notably, Erik LAMELA and Emanuel MAMMANA are both included. Here’s the squad:
Defenders:
Ramiro FUNES MORI (Villarreal)
German PEZZELLA (Fiorentina)
Renzo SARAVIA (Racing Club)
Nicolas TAGLIAFICO (Ajax)
Walter KANNEMANN (Gremio)
Nicolas OTAMENDI (Manchester City)
Gabriel MERCADO (Sevilla)
Emanuel MAMMANA (Zenit)
Juan FOYTH (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders:
Marcos ACUNA (Sporting de Lisboa)
Maxi MEZA (Independiente)
Franco VAZQUEZ (Sevilla)
Giovani LO CELSO (Real Betis)
Leandro PAREDES (Zenit)
Santiago ASCACIBAR (Stuttgart)
Rodrigo BATTAGLIA (Sporting de Lisboa)
Matias ZARACHO (Racing Club)
Roberto PEREYRA (Watford)
Forwards:
Rodrigo DE PAUL (Udinese)
Franco CERVI (Benfica)
Angel CORREA (Atletico Madrid)
Lautaro MARTINEZ (Inter)
Mauro ICARDI (Inter)
Giovanni SIMEONE (Fiorentina)
Paulo DYBALA (Juventus)
Erik LAMELA (Tottenham Hotspur)
Eduardo SALVIO (Benfica)
Argentina’s list of players for the friendly matches vs. Mexico.
As we reported a few days ago, no players from Boca Juniors or River Plate would be called up for these matches due to the final of the Copa Libertadores.
Agustin MARCHESIN, Gabriel MERCADO, Emanuel MAMMANA and Erik LAMELA are all back in the Argentina team. Matias ZARACHO gets his first call
The “never happened” is happening as for the first time ever, we will have a Superclasico final in the Copa Libertadores as Boca Juniors play against River Plate.
Boca Juniors won the first leg 2-0 vs. Palmeiras as they took that advantage back to Brazil with them. It was the Argentine club who took an early lead in the first half with Ramon ABILA scoring to give Boca the lead. VILLA received the ball out wide and sent in a low pass which found ABILA as his shot bounced off the post and in. It was 3-0 for Boca on aggregate.
However, just seven minutes into the second half, LUAN pounced on a loose ball in the Boca penalty area and his shot beat the Boca goalkeeper. It was 1-1 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
Things were going from bad to worse. A tackle by IZQUIERDOS meant a Palmeiras penalty kick. GOMEZ stepped up and made it 2-1 for Palmeiras.
In came the Boca hero of the first leg Dario BENEDETTO. He was brought in and instantly made an impact. His shot from outside of the penalty area beat the goalkeeper and any possible come back by Palmeiras was over. Boca Juniors had qualified for the final of the Copa Libertadores.
This now sets up a Superclasico final for the first time in Libertadores history. It’s also fitting because this is the last time the Copa Libertadores final will be contested over two legs. Moving forward, the final will be one match at a neutral stadium.
AFA president Claudio TAPIA has stated that Lionel SCALONI might have a chance to remain as coach of the Argentina national team.
The AFA president was speaking on TyC Sports and praised coach Lionel SCALONI. He stated that SCALONI could stay on as Argentina coach. Here’s what he had to say:
“When the cycle started, the chance didn’t exist. But the people ended up identifying with this Argentina national team and it could be decided that they (Lionel SCALONI’s coaching staff) could have a chance. We all want the best for Argentina and if this process continues to grow, we have to take advantage of it.
“I’m happy with SCALONI’s work. It wouldn’t be crazy for him to coach at the Copa America. We don’t have to go crazy, we know what our objectives are and the closest thing is the Copa America. It wouldn’t be crazy if he were to coach.
“In the matches which SCALONI coached, we saw two different teams and both teams played well and had chances. Against Brazil, maybe a little less but truthfully, they played well. I saw it, I saw the way he came to work and no doubt he’s a coach to respect. The attitude shown by these players reflect what is being identified with this coach. The good things have to be mentioned.”
Gonzalo MARTINEZ scored a dramatic penalty in injury time to send River Plate to the final of the Copa Libertadores, eliminating Gremio 2-1, 2-2 on aggregate.
It was a semi final match which had it all. Goals, drama and even VAR. River Plate started the match strongly but were unable to convert their chances. It was Gremio which took the lead in the first half through a goal by Leonardo GOMES.
The second half saw Argentina goalkeeper Franco ARMANI make a key save when 1 on 1 against Everton. That saved proved to be massive.
Rafael SANTOS BORRE pulled one back for River Plate in the 82nd minute, a header past the goalkeeper gave Marcelo GALLARDO’s team a chance to still qualify for the final. Controversy soon came afterwards when referee Andres CUNHA went to VAR to award River Plate a penalty kick and send off Marcelo GROHE of Gremio.
Up stepped Gonzalo MARTINEZ and he was able to dispatch his spot kick into the back of the net to send River Plate to the final.
This could set up an all Argentine clash as fierce rivals Boca Juniors play against Palmeiras, with Boca taking a 2-0 lead into the second leg.
