Alarming news for Jorge SAMPAOLI as Lucas BIGLIA was substituted off injured for AC Milan.
Lucas BIGLIA reportedly felt some discomfort in his lower back and left the pitch with 20 minutes to play on Saturday. It went from bad to worse for AC Milan. With the team losing 1-0 at home to Benevento, BIGLIA was taken out.
The seriousness of his injury is still unknown.
Former Argentina National Team coach Alfio BASILE wrote about Gonzalo HIGUAIN, the chance he missed in the 2014 FIFA World Cup final, Lionel MESSI, Jorge SAMPAOLI and Marcelo BIELSA.
In Alfio BASILE’s latest autobiography, the former two time Copa America winning coach commented on HIGUAIN’s infamous miss. In the book called “Generación Lio”, BASILE also spoke about Jorge SAMPAOLI (and how he doesn’t know him), Lionel MESSI himself and Marcelo BIELSA. Here’s what he had to say:
“Of all the players, the one that was most singled out by the people for blame was Gonzalo HIGUAIN. They do not want him in their squad because when that World Cup is remembered, the chance he missed at the start is what cost us the title.
“The truth is that it’s difficult to explain what happened to him, because suddenly he was unmarked, had the ball at his feet and was 20 metres from goal with every option open to him and could place the ball anywhere, but instead the mist descended and he fired it wide.
“It’s not good to say that he soiled himself, but that’s basically what happened. He was weighed down by the responsibility of realising he was about to score the goal that gave Argentina the World Cup and would gain immortality.”
Alfio BASILE on Jorge SAMPAOLI:
“SAMPAOLI, in the group of coaches, no one knows him. Because between us, among colleagues, we all know each other. We always see each other in meetings in the different countries in South America but he was never in any of them. It’s amazing how he got the Argentina National Team job. He got it only because he won the Copa America with Chile by beating us. Only then did I find out who he was…”
Alfio BASILE on Marcelo BIELSA:
“BIELSA is the most marketed coach in the world. More than GUARDIOLA and MOURINHO put together. He manages mediocre teams that don’t have the obligation of being champions. How is it that when he took Lille, all of a sudden they even started televising the training sessions.”
Alfio BASILE on Lionel MESSI:
“MESSI is an alien. When I was coach, the “friends club” didn’t exist. At least, at that time it didn’t…”
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.
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.
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.
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