Pablo ZABALETA sat down with Manchester City’s social media team as he answered fan questions.
ZABALETA answered some pretty interesting questions, one of which where he talked about coaching after he retires.
Gerardo MARTINO talks MESSI and Argentina
Gerardo MARTINO spoke about Lionel MESSI and the Argentina National Team. Here’s what he had to say about MESSI:
“We need to understand how difficult it is to be Lionel MESSI. Despite being the greatest, MESSI is an ordinary guy. He speaks like a normal guy, he acts like a normal guy. As a normal person, he has family, day-to-day problems in his life, friends and family, the usual.”
“MESSI hasn’t achieved everything yet. It should be clear to everyone that his life isn’t all plain sailing. In football, things don’t always go his way. It’s clear that not having won with Argentina weighs on him.”
“There are no doubts: he plays with the same intensity for club and country.”
“MESSI played great at the Copa America. It’s a tournament where you need to play every 3 or 4 days and he played very well. He’s strong willed – you see how determined he is when he plays for Argentina.”
“And you can even see how determined he is at an event which has nothing to do with Argentina, like the Ballon d’Or which he received for his received for his work at Barcelona.”
“Again he talked about needing to achieve greater success with Argentina.”
About the team not having won a senior trophy in years:
“I don’t know what it was like after the World Cup but I remember the room after the Copa final. If you took a picture of that room, saw those faces, then nobody would argue that these guys lacked emotion after what happened to Argentina.”
“It’s clear that we need to win, collectively, and anyone who works in football knows that it’s difficult to gain true recognition without titles. Unfortunately, this is reality. I do not share this view – for me what’s important is how we tread the path.”
Bayern Munich monitoring Mateo MUSACCHIO
Sport Bild in Germany is reporting that Bayern Munich would like to sign Mateo MUSACCCHIO of Villarreal for next season.
MUSACCHIO has been struggling with injuries for the past few seasons but appears to be in the plans of Carlo ANCELOTTI, Bayern’s coach for next season.
Zanetti Speaks About Messi & Maradona
In a recent interview, Javier ZANETTI, Argentina’s most capped player had his say on the comparison between Lionel MESSI and Diego MARADONA.
ZANETTI said “I do not understand the comparisons between the two (Messi and Diego Maradona)”.
“I think Diego was unique & Messi is doing unique things. What can you say about Messi?”. “Messi has won five Ballon d’Ors, four Champions Leagues and has scored 97 goals in a year”.
“There is no need to win a World Cup to certify that talent. Messi is an ambassador of Argentina, and I am also proud of him as an Argentine”.
Rumors on the three overage players for Olympics
Rumors in the media the past week have been circulating over who the 3 overage players will be for Argentina during the Olympics.
The last time Argentina took part in the 2009 Olympic games in football, Juan RIQUELME, Javier MASCHERANO and Nicolas PAREJA were the three players over the age of 23 who represented the Albiceleste. In 2004, it was Roberto AYALA, Gabriel HEINZE and Kily GONZALEZ.
The three names for 2016 appear to be goalkeeper Geronimo RULLI and defenders Ramiro FUNES MORI and Mateo MUSACCHIO.
While these names are not set in stone, they do appear to be the 3 overage players who will represent Argentina this summer in Rio.