La Liga side Malaga have just completed the signing Argentine midfielder Emanuel CECCHINI from Banfield for a 5 years contract.
Spanish newspaper Marca announced earlier this week that the two clubs had agreed to a fee of €5 million for the highly rated 20 year old.
Augusto FERNANDEZ is back from injury after having been sidelined for over 300 days.
The Atletico Madrid man was back and was very happy to have taken part in his first match back in nearly a year. FERNANDEZ has been out since September 25, 2016 after having been substituted off during a match. Tests were done on the player which confirned that he had completely ruptured a ligament in his right knee.
The rehabilitation took nearly a year to come back and made his return in Atletico Madrid’s 0-0 draw against Toluca. Following the match, FERNANDEZ had this to say:
“Before the kick-off, I felt as if I was making my debut again. I enjoyed it. I’m where I want to be.”
“The time to play had come again and I felt I was in the place where I like to be. The truth is that I felt good, I will go slowly to pick up the pace and feel physically stronger.”
“The important thing is that my knee is good, it is responding well and I am going to get back where I was.”
“I feel grateful to all the people who supported me. I have felt that my colleagues have also been happy to see me again on the field and this shows that we are a great family.”
According to rumors, FERNANDEZ will be called-up by Jorge SAMPAOLI for Argentina’s upcoming World Cup Qualifying matches and might even feature with Ever BANEGA in midfield. However, at this point, those are only rumors.
There is a possibility that Argentina will play a friendly with Cameroon at the near future.Â
The Indomitable Lions team’s manager and former Boca Juniors striker Alphonse TCHAMI was in Buenos Aires where he met up with AFA’s President Claudio TAPIA. He was brought around by TAPIA for a visit at the National Team’s training complex and to check out the facilities available there.Â
We will just have wait and see whether this match gets materialized or not.Â
In the meantime, here is perhaps the most memorable match up between these two sides. What a day (depending on how you interpret this!) it was for anyone who watch this back in 1990, played at the San Siro as the opening match for the 1990 World Cup.
What happened? Well the rest they say is history…
According to reports, Chile will be deducted two points from their current standings in the World Cup Qualifiers following Bolivia’s fiasco.
Strong reports are emerging that Chile get two points deducted off the table, meaning Argentina would leapfrog them into an automatic World Cup Qualifying position in fourth place with Chile dropping down to fifth place. Originally, Argentina were in fourth and Chile in fifth but an appeal against Bolivia (for having fielded an inleligble player) was put in place and a decision was taken to award Chile the full 3 points following their 0-0 draw against Bolivia. Chile being awarded the full 3 points meant they went higher than Argentina in the table.
However, there was an appeal set in motion and it appears that the original decision will be reversed. According to La Nacion, the reason for the reversal was because the original appeal (against Bolivia for having fielded the player) was sent out more than 24 hours after the match (which appears to be the window should a federation want to appeal).
[mstw_league_standings league=world-cup-qualifiers season=2016]
This would be a major boost in Argentina’s confidence and chances of qualifying for the World Cup as Chile would be down to 21 points with Argentina at 22 points. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Argentina National Team coach Jorge SAMPAOLI had this to say about the issue:
“It’s not a small issue. If the decision is made, we will welcome it. For us, it’s clear that we have Argentina in this position (in fifth place) in the table. If they change it later, it would be welcomed.”
“We hope to reverse this dubious decision. Hopefully they’ll take the two points away from Chile and the qualifiers can go back to normal.”
“I think they’ll take away the points because in football, there’s a lot of dark hands.”
The decision is expected in the upcoming days.
Jorge SAMPAOLI spoke about a number of topics concerning the Argentina National Team.
Speaking at a press conference in Ezeiza, SAMPAOLI commented on Lionel MESSI, Sergio AGUERO, Argentina’s youth teams and more. Here’s what he had to say:
“I have had the good fortune to arrive with the national team at the time that MESSI’s ban was lifted. We have the best player in the world. From him the team is born. The only undisputed starter is MESSI. The other players will be analyzed and evaluated after every match. To leave MESSI alone at this moment is a mistake. We need to surround him with the best players possible. There are no players who have more privilege than others (except for MESSI).”
“Sergio AGUERO has the same chances of being called-up as the other forwards. The number 9’s I have are very talented. The most important thing will be how they can compliment the other players. It’s a shame that Ramiro FUNES MORI can’t be here. He’s what we are looking for in an Argentina player.”
“He’s a player with experience who understands the challenge the team face at this moment.”
“Argentina made a difference with the youth teams in the era of PEKERMAN and TOCALLI because they looked for players who played good football. Argentina has stopped doing what it did best which was betting on talent.”
“Uruguay is a very brave team, a determined team. They’ve been working with TABAREZ for a long time and that gives them an advantage over us.”
“Regarding CENTURION, I only analyze him as a footballer.”
Jorge SAMPAOLI will be visiting Europe prior to announcing his list of players for next month’s World Cup Qualifiers. He will be in London, Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Sevilla and Madrid.
