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Diego MARADONA comments on Lionel MESSI and the Argentina National Team

Roy Nemer
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21

Diego MARADONA is never short on words and he has stated that he would like to see Lionel MESSI retire from the Argentina National Team and gave his thoughts on coach Lionel SCALONI.

Speaking in an interview with Clarin, MARADONA did not hold back and said that the fault is unfairly always on Lionel MESSI. Here’s what he had to say:

“He is not at fault for not being a world champion. We had all our hopes on him but when you go to the race tracks, you hope that your horse wins and he ends up coming in eigth. In Formula 1, VETTEL has a great engine and he beat HAMILTON. Today, the National Team doesn’t excite me at all. The same way it doesn’t wake up the fans. We lost that. The passion.

“You can’t play with Nicaragua, you can’t play against Malta. No, brother. We are throwing all the prestige we have down the toilet.”

On the topic of Lionel MESSI:

“I would like to see MESSI take a hit on us all and not come back to the Argentina National Team.”

Diego MARADONA stated that he would like for MESSI “to not come back to the Argentina National Team” and that he “retires” because “he’s always at fault.”

Regarding the Argentina National Team and coach Lionel SCALONI, Diego MARADONA is against having SCALONI as coach. He also gave his thoughts on the World Cup:

“It hurt me a lot what happened at the World Cup. Because there wasn’t respect. Now they put SCALONI. SCALONI is a great guy but he can’t even direct traffic. How are they going to give the Argentina National Team to SCALONI? Are we all crazy? And SCALONI says “I’m ready.” But I never even saw you score a goal for Argentina.

“With all the respect, eh. As a guy, let’s go have a barbeque. But as a coach and of the Argentina National Team, no.”

Federico FAZIO scores for AS Roma, Ignacio PUSSETTO for Udinese in Serie A

Roy Nemer
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15

Federico FAZIO went from zero to hero for AS Roma while Ignacio PUSSETTO scored through an assist by Rodrigo DE PAUL.

The Argentina defender had a terrible start to the Capital derby in Italy. With AS Roma leading 1-0 (after Javier PASTORE was substituted off due to injury), FAZIO received the ball near his area and through a miss control, was pick pocketed which lead to Lazio equalizing.

A powerful free kick by Aleksandar KOLAROV gave Roma the lead once more and Federico FAZIO sealed the win with his second in six Serie A matches this season. A free kick was sent in as FAZIO latched on to the ball and headed it into the corner of the net.

Speaking after the match, KOLAROV had this to say about FAZIO:

“I tell Fazio, as I’m one of the oldest on the team, the problem isn’t the mistake you make, but it’s about how you get back on your feet afterwards. I also want to compliment Lorenzo Pellegrini, who is young but showed he can handle pressure.”

Ignacio PUSSETTO scored in Udinese’s 2-1 loss to Bologna. Recently called-up to the Argentina National Team, Rodrigo DE PAUL sent in a lovely cross from one side of the pitch to the other which found PUSSETTO who controlled the ball and scored to give Udinese the 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for Udinese, it was the only joy as Bologna would later equalize minutes away from half time and would score the winner in the 82nd minute.

Sergio AGUERO scores for Manchester City, Lautaro MARTINEZ for Inter

Roy Nemer
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46

One Argentine with a bucket load of experience scored for Manchester City while the other managed his first competitive goal in a European league.

Manchester City’s all time leading goal scorer Sergio AGUERO added one more to his City tally as they managed a 2-0 win against Brighton. After Raheem STERLING opened the scoring for the league champions, AGUERO dribbled past a Brighton players in old school AGUERO fashion, played the pass and was at the end of it all to double City’s lead.

Coach Pep GUARDIOLA later admitted that AGUERO has been struggling with fitness issues lately.

“AGUERO is struggling with some problems in his feet. We spoke about him playing 55, 60 mins. That’s what happened. We were lucky he scored a goal in that moment.”

Lautaro MARTINEZ finally managed his first competitive goal for Inter in their 2-0 win against Cagliari. MARTINEZ, who started ahead of captain Mauro ICARDI, headed in the first goal of the match. It will definitely boost his confidence even more, especially after he’s been called-up to the Argentina National Team after he had to pull out of the last two friendly matches.

 

Argentina goalkeeper Geronimo RULLI relegated to Real Sociedad bench

Roy Nemer
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44

It’s been a week of mixed emotions for Geronimo RULLI.

The former Estudiantes goalkeeper hasn’t had the best start of the season. He’s made several goalkeeping mistakes yet despite that, he has found himself in Lionel SCALONI’s Argentina squad. Following a 3-0 win against Guatemala, RULLI started for Sociedad and played rather poorly yet was included in the latest Argentina team which was announced on Friday.

Fast forward to Saturday and he found himself on the bench for Real Sociedad as they lost 1-0 at home to Valencia. There were rumors a few weeks back that RULLI would be dropped from the Argentina team in place of Boca Juniors goalkeeper Esteban ANDRADA. However, ANDRADA would later get injured and that kept the door open for RULLI.

Argentina squad announced as Nicolas OTAMENDI, Roberto PEREYRA make list

Roy Nemer
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248

The Argentina list is out and Nicolas OTAMENDI returns to the squad while Roberto PEREYRA and Rodrigo DE PAUL make the team.

Lionel SCALONI’s list for next month’s friendly matches against Iraq and Brazil has been announced and there are some changes. Here’s the squad:

Argentina’s squad for matches against Iraq and Brazil.

Goalkeepers:
Sergio ROMERO
Franco ARMANI
Geronimo RULLI

Defenders:
Nicolas OTAMENDI
Ramiro FUNES MORI
German PEZZELLA
Walter KANNEMANN
Juan FOYTH
Nicolas TAGLIAFICO
Alan FRANCO
Fabricio BUSTOS
Renzo SARAVIA

Midfielders:
Santiago ASCACIBAR
Leandro PAREDES
Giovani LO CELSO
Franco VAZQUEZ
Rodrigo DE PAUL
Roberto PEREYRA
Eduardo SALVIO
Franco CERVI
Rodrigo BATTAGLIA
Marcos ACUNA
Maxi MEZA
Exequiel PALACIOS

Forwards:
Cristian PAVON
Gonzalo MARTINEZ
Paulo DYBALA
Mauro ICARDI
Lautaro MARTINEZ
Angel CORREA
Giovanni SIMEONE

Gabriel MERCADO misses out this time around as does Matias VARGAS of Velez. Despite being in fine form, Erik LAMELA of Tottenham doesn’t make the cut and would have to wait for the next matches in order to try and make the squad.

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