Juventus, with Paulo DYBALA and Gonzalo HIGUAIN both starting, travelled away to Cagliari and managed to pick up a 2-0 victory. The goalscorer? Last season’s Serie A top goalscorer, Gonzalo HIGUAIN. The first goal saw HIGUAIN beat the offside trap and chip the goalkeeper (similar to what he tried to do in the final of the 2016 Copa America). The second goal was assisted by fellow Argentine Paulo DYBALA.
Lucas BIGLIA scored for Lazio in their 1-1 draw against Milan. BIGLIA, captain of Lazio, stepped up and scored a penalty (unlike in the 2015 Copa America against Colombia and the final of the 2016 Copa America) to give Lazio the lead. However, Milan drew level with minutes left in the match.
Our Champions League preview stars Lionel MESSI, Javier MASCHERANO, Angel DI MARIA, Javier PASTORE, Lisandro LOPEZ, Eduardo SALVIO, Franco CERVI and Emiliano MARTINEZ as they are the Argentine players who will be involved in this week’s Champions League matches.
While some are likely to start, others are out due to injury or even on the bench, a total of 8 Argentine’s will, one way or another be represented this week in the Champions League. On Tuesday, it will be Angel DI MARIA and Javier PASTORE’s Paris Saint-Germain who play host to Lionel MESSI and Javier MASCHERANO’s FC Barcelona in Paris.
Beginning in Paris, DI MARIA will look to add to his free kick goal he scored over the weekend while reports have Javier PASTORE on the bench for the French league champions. As for Barcelona, the Champions League’s leading goalscorer for the season Lionel MESSI will surely start while Javier MASCHERANO is ruled out due to a hamstring injury. These two teams have played several teams in the past few years with the Catalan club coming out on top and eliminating the French champions.
Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria: Team mates for Argentina, rivals on Tuesday
In Portugal, Eduardo SALVIO and Franco CERVI are both in contention to start the match for the hosts while defender Ezequiel LOPEZ is out due to injury as they play host to German club Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
In Germany, the lone Argentine representative happens to be for Arsenal as goalkeeper Emiliano MARTINEZ is fully expected to start the match on the bench for the visitors. The matches involving Argentine players this week are the following:
Tuesday, February 14:
Paris Saint-Germain vs. FC Barcelona
Benfica vs. Borussia Dortmund
Wednesday, February 15:
Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal
We will be posting the match highlights following the games on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Claudio UBEDA commented on this generation of players, the crisis at the youth level, the U20 World Cup and more.
In an extensive interview with Ole Clarin, Claudio UBEDA spoke about the crisis that is youth Argentine football, whether he will remain coach of the U20 team and it makes for a very interesting read. Here’s what he had to say:
About eliminating Brazil:
Is your heart still hurting like it was after the match ended between Brazil and Colombia? “My heart ached! The truth is I suffered a lot, I know that my family suffered a lot because they lived everything that was going on around us. Because they hear stuff, because I have kids who are adolescents and it hurts us all when you’re criticized and people don’t know you.”
Do you have a special feeling inside having left Brazil out of the World Cup? “Yes, the truth is I do. Yes because the match we played against Brazil, we deserved to win. And a few of the Brazilian players ribbed some of our players after the 2-2 draw. And also Argentina vs. Brazil is a clasico and is special. Furthermore because a giant (team) is not at the World Cup and that’s not something small.”
Regarding his job as coach:
It’s been 120 days since you’ve taken over as coach. Are things going your way? “The most important thing is we have managed to qualify for the World Cup. That was the first step we had to take in what has been a very short period of time working. I have to mention that because Uruguay, who won the tournament, have COITO as a coach and he has been there for more than four years working with the U15 and U17 teams. DUDAMEL in Venezuela is also their senior team coach but has been working with this U20 team for 18 months. There are a few National Team’s like that as well. The only team who had less time than us working together was Bolivia. I think when it comes to youth teams, it’s fundamental to work together for a long time. Miracles don’t happen overnight.”
You didn’t arrive to the Sudamericano in good shape. What do you have to do well in order to arrive in better shape for the World Cup? “It’s in May… Maybe we have a lot of time, we have to keep training a lot, we have to play more friendly matches in order for the players to get more comfortable because there’s a lot of players who are in the reserves. Some play a lot and others don’t. It’s not the same to play a practice behind closed doors than it is to play a friendly match.”
Coaching at the World Cup:
Do you see yourself coaching the team in South Korea or do you have doubts? “Today, I am the coach of the National Team and I have a contract until October 2017. And my goal is to coach the team at the World Cup. In the little time we’ve been together, we’ve been very serious and very responsible, dedicated. I want to stay, I want to coach at the World Cup because I know how much reaching it has cost us and we deserve the opportunity.”
If it would be a mistake to change coaches: “It’s difficult for me to answer because I’m in the middle of it all. But when a coaching decision is made, especially regarding youth teams, you have to take it seriously, to help shape players for the senior team, you have to support the project. The goal, aside from just qualifying for the World Cup, is that in a short time, players like Lautaro MARTINEZ, FOYTH and others can be part of the senior team.”
Claudio Ubeda, the man who will lead Argentina at the U20 World Cup
Projects at youth level:
Stability must be brought to the projects: “Clearly, yes. For that, there must be continuity in the work being done and the examples are clear: PEKERMAN is the best example of what we should have and that’s what Uruguay, Germany, Venezuela and others copied.”
Germany did just that and are world champions at senior level: “Exactly. Even more, two nights ago at the hotel I spoke with the Germany U20 coaches, they were in Quito to watch the rivals for the World Cup and also to see how the South American players trained. We have to learn to keep growing and learning. Not only the players but also the coaches and managers. You have to keep evolving.”
Crisis of Argentine football:
How do you stop the crisis at youth levels, the crisis which hasn’t stopped since TOCALLI left in 2007? “Time is what is needed. You can’t make miracles overnight. The fact that Venezuela is as equal to Argentina is because they’ve put in place a project. There are many teams which have evolved in South America because they put in the work throughout the years. And in Argentina they think that after the PEKERMANÂ era, you would just pick the players and they would compete but it’s not like that.”
And? “We believed that just because we are Argentine’s we were going to keep having the best players and that’s it. But that’s a big mistake. You have to work. During the chats with the players, we tell the kids to keep in mind the history behind the shirt, that we have to remember the 1986 generation who knew how to wear the shirt. And also this generation, with MESSI and MASCHERANO, who know how to wear the shirt.”
It gets repeated that Argentina just have immense talent but the results at the youth level don’t show that “Chickens don’t lay golden eggs, that’s the problem. There are times where you get CAMBIASSO, MILITO, RIQUELME, SORIN. But there are times where generations just don’t shine.”
Argentina legend Roberto AYALA spoke about quitting his role at the AFA while working with the youth teams.
In an interview with La Nacion, former Argentina international Roberto AYALA spoke about the reasons why he quit his job at the AFA and it wasn’t very pretty. Here’s what he had to say:
Roberto AYALA on the German connection:
“Oliver BIERHOFF, the German National Team manager told me they came to Argentina in the early 2000’s to learn about youth development. They wanted to know how our youth policy worked, they needed ideas for the redevelopment for the foundation of German football.”
“Back then when PEKERMAN was in charge, we set an example (in terms of football youth development) for the entire world. I wanted to set up a meeting with BIERHOFF but whilst his position lasted for a decade, mine was only for nine days.”
Getting called by AFA:
“The AFA called me up because they needed someone with football experience to set an identity within the AFA. I was very enthusiastic because I was attracted to sport management and it provided me a link to the National Team.”
“I did not like the project that was presented especially having a different coach for the Under 17 and Under 20 national sides. Especially with the U20 side, they made a wrong choice.They asked me to look for possible candidates and suddenly UBEDA’s name appeared. No one called or informed me about this. I was surprised that someone who didn’t present a project was selected instead”.
“From that moment, I knew I had nothing to do and there was no possibility. It was a wrong start, we’ve already made a wrong choice. I was in the middle of a great deal and I left. I had to apologize to those coaches because I was talking to them on behalf of the AFA.”
Edgardo BAUZA took to the airways to discuss his recent trip to Europe.
Argentina National Team coach was on the radio in Argentina where he discussed his recent trip to Europe, his chat with Jose MOURINHO, the full backs for the National Team and more. Here’s what he had to say:
The players in England:
“I spoke with yesterday MOURINHO for 20 minutes. I asked him about the players and how they were doing. It was a good chat. He spoke about the present and about every single one of his players. ROJO has done well and helped give MOURINHO results when he has played as a center back for Manchester United. I didn’t push for MOURINHO to play ROMERO, hah!”
“I was able to see and chat with the majority of the coaches of the players currently on the Argentina National Team. I had coffee with Marcos ROJO and Ramiro FUNES MORI.”
The Argentine players in Europe:
“Regarding those I wasn’t able to see, I spoke to them on the phone. With this trip, it has better helped me understand the players whey travel to Buenos Aires.”
“For me, Paulo DYBALA is a player who should play 30 meters close to goal but Juventus has him playing further back.”
“FAZIO is having a very good season with AS Roma. He’s upped his level and we’re following him.”
The U20’s and full back situation:
“Yesterday, we had to watch the Argentina U20 team on the internet because it wasn’t on television. It made me very happy to watch them qualify.”
“The number of players who will get called-up for the matches against Chile and Bolivia will surely be between 20 and 30 players.”
“Today, our two left backs are Marcos ROJO and Emmanuel MAS. Nicolas TAGLIAFICO has had a very good year but in terms of world class, he’s not at that level. We’re still following him.”
Manchester City players:
“Regarding the Manchester City players, I spoke with Sergio AGUERO as well as Nicolas OTAMENDI, Pablo ZABALETA and Willy CABALLERO. One thing that’s for sure is that for the matches against Chile and Bolivia, I will call-up Sergio AGUERO.”
