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Mauro ICARDI: “I’ve been waiting 4 years for this chance”

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Mauro ICARDI couldn’t hide his excitement of being called-up to the Argentina National Team.

He’s been jeered by away fans, home fans and rumored have been circulating for the better part of four years that he has been out of the National Team due to certain players’ dislike towards him. But now, it doesn’t matter. Following his two goal performance, Inter captain Mauro ICARDI took to the press to talk about his recent call-up to the Argentina National Team. Here’s what he had to say:

Mauro ICARDI on his call-up to the Argentina National Team:

“I’ve been waiting four years for this chance. It’s the fruits of my labor. I haven’t prepared with my team mates but I feel good. I want to do the same in the national team. There I will find the best players in the world and it will be great and important for me to be able to grow by playing with people like MESSI, DYBALA and BANEGA.”

ICARDI, who was called-up for Argentina’s last two friendly matches against Brazil and Singapore, did not play a single minute due to an injury but still traveled and remained with the team. Now, Argentina face a stern test against Uruguay in Montevideo on August 31 before playing at the Monumental on September 5 against Venezuela.

One man’s sunset is another man’s dawn, at least it appears to be the case with Mauro ICARDI and Gonzalo HIGUAIN after the latter was left out of the team with ICARDI earning his second consecutive call-up by coach Jorge SAMPAOLI.

Classy finishes from Javier PASTORE and SALA in France’s Ligue 1

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Javier PASTORE and Emiliano SALA both scored on the weekend in France.

The French Ligue 1 witnessed a couple of classy goals from the Argentine contingent. On Saturday, Nantes striker Emiliano SALA scored the winning goal for his club with a superb volley finish away against Troyes. The 26 year old joined Nantes bak in 2015 on a five year deal.

Not to be outdone by his compatriot, Paris St Germain were playing at home to Toulouse on Saturday and it was defnitely Javier PASTORE who had the better goal between the two. PSG put on a dazzling display scoring six goals, one of which was a fantastic finish from Javier PASTORE after receiving pass from Angel DI MARIA who combined well with NEYMAR. That goal would do wonders for PASTORE’s confidence, especially after being called-up to the Argentina National Team by Jorge SAMPAOLI for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.

The goal by Javier PASTORE:

Emiliano SALA’s goal:

However for his goal, SALA was chosen among the best eleven of the week in Ligue 1 by the French newspaper Le’Equipe.

Emiliano RIGONI, the latest Argentine at Zenit

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Argentinian number five is already on the way at Zenit with Emiliano RIGONO joining them.

They already have Leandro PARADES, Matías KRANVITTER, Sebastián DRIUSSI and Emanuel MAMMANA, now Zenit St Petersburg are about to add their fifth Argentine purchase of the season! It appears a deal has been struck to bring 24 year old midfielder Emiliano RIGONI of Independiente for $12 million. He has already departed to Russia to finalize the deal and will be presented within the next few days.

Here is a tweet from the El Rojo’s official account which features a video of RIGONI with a farewell message to his teammates and the fans.

The message by Emiliano RIGONI to Independiente fans:

Mauro ICARDI scores twice in Inter’s Serie A win

Mauro ICARDI scored twice for Inter in their Serie A win against Fiorentina.

Paulo DYBALA, Gonzalo HIGUAIN, Eduardo SALVIO and now Mauro ICARDI scored on the weekend. The Inter captain netted both goals in his team’s 2-0 victory against Fiorentina. The man rumored to get Argentina’s number 9 shirt scored a penalty kick and a header for his team.

ICARDI also reached a milestone having now contributed in 100 goals in the 147 matches he has played for Inter. He has now scored 79 goals and provided 21 assists in his Inter career. Congratulations, captain!

The two goals by Mauro ICARDI:

Several things in Argentina’s favor ahead of Uruguay WCQ clash

In just 11 days, on August 31, the Argentina national team will do battle with Uruguay in the first of a two-match set of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Argentina is currently in the playoff zone in the CONMEBOL qualifying table, so the team must come away with at least one point from this match. This contest will also mark the first competitive match for new Argentina manager Jorge SAMPAOLI.

While the jury is still out on how La Albiceleste’s starting XI will look for the match, we know for sure that Uruguay will be without their star striker, Luis Suárez. Suárez suffered a knee ligaments injury during the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup and will be out for a little over a month. Uruguay’s soccer federation has already confirmed he won’t be available for either of Uruguay’s next two qualifying matches.

The absence of Suárez is a massive blow to a Uruguay team that relies heavily on the offensive work of their top two strikers, Suárez and Edinson Cavani. Internal, direct replacements for Suarez could come in the form of Diego Rolan or Abel Hernandez, but it’s possible Uruguay changes their formation entirely, opting instead to play with Cavani alone at the top and adding a midfielder to the fold. Whatever Uruguay manager Óscar Tabárez does, his starting lineup will be significantly weakened. Advantage, Argentina.

Suarez’ absence isn’t the only thing that should have Argentina fans feeling optimistic. Uruguay’s recent form, against Argentina and against everyone else, is a serious cause for concern for La Celeste. Uruguay has lost its last five overall matches by a combined score of 15-4. Two of those matches were friendlies against Ireland and Italy, while the other losses were World Cup qualifiers against Chile, Brazil and Peru. They haven’t won a match of any kind since November 10 of last year.

In addition, Uruguay has lost its last two matches to Argentina, both 1-0 defeats. The most recent match featured a decisive Sergio AGÜERO headed goal and an Argentina team playing one-man down for half the match after Paulo DYBALA was bafflingly yellow carded for a second time. The last time Uruguay beat a fully reinforced Argentina team that wasn’t resting players, and not in penalties, was back in October of 2005, eight encounters ago.

With more time to digest SAMPAOLI’s teachings and tactics, Argentina should play even better than they did when they beat Brazil in early June. If the players adapt to an effective system as they seem to be able to, La Albiceleste will walk away from Estadio Centenario with three points.

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