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Lionel MESSI: “I want to talk about the final”

Lionel MESSI held a lengthy press conference where he spoke about the final, the AFA and more.

Lionel MESSI spoke to the media where he commented about winning the Copa America, what’s going on in the AFA and a lot more. Here’s what he had to say:

“We’ve grown a lot the past few years as a group and as a team. We reached the final very well.”

“I want to think about the final. After that, we can talk about what I think, what I believe (about the AFA). After the final, I’ll explain why I wrote what I wrote and all my thoughts about it. What’s going on in the AFA has not affected us. What we’re asking for is minimal: To travel and to rest properly. Things have been going on for a while now and we haven’t said anything. We only think about our objectives. The Argentina National Team is a world class team that requires the best in order to do the right things.”

“I have good memories of MetLife Stadium. For my three goals and for the 4-3 win against Brazil.”

“We know Chile. They’re a very complete National Team and for that they’ve reached another final. I think it’ll be a final similar enough to last year’s.”

“What BLATTER said is a lie (about MESSI’s comments after the World Cup)”.

“It’ll be a big disappointment to lose another final. It wouldn’t be a failure but a big disappointment to lose a third consecutive final. We have to forget the finals which we lost and think that we have a new opportunity.”

“We’re used to playing finals. We don’t have pressure in that sense. Hopefully we can win and the moment can be as it should be.”

“It’s a pleasure to play alongside Ever BANEGA. He helps you so that everything becomes easier. MARTINO wants me to have the freedom to move to the right or the middle and not to leave space for the opponents”.

“I don’t know if this will be the last chance to win a title but we have to enjoy it. I would like to change history and become champion with the National Team.”

Copa America on Sunday to be official tournament

There’s been a lot of talk about this Copa America.

Many said it’s not a real tournament or that the winner would not get to count it as a win in their Copa America victories. That has since been put to rest by Alejandro DOMINGUEZ, the president of CONMEBOL.

“The winner of the Copa America on Sunday will be awarded the official title of Copa America champions”.

Meaning should Argentina win the final of the Copa America, it will be their 15th title and if Chile win, their second title.

The president also spoke about the 2017 Confederations Cup stating that if Argentina win, he has challenged UEFA to have a match between Argentina and the Euro winners. And if Argentina win that match, they would be in next year’s Confederations Cup.

Argentina to train tonight, referee revealed

Argentina will be training on Friday evening. This will be the first training session in New Jersey ahead of the final.

Following the training session, two players will hold a press conference.

With DI MARIA’s injury relapse, it looks all but set that Erik LAMELA will start. No news on Nicolas GAITAN but it doesn’t look like he will be good to start or even play for the final.

The referee for the final of the Copa America is Brazilian Heber LOPES. He was also the referee when Argentina defeated Chile 2-1 in Santiago in the World Cup Qualifiers in March.

Argentina’s bench for Sunday

Argentina’s bench for Sunday’s Copa America final is looking very thin due to the injuries.

Ezequiel LAVEZZI and Augusto FERNANDEZ are both officialy ruled out of the final. Javier PASTORE is all but ruled out as well, making it 3 players who would not be able to take part in the match. Nicolas GAITAN doesn’t seem to have recovered from his injury and is unlikely to play.

That would leave the team with 19 players. Out of those 19, 2 are goalkeepers which brings it down to 17. And with 11 of those 17 starting, it means only 6 outfield player substitutes for Tata MARTINO.

Those 6 would be Angel DI MARIA (who is not fully fit), Sergio AGUERO, Facundo RONCAGLIA, Jonathan MAIDANA, Victor CUESTA and Matias KRANEVITTER.

I wrote DI MARIA as Erik LAMELA looks to be the starter. Out of those 6, only 2 are attack minded players and one of them is not fully fit.

Lionel MESSI’s AFA statement

Lionel MESSI took to Instagram to post a picture and a comment about the AFA.

The team is still in Texas and has not yet left for New Jersey for the Copa America final. The flight was apparently delayed and MESSI posted the following on Instagram:

Instagram Messi

The message at the bottom reads:
“Once again waiting on the plane to get to our destination. My God, what a mess the AFA is.”

The AFA sent out a statement indirectly responding to MESSI, pointing the blame to bad weather and to the organizers of the Copa.

The larger picture of MESSI’s comments are more than just about the flight but about the AFA. Anyone who knows anything about the Argentinian FA know that they are absolutely corrupt.

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