Argentine Football Association Claudio Tapia is confident that Lionel Messi will return for national team duty at the turn of the year. The Barcelona superstar has not featured for the South American heavyweights since the summer World Cup where the nation were ousted by France at the round of 16 stage.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has indicated that he would welcome the prospect of managing in the Serie A in the future. The Argentine has built up his reputation since making the move to the Premier League with Southampton in January 2013 and he is presently the head coach of Spurs.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has backed Paulo Gazzaniga to have a big future ahead after impressing whenever he has been called up for first-team duty. The Argentine started the season as the third-choice shot-stopper behind Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm but he has slowly jumped ahead of the latter in the pecking order.
Gazzaniga found himself in the wilderness during his time at Southampton but he managed to change his fortunes after impressing for Rayo Vallecano during the 2016/17 season. As such, he was surprisingly recruited by Spurs last year and he has since make inroads with the occasional appearance for the north London club.
In the current campaign, the 26-year-old has made five appearances across all competitions and two of thosehave come in the Premier League when Hugo Lloris was on the sidelines with an injury. His showing has also caught the eye of interim Argentine boss Lionel Scaloni, who recently rewarded him with a maiden call-up to the national team.
Tottenham are currently on 27 points after the opening 12 league matches and this sees them occupying the final Champions League spot ahead of arch-rivals Arsenal. Next up, they are scheduled to host London rivals Chelsea following the international break before making the trip across the city to face the Gunners.
Boca Juniors were able to seal a semi-final place in the Copa Libertadores after a 1-1 draw with Cruzeiro in the second leg match. The first leg meeting between the two clubs finished as a 2-0 victory after goals from Mauro Zarate and Pablo Perez. The red card for Dede in the closing stages of the match was a key factor in deciding this outcome. As a result, Cruzeiro were under a lot of pressure in order to get a positive result in the second leg.
Boca Juniors striker Carlos Tevez has revealed the difference between former teammates Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo during his recent interview with the Argentine press. Tevez had the opportunity to share the same dressing room with Ronaldo during his time at Manchester United whilst he has featured alongside Messi on a number of occasions when he has represented the national side.
Boca Juniors striker Carlos Tevez believes it would be understandable if Lionel Messi decides against turning up for Argentina again. The Barcelona superstar was heavily criticised after the South American nation flopped at the recent World Cup and they has since been speculation suggesting that he may retire from national team duty.
Carlos Tevez has highlighted that Lionel Messi remains a key player for Argentina going forward and has urged his compatriot to continue playing for the national team despite their early exit from the World Cup. The Argentines struggled to keep a clean sheet during the recent World Cup finals in Russia and they were eventually ousted by France during the round of 16 of the tournament.
Argentina have confirmed that they have mutually parted ways with Jorge Sampaoli following a disappointing World Cup campaign. The South Americans had to scrape through the group stages of the tournament but they were thereafter eliminated in the round of 16 stage where they lost 4-3 to eventual champions France.
Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli has stressed that he is not underestimating the strength of Iceland after deciding to announce the starting line-up, a day before the encounter. The pair are expected to tussle during the opening World Cup game in Group D and Sampaoli has explained that he does not need to hide the line-up which has supposedly been leaked.
Former Chelsea star Hernan Crespo believes Argentina should try and secure their progress to the last 16 of the World Cup prior to their final group stage game against Nigeria. Speaking to Championat.com, the Argentine admitted that his nation won’t have an easy game against the Super Eagles in Group D and he is hopeful of seeing them qualifying prior to the encounter.
