I remember how Germany showed up in 2010 with a team full of unknown young domestic players. Neuer, Khedira, Ozil, Kroos and Boateng played for teams like Schalke/Stuttgart/Bremen/Leverkusen/Hamburg at the time. Nobody knew who they were outside of Germany. Nobody expected them to do anything and they were merely an outside bet for the WC, and yet they arguably played the best football of the tournament. It would be amazing if Argentina had the balls to do something similar.
Terrible. Why would Paredes go to Russia. I'd welcome him here in Milan with open arms. That's won't do his odds of playing for Argentina in 2018 any good. Players who play in Italy/Spain/England will always get preference.
Clearly drinking vodka and singing Katusha at 3 in the morning is something they both desired. But honestly, the move is a detour for their careers but money goes a long way and they are both still young enough to have impactful careers after this. I sense they will both say do svidaniya to Russia in a couple years. The culture and language will perhaps be too much for them. Even if they are with interpreters, not being able to express yourself in a city and being independent takes a toll on a person. Good luck learning the Cyrillic script and the Russian language.
1 hour ago: http://www.90min.com/posts/5194551-...lubs-in-hunt-for-highly-rated-roma-midfielder Bayern are also appearantly in contention for his signature. Ancelotti did a brilliant job with Pirlo and Paredes is a very similar type of player. Xabi Alonso has just retired, so Paredes will be in direct competition with Tolisso for a sport in the starting XI. I'd much, much rather have him to go Bayern than to Zenit. The level is much higher, and the weather is similarly cold (if that's what he's trying to get used to).
There perhaps is a snag in the transfer to Zenit since there are rumors that Paredes isn't exactly keen on going to Russia. As for Bayern, will he even make the starting 11? Juventus is another team that have shown interest but reports are Roma do not want to sell him to an Italian side. I guess we will find out in the coming days if he is going to Russia or if he is going to end up elsewhere. Rulli might be on his way to Italy for Napoli. Pepe Reina's contract is coming to an end(or has) and a contract renewal seems to have hit a speed bump and Napoli are suppoesdly interested in Rulli. Deportivo de La Coruña are also interested in Barboza. A move to a mid-table side would help his progress where he will get plenty of games. Independiente are also interested but perhaps he ends up in Spain rather than staying put at home. Lamela who had double hip surgery won't be back till October, which will put him out exactly one full year. Augusto Fernandez is getting in shape for the pre-season and should be ready for the kick-off for the La Liga season. I wonder if Sampa will give him a closer look. He is a player we have missed, IMO.
Benedetto has gained plenty of interest from European sides in recent weeks. Angelici is going to push his release clause to over 20 million euros. He had one hell of a campaign, which I did not expect and I am not sure anybody really did. It is going to be interesting if he does move, being a World Cup year and all. I sense he has an outside chance. Unfortunately, Fatso takes up one of the spots(In reality, he takes up two or three, talk about not wanting to sit by someone on a flight), I believe Icardi will be another(If he has another stellar campaign for Inter) and there will be one final spot open with the likes of Alario and Benedetto. Plus, will Kun get a look under Sampa? I certainly hope not. Perhaps this is a good thing, this will bring out the best in both players. Alario possibly has the edge right now with him being called-up and his goal scoring ability in big matches but if Benedetto has another great campaign, no matter where he is, it will be difficult to deny him. Well, this all depends if we qualify and all. ---- Cristian Pavón has also interst from Zenit and for a good amount of money. Perhaps going to Russia isn't ideal for the growth for a player but one can hope these large(rumored) transfers can be things to come when it comes to exporting our players. I hope the market continues to stay likes this. It was disheartning seeing so many young Argentinos getting sold for peanuts over the years while the brazucas were selling their players for 3-5x the price of our players. But we will see what happens.
Argentina's two biggest nemesis in recent history are facing each other in the confed cup final. Germany have more quality than any other NT on the planet (IMO), but Chile are a bunch of street smart thugs with winning mentality. The final will certainly be interesting.
This is the German luck people talk about in football. They got totally outplayed in this final and still won, thanks to Diaz making a very rare mistake. Argentina are never lucky like this. Germany were so lucky to win the QF in 2006 too.
I'll be honest, I havent followed much of football news since the end of last season and I didnt even know Conf cup is over. Pointless tournament but I dont mind seeing Germany beating Chile which they did appearently. Germany is the most consistent NT and their tournament run stats proof that. For Argentina, they're strong enough to reached 3 consecutive finals in 3 years, but apart from bad luck, its certainly down to weak mentallity of the players (Except a few). With the same mentallity of Germany, Argentina would have won at least 2 of last 3 tournaments they played.
Didnt Chile made similar mistake and Pipita stole the ball? off course we all know what happened next.
Even though I detest both teams, it was great seeing Chile lose. After the World Cup next year, their golden generation will be over and they'll go back to obscurity where they belong. -------- The more I think about Paredes moving to Russia, I think I am okay with it. Mancini targeted him and will be playing him in a more of an attacking role. He'll be playing game in and game out, which will help him develop. He played in Italy for a couple of years and got that under his belt. I do not believe he will be in Russia for long and I sense he will be gone in a couple of years. Plus, when Driussi joins and if they add Pavón, perhaps he'll bond with those players and won't be so homesick. Di Maria is being targeted by Inter, which is interesting. Will he move or won't he will likely be up to the player. Inter, i believe are with new owners and are willing to spend. So, it's going to be a big year for Icardi and the Nerazzurri.
Looks like we're going to put together a local side to face Bolivia in a friendly later this month (July 19th or 20th) Expected call-ups: GKs: Esteban Andrada (Lanús) y Guido Herrera (Talleres). Defenders: Jonatan Maidana (River), Javier Pinola (River), Víctor Salazar (San Lorenzo), Gonzalo Rodríguez (San Lorenzo), Fabricio Bustos (Independiente), Alan Franco (Independiente), Nicolás Tagliafico (Independiente), Gino Peruzzi (Boca), Alex Barboza (River). Midfielders: Enzo Pérez (River), Nacho Fernández (River), Marcos Acuña (Racing), Iván Marcone (Lanús), Pablo Pérez (Boca), Fernando Belluschi (San Lorenzo), Juan Bautista Cascini (Estudiantes). Forwards: Lucas Alario (River), Lautaro Acosta (Lanús), Darío Benedetto (Boca), Emiliano Rigoni (Independiente).
I appreciate Sampa putting forward the initiative. I sensed he would've and its a pretty good list and it will give him more players to look at. Juan Foyth, the teenage Estudiantes defender, was believed to be on his way to Roma but Zenit came in the last minute and apparently offered a couple more million for him. I haven't looked if the likes of Paredes, Foyth, Pavon and Driussi are represented by the same management firm but there might be pipeline that is going to the Russian side. It's kinda strange that so many young Argentinos are going(or are being linked) to same Russian club.
Lautaro Acosta, last time I heard of him was for the Beijing Olympics. A very promising player that did not pan out.
Driussi is apparently on his way to Saint Petersburg to complete his move. He was supposedly one of the 7 alleged players for River that had tested positive for doping. Zenit has supposedly said whatever the case may be he will be a Zenit player. One phone call to Comrade Putin(who is a Zenit supporter) and the problem goes away. Hey, maybe, if the the likes of Driussi and Paredes help Zenit to glory in Russia, Putin can help us lift our third World Cup! But honestly, I am pulling for Driussi, he might have some bad taste in ink but he could turn out to be a regular for us. He would've made Sampa's list had he not transferred. The same goes for Lautaro Martinez, he broke his foot in a couple places, he has quite a bit of potential. I am actually looking towards seeing the local side play. I hope Sampa can schedule a couple more of these. Hell, if Sampa could, he should call majority of the senior team back a couple weeks early from their vacation and work with them. It will be crucial that Sampa works with all the players he could.
Lucas Martinez Quarta Camilo Mayada Driussi These three were confirmed. The others, I am not sure, the rumored number was 7 players. As for Pizarro, it appears to be that way. It is all but done. In other news, Zenit announced that Pavon will not be a target after all.
Ummm, I don't know where you got this, but this wasn't confirmed, just a rumor going around on twitter. If it had been confirmed, he would have been suspended and River would have been docked two points in the group stage, two things that didn't happen. The idea there were seven players is completely ludicrous, considering only 2 players are tested per match... and there are only two match in question, one of which was a dead rubber 2-1 loss at home to DIM where River had already qualified, the other match in question, was an away win to Melgar, where again, River had already secured qualification.
Okay, it wasn't confirmed, YET but he is still under suspencion and his name came out... La Nacion, also wrote about Driussi potential doping but they did not specify for what match he had tested positive for where as Mayada and Martinez Quarta were. But as they say, if there is smoke there is fire... So it wasn't just merely a twitter rumor. It could very well be a rumor but news outlets have picked up the story and took off. It's okay to be objective once and a while. If players doped, then so be it. Take it and move on. I guess, you can't call Juventus the greatest cheaters for doping against River. . I am just messing you, Gaucho.
Vietto might be on his way to Sampdoria. He barely played last year under Sampa with Sevilla. He didn't fit with Cholo's side and when he was loaned to Sevilla, he didn't find much success there(Unless you count that 3-4 goal game he had vs a third division side) either. But Sampdoria has been a good club for Argentinos, the likes of Veron, started his European futbol there and Ariel Ortega, Mauro Icardi, Sergio Romero,Joaquin Correa and Hugo Campagnaro represented La Samp. He's still young enough to become a good player but he's around that age where he might be at a crossroads. It is time to see something out of him for longer periods rather than flashes. Bouncing around from team to team, year after year is perhaps of an indicator of something is not right. But regardless, I hope he finds success.