More fútbol argentino than you can shake a mullet at
As expected, on Monday morning the Argentine Football Association published Jorge Sampaoli's final squad list for Argentina's upcoming friendlies against Italy in Manchester on the 23rd, and against Spain in Madrid on the 27th of this month. Having already called up twenty-two players who play their club football abroad, Sampaoli added five 'locals' to the... Continue Reading →
On Thursday, Jorge Sampaoli announced the first part of Argentina's squad for the upcoming friendies against Italy (in Manchester on the 23rd March) and Spain (in Madrid on the 27th). This list consists of twenty-two players who play outside Argentina (all but one in Europe), to whom a few from the Argentine Superliga will be... Continue Reading →
The group stage of the 2018 Copa Libertadores got underway on Tuesday night, and the highlight came in Avellaneda, where Racing hosted Brazilian side Cruzeiro in the Cilindro. With Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli watching – just two days before he names his squad for upcoming friendlies against Spain and Italy – young striker Lautaro Martínez hit a... Continue Reading →
Following his hat trick in a brilliant all-round forward display on Sunday, as Racing thrashed Huracán 4-0 in Avellaneda, Lautaro Martínez is hot stuff at the moment. Jorge Sampaoli was watching, and there's talk of a national team call up for next month's friendlies against Spain and Italy; transfer rumours in Europe, meanwhile, have reached... Continue Reading →
This week saw Jorge Sampaoli conclude a brief tour of some of Europe's biggest clubs, where he visited clubs whose squads include Argentina internationals. Also this week, Sampaoli started doing the same thing with clubs in Argentina. Wanting to leave nothing to chance, he wants to be informed about his players' daily training regimes. But... Continue Reading →
In April, I headed up from Buenos Aires to Rosario, Lionel Messi's hometown, for a feature for ESPNFC ahead of the Copa América Centenario. Whilst there, I talked to Ernesto Vecchio, the youth coach who oversaw Lionel Messi's childhood development for longer than anyone before Messi moved to Barcelona, and to Nicolás Canessa, an occasional team-mate of... Continue Reading →
On Friday, the Copa América Centenario kicks off in the United States, and in this week's issue of The Libero, I was asked to preview it. I've gone for a piece looking at why although it's going to be a good tournament, it's still important to remember it's not an actual Copa América. To give you... Continue Reading →
The AFA have released Gerardo Martino's squad list for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers away to Chile and at home to Bolivia later this month, and the headline exclusion for the local media is Carlos Tevez, who admits himself he's been poor so far in 2016. There's a return for Javier Pinola of Rosario Central,... Continue Reading →
2015 has just hours left to run (in Argentina that is; happy new year if it's already gone where you are), and the folk at The Bubble have asked me to take a look back on the last twelve months in Argentine football, as part of their Year In Review series. Here are my key moments... Continue Reading →
Gerardo Martino has announced Argentina's squad list for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers at home to Brazil (Thurs 12th November) and away to Colombia (Tues 17th), from which his side desperately need some good results after a disappointing start in which they lost at home to Ecuador and drew away to Paraguay. Lionel Messi won't... Continue Reading →
Hasta El Gol Siempre 