“I spoke with the staff and they said it is the duty, that someone has to wear the shirt because we use the numbers 1 to 23”, said Aguero, who this season switched to City’s number ten after wearing the “16” for his first four seasons.
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“Messi sent me a message to wear it [10 jersey] and I don’t have an option but to wear it. What am I going to tell him?”, Agüero said.
“I am happy to pull on the shirt, but it obviously belongs to him”.
Brazil and Argentina, the two superpowers of South American football, launch their respective qualifying campaigns still smarting from disappointing performances in the Copa America, which saw Chile lift the title on home soil.
“Obviously it is different without him but we can still make a good start”, Aguero, fresh off a five-goal haul for City, told La Nacion.
“Messi is Messi, he is irreplaceable”.
“Now, the key is winning and picking up three points”.
Aguero has played 70 games for Argentina, and has found the back of the net 34 times.
And Aguero confirmed that he will take on the mythical number during the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay.
Aguero had an injury concern before the game but was ruled fit to play.
He added: “I was coming from a blow to the hip against Borussia Monchengladbach which caused it to load the adductor, and that is the trouble that I have now”.
Argentina suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to Ecuador here Thursday as goals from Frickson Erazo and Felipe Caicedo secured a famous upset in the opening round of South America’s 2018 World Cup qualifying tournament. Sometimes they don’t go in.
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Ecuador continued to be a threat on the counter-attack in the first half, though they spurned another opportunity to hit the front approaching the half-hour mark, when Miller Bolanos fired over from the edge of the area following Valencia’s cutback.
