Messi retired from global football following Argentina’s 4-2 penalty shoot-out defeat to Chile in the Copa America Centenario final in June – the fourth time he lost a major final when representing his country. “I hope the chat with him will help for him to carry on in the national team”.
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With two 2018 World Cup qualifiers coming up next month, the 58-year-old is expected to try to convince Messi to go back on his decision to quit global soccer. “The options they offer are many”.
“The leaders exert a big influence on the team where they play and the opponents play an undeniable role”, Valdano said.
New Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza says one of his first tasks will be to speak to Lionel Messi, who plans to retire from worldwide duty, but said the conversation would not be “about convincing him of anything”. “I am among those who think that everybody has to attack and everybody has to defend”, Bauza said. The top four teams qualify for Russian Federation while the fifth-placed team goes into an intercontinental playoff for one more spot in the finals.
Bauza has earned two Copa Libertadores titles as coach – one with Quito in 2008 and one in 2014 with San Lorenzo.
The post Maradona hails new Argentina coach appeared first on Punch Newspapers. There are also World Cup Qualifiers in October and November, and at this stage, it seems highly unlikely that we will see Messi play for Argentina at all in 2016.
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Bauza has just two weeks to name his first squad and although he can’t be expected to solve the boardroom issues at the Asociacion de Futbol Argentino (AFA), he can address five issues on the pitch. After missing out on Diego Simeone, Jorge Sampaoli, Mauricio Pocchettino and Marcelo Bielsa, AFA went with the least popular, only available option.
