Javier Mascheranoon the edge of the playing field, tries not to lose his composure. Augustine Giaythe captain of San Lorenzocries inconsolably, puts his hands together and apologizes, knowing that he did not respond as expected in the two goals of Nigeria. Valentine Boatthe early star of MouthHe looks blankly as a member of the coaching staff approaches to comfort him. luka romeropointed out some time ago as the new Messi, the former Majorca who now plays in Lazio, bites his lips… Argentina He has just been left out of the Under 20 World Cup that he played only for being the host country, chosen after FIFA lowered Bangladesh as the venue. It is a goodbye as surprising as it is premature.
It is also a very hard blow to the mascherano-coach. He had been the driver of the Argentine Sub 20 that had suffered a lethal impact in the South American and had not managed to qualify for this worldwhich later Argentina organized by a quick management of Claudio Tapia (president of the AFA), very skilled to take advantage of the momentum of the consecration of Messi and company in Qatar 2022 and to stay at the last minute with the organization of this World Cup.
It was assumed that Argentina It would be much more competitive in the World Cup than in the South American, the qualifying event that the talents that play in Europe had not attended. The group stage, with accessible rivals (Uzbekistan, Nicaragua and New Zealand), it had been a parade. It had allowed a team without much filming to go through a period of growth.
However, in the second round it was his turn Nigeriawith his physical power. And Argentina was far from starring according to the brilliance of their names, so much so that in this decisive match they did not play for a minute or Maximo Perrone (Manchester City) nor matias soule (Juventus). Román Vega, from Barcelona B, did not enter either. The only “Europeans” absent from the list because their clubs did not give them up were Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) and Facundo Buonanotte (Brighton).
mascherano He showed his face: “It hurts in our souls. This is sad and frustrating for everyone. There are ways and ways to get eliminated. We did everything to win the game. Sometimes the merits go against the result. In the last 20 minutes of the first half we were clear dominators and the second half was all ours. The situations were there and the ball did not want to enter. We knew that any defensive imbalance in these competitions is paid for, but we had two oversights and we paid too dearly for it. Not much more to say. We leave with the peace of mind that the team we wanted to be seen was seen. You have to swallow poison and put up with it.”
the look of mascherano it is debatable. Actually, his team in zero to zero did not command as his DT declared. Argentina’s clear dominance happened in the last 25 minutes of the match, when it was already behind. It is true that from there he made merits to tie, although he lacked efficiency. But just as he had failed behind in the 0-1 goal (Ibrahim Muhammad scored it), he was also wrong in the 0-2 goal (Rilwanu Sarki scored it). So, if he did not hit the ball in the rival area and did not know how to protect himself in his own, neither Argentina nor the coach have much to claim.
What will Mascherano do, who had resigned after the South American and then continued because they convinced him? The former Barcelona himself responded: “You have to differentiate a lot what happened in the South American from what happened in this World Cup. The team was up to it. I have a great relationship with Chiqui and I will continue as long as he wants to. He knows that he has my resignation available on his desk. I will continue if they believe that I am good for this”.
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