Opting for a ban on Hector if Argentina disappoints.
Argentina is not even in the top 5 to win the WC. Many are predicting that Argentina will not even make it out of the group stage, because Argentina is all about Messi. I love it!
Let Germany, Brazil, Spain, or France be the favorites. They have to win it otherwise it is a big disappointment. Several NT are going home extremely disappointed, because only one can one win it. Argentina is only Messi and nothing else, we are lucky to get out of the group. Again, I love it.
I know what I'm seeing. We are going through a generational change. Many of the subs are the 2022 team with a lot of the young talent that did not make the 23 final cut.
Another thing. Many reporters and TV experts state that Argentina had horrible qualification rounds and Peru was fantastic and a young team! The cinderella team. We finished third after a very bad games, for Argentina. Peru finished 5th. Sometimes I think why bother with qualifications matches. Brazil (1,) Uruguay (2,) and Argentina (3.) What else is new in South America? If we played better, we might have finished 2nd and Uruguay 3rd.
The AFA was a disaster after the death of Julio Grondona, the long time head of AFA and the corruption that was uncovered. Grondona was the "consinglieri" for the Don himself, Joseph Blatter. Many people in Argentina, including the then President, wanted Grondona out. However, they never took the step to oust him for fear of retaliation by FIFA. All this instability affected the team. It is the main reason that Tata Martino quit and that Paton Bauza (a disaster as a coach) was the only one that took the job. After all this mess, we came in 3rd. We survived considering what the team faced. Now we are coming together. For the first time in 4 years we almost have a month to practice in one place.
The Europeans do not understand what members of the Argentine NT have to go through to take part of the team. Most of the players play in Europe. Therefore, they not only have to go from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons of the year are the opposite to Europe. For example, Summer in Europe is Winter in Argentina. A twelve-fourteen hours flight. In addition, they have a time change of 6 hours. They trained for 3-4 days and then play two games and they go back to Europe going through the same process, but in reverse.
Argentina National Teams training complex is in Ezeiza, outside Buenos Aires. Ezeiza is where the main International Airport is located. When the players arrive, they have priority in customs and they are taken directly to the Ezeiza complex - a 5 minutes ride. AFA is talking of having a training complex in Europe to eliminate these problems. Europeans have an hour flight to go to their training complex!
Hektor
