On February 7, the era would formally begin. Javier Mascherano in front of the selected Under 20. That day, everything indicates that the first batch of those summoned to the national team would begin to work, thinking about the 2023 competitions (South American and, if they qualify, the category World Cup). This week the call would be made official, but the Little Boss has already been working since he was announced as head of the squad, at the beginning of December, after the departure of Fernando Batista, who joined José Pekerman’s coaching staff in Venezuela.
Given the brake that the work with the youth teams suffered in South America due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mascherano and the AFA managed a series of friendlies throughout 2022 to test the promises and shape the squad. So, as he was able to find out Infobae, there is already an agreement for Argentina to face England, Mexico, United States, Australia, Spain and Uruguayamong other opponents. In most cases, the intention is that these matches be held in our country, and if it is in stadiums and with the public, the better. Of course, this will depend on the epidemiological situation due to COVID-19. The other option: that they be disputed directly on the Ezeiza property.
There is a telephone in Europe that rang in the early stages of his administration: the Luka Romero. The game organizer, who in Mallorca became the youngest player to debut in the Spanish League and then moved to Italy, has the option of defending the jerseys of La Roja and Mexico, but opted for the Albiceleste; in fact, he has already played a South American Sub 15. And in a pandemic he was connected to the training sessions or Zoom talks led by Pablo Aimar and company, when the other teams began an offensive to take it away from the AFA.
“He has a great future at Lazio, according to the references of the directors of that club, who are very happy with him. He has just turned 17, although I think that this year, already being in the ring, one will be able to qualify him. What’s more Mascherano just called him to summon him for the U20 National Team in two months”, he revealed to Perspective On Jose Pepe Romero, grandfather of the soccer player and man of Quilmes youth soccer. The disregard marks, then, that Luka would only be summoned in March, in the window of the FIFA date (and the last double date of the South American Qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup), so as not to have problems with the assignment by Lazio.
In his coaching staff, Mascherano bears the “Barcelona touch”, a club to which he also successfully belonged between 2010 and 2018 (he played 333 games and won 19 titles). But he is also accompanied by Oscar Hernandez, former DT and scout of La Masía, since more than a year ago he joined the Ezeiza family at the head of the Department of Methodology and Development.
Hernández, who knew how to take his ideas to Japan, then declared “I decided to accept Javi’s proposal because it was an exciting project and in one of the most important countries with the most passion for football”.
In the same interview with the site more than balls He explained that the style he proclaims goes far beyond a strategy, beyond the limits of the blackboard. “I have a way of interpreting football that defines my way of interpreting life”, he underlined.
And he defined the “position game” that brought Barcelona to the top and that Masche savored with Guardiola and his successors: “It is the method on which my game model is based. Through this method, I consider that the player’s evolution is facilitated, since it is a very creative and open application context, the player is free to choose his decision-making, he acts based on what he perceives. In short, he understands what he should do depending on how the environment around him acts. What are we looking for in the position game? It is simple, move the opponent, attracting rivals to always seek to overcome behind the pressure line with the free man, whether he is close or far away. But it is the player who decides within a position game”.
Well, his words, somehow, seem to anticipate what Mascherano’s U20 National Team can offer, ready to build its foundations.
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