🚨🇯🇵 Hidemasa Morita has completed medical and signs today as new Hull City player from Sporting.
31 year old midfielder accepts all conditions and moves to England, as @mikewhitesport reports. 🐯
— LIONEL SCALONI: "¿Fue injusto el arbitraje en la final de la Copa del Mundo? No, no, no. Perdimos porque ellos fueron MEJORES. Hay que reconocerlo. Hay que reconocer que jugaron mejor. Nosotros seguramente llegamos justos, es la realidad. Pero hay veces que está bueno reconocer (al rival). Y eso nos hará mejores, sin duda".
Y mientras muchos hablan de arbitrajes, teorías y presiones, Lionel Scaloni salió a reconocer lo que realmente sucedió en la final de la Copa del Mundo: España ganó porque fue MEJOR que Argentina. Así de claro, así de contundente. No pasó nada extraño. Simplemente los españoles jugaron mejor y, en estos momentos, tienen la mejor selección del planeta.
Saber ganar, saber perder.
La grandeza del líder argentino.
¿Scaloni? UN VERDADERO CABALLERO DEL FÚTBOL.
🚨 Diego Simeone: "Argentina Never Appreciated Di María Enough"
🗣️"People always talk about Messi, and rightly so because he is one of the greatest players ever. But if we're talking about Argentina's success over the last few years, Ángel Di María has been the man who made the difference when it mattered most. He was never appreciated enough for everything he did for that national team."
🗣️"Look at the biggest finals. Di María always found a way to change the game. He delivered when Argentina needed him the most. Those are the players every great team misses once they're gone."
🗣️ "Against Spain, Argentina looked nothing like the champions we've known. They were dominated from the first minute to the last. They couldn't create chances, couldn't control the game, and barely threatened going forward. It was one of their poorest performances in a final."
🗣️ "I'm convinced that if Di María had been there, the game would have been different. He has that ability to change the rhythm, attack defenders, and produce something out of nothing. Those are qualities Argentina lacked."
🗣️ "Messi is an incredible player, but Di María deserves far more credit than he has received. History will remember what Messi achieved, but people should also remember that Di María was one of the biggest reasons Argentina reached the top."
Javier Mascherano on why Lionel Messi broke down in tears after the final whistle against Spain in the FIFA World Cup final.
🗣️ Javier Mascherano: “After the match, I went straight to Leo. I hugged him and didn’t say anything for a few seconds because I knew there were no words that could take away that pain. When he finally spoke to me, he said something that broke my heart.”
“He told me, ‘Jefe, these tears aren’t because we lost the World Cup. Of course losing hurts, but that’s not what’s breaking me. I’m crying because this might be the last time I ever wear the Argentina shirt. That’s the pain I can’t accept.’”
“When he said those words, I couldn’t hold back my own tears. People think footballers only cry because they lose trophies. They don’t understand. Sometimes you’re crying because you know a chapter of your life the most beautiful chapter is coming to an end.”
“I’ve known Leo for almost my entire career. I’ve seen him lift trophies, lose finals, face criticism and silence the world. But I’ve never seen him look the way he looked that night. It wasn’t the face of a man defeated by Spain. It was the face of a man saying goodbye to the jersey he loves more than anything.”
“He kept looking at the Argentina badge on his chest. He touched it, kissed it and whispered, ‘I gave you everything I had.’ There wasn’t a single person in that dressing room who could look at him without crying.”
“If that truly was his last match for Argentina, then the world didn’t witness the end of a football career it witnessed the final page of the greatest international story this sport has ever known. No trophy can measure what Lionel Messi gave to his country. He didn’t leave with just tears in his eyes; he left having given every last piece of his heart to Argentina.
Jürgen Klopp on Alexis Mac Allister breaking down in tears after Argentina lost the FIFA World Cup final to Spain.
🗣️ “People saw Alexis Mac Allister crying after the final whistle, but they didn’t see what I see every day. They didn’t see the player who gives absolutely everything for his country, who runs until his legs stop responding, and who would sacrifice himself a hundred times if it meant making Argentina smile.”
“I spoke to Alexis after the game. He wasn’t talking about the defeat. He wasn’t talking about the medal. He kept saying, ‘I wanted to do it for Leo… I wanted him to leave with one last World Cup.’ Those words hit me hard because they came from the heart of a player who had nothing left to give.”
“Alexis played that final with incredible courage. He fought for every ball, covered every blade of grass and never stopped believing. Yet when the match ended, all he could think about was that he couldn’t give his captain the ending he dreamed of. That’s why he cried.”
“The dressing room was silent. Nobody blamed anyone. There were only tears because they knew they had given everything. Then I saw Alexis sitting there with his head in his hands. That image will stay with me forever because it wasn’t the face of a footballer who had failed it was the face of a man whose heart had been broken.”
“People will remember the result. I’ll remember a young man who emptied his soul for Argentina, who walked off the biggest stage in football believing he had let his country down, even after one of the finest performances of his career. That’s the cruel side of football.”
“I told him something very simple: ‘Alexis, don’t let one night make you question everything you’ve done. You didn’t fail Argentina. You honoured that shirt with every tackle, every pass, every sprint and every drop of sweat. One final cannot erase that.’”
“One day, the pain will fade. But the love Alexis Mac Allister showed for Argentina that night will never be forgotten. Some players leave the pitch exhausted. He left it with his heart in pieces because representing his country meant everything to him.”