Javier Mascherano

Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt has compared himself to Barcelona’s Gerard Pique in terms of his style of play. The Netherlands international has been strongly linked with the Catalan giants since the summer and the teenager has now fuelled more speculation by citing that Ajax and Barcelona play a similar kind of football.

In an interview with Sport, the Dutch teenager said: “I am similar to him [Pique. I like to carry the ball out from the back. Defensively I am strong and, like Gerard, I also started as a midfielder. “Ajax’s style of play is similar to Barcelona’s. High press, a high defensive line, and a high level of ball possession.”

Argentina legend Diego Maradona does not fancy the prospect of Lionel Scaloni being in charge of the national team. The South American heavyweights were expected to make a big-name appointment after the departure of manager Jorge Sampaoli following a disappointing World Cup campaign but they have for now stuck with Scaloni on an interim basis.

Speaking to reporters, Maradona highlighted the disappointment after Argentina failed to meet their expectations at the World Cup and believes they should have recruited a better head coach than Scaloni, who does not have the reputation by his side, he said: “It hurt me a lot what happened at the World Cup because there wasn’t respect.

Inter Milan’s summer signing Lautaro Martinez is hoping to earn a call-up to the Argentine national side after making a good impression for the Nerazzurri in pre-season. The 20-year-old has been one of the standout performers for Inter during pre-season with four goals and he is now optimistic of being called up for the upcoming set of international friendlies.

Speaking to reporters, he said: “Hopefully I can be called-up. I’m going to keep working to complete my objective.” Meanwhile, Martinez spoke about his friendship with compatriot Mauro Icardi, who is presently the captain of the Nerazzurri, he added: “We get along very well and he’s helped me a lot on a day to day basis. We are taking advantage of it and we are very happy with what we are doing.”

Colombia manager Jose Pekerman has admitted that Japan were the better team in the World Cup encounter and deserved to beat the South American outfit. Colombia witnessed Carlos Sanchez sent off in just the third minute after denying a clear goalscoring opportunity with his hand and shortly after, Shinji Kagawa converted the resultant penalty.

Thereafter, Japan had the better chances to find the scoresheet but Juan Quintero pulled things level for Colombia with a brilliant free-kick prior to the break. Despite this, Japan continued to push for the winner amid the tired legs in the opposition side and Yuya Osako bagged the match-winning goal for the Samurai Blue in the 73rd minute.

Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia has said that Lionel Messi has the ambition to win the World Cup, but this may not be possible unless his teammates perform to the best of their abilities. Messi cut a frustrated figure after witnessing Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany at the 2014 World Cup, and he has since experienced further disappointments with the nation being defeated by Chile on penalties in the 2015 and 2016 editions of the Copa America.

Javier Mascherano has stated his ambition of making the World Cup squad with Argentina after making the switch to China Hebei Fortune from Barcelona earlier in January. The Argentine secured his move to the Far East after eight-and-a-half seasons with Barcelona, where he managed 333 appearances, most of which came in a central defensive position.

Argentina international Javier Mascherano has revealed that it was a thankless task of playing in central defence during his seven-and-a-half year spell with Barcelona. The 33-year-old ended his long-term association with the Catalan giants to join Chinese outfit Hebei Fortune last month.
In an exclusive interview with Gerard Pique for The Players' Tribune, Mascherano admitted that he contemplated leaving Barcelona on several occasions previously as he wanted to enjoy more playing time in the central midfield role.

He said: "Let's just say my time at Barcelona is one of contrast in that regard. Because the best years of my career, where I could enjoy myself the most [were at Barcelona], I felt complete as a footballer, but I didn't get the chance to play as a midfielder. But [maybe] that is as if your glass is half empty. Those were the cards which were dealt. But when I had doubts about leaving before, that was why. No one knows better than you [Pique] how thankless a task it is to be a Barca defender. One mistake and you pay dearly."

Javier Mascherano has revealed that he has designs on returning back home to his first club River Plate in Argentina before he retires from the game but he does not want to make such a promise if he isn’t unable to keep to it.

The Barcelona defender started his professional career with River Plate before moving to Corinthians. He then went on to play for West Ham and Liverpool in England before ending up at the Nou Camp.

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is understood to have made a personal plea to manager Ernesto Valverde to involve Javier Mascherano regularly in his first-team plans.

With the World Cup coming along next year, Mascherano would require regular playing time to get into the Argentina squad, and Messi appears to be doing everything within his reach in order to better his compatriot's chances.

Barcelona pair Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi have given the backing to pursue fellow Argentine compatriot Angel di Maria from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

According to Sport, the Catalan giants could turn their attention to the former Real Madrid man after failing to negotiate deals for both Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele. The Argentine has had a good bond alongside Mascherano and Messi at the international level and the duo have given the thumbs-up for his possible arrival regardless of his former links with Los Blancos.