ZCZC
BSP-03
MASCHERANO-WORLD CUP-EXPERIENCE
Mascherano shares 2018 World Cup experience
SHIJIAZHUANG, China, Nov 22, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Javier Mascherano, the
Argentinean defender who helped Barcelona reach the pinnacle of European
football several times over, chose to end his 15-year career for the
Argentinean national team after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Mascherano, who now plays for Hebei China Fortune, always keeps a low
profile in front of the media. In an interview with Xinhua, Mascherano
recently shared stories from the 2018 World Cup as well as his thoughts on
the CSL and Chinese football.
“Actually I had been in Argentinean national team for 20 years, including
the youth training period. I knew that the 2018 World Cup would be my final
chance to fight for my nation, so I tried really hard with an easy state of
mind. We could have earned a better result at the World Cup, but everything
is over anyway, however regretful we are,” Mascherano said.
“I thought Croatia had the ability to get into the World Cup final. Their
performance later proved my opinion. In our match against Croatia, we were on
a par in the first half. But after their goal in the second half, we did get
somewhat upset. Yes, even Argentina can be affected by mental factors,”
Mascherano explained.
In the match between Argentina and France, the performance of 19-year-old
talent Kylian Mbappe left an impression. “Mbappe was really fast. I saw him
starting from midfield and I tried to catch him. But obviously I failed, and
France scored a goal. Mbappe is only 19 years old while I’m 34 already. He is
young and fast, we have different genes,” Mascherano said.
“Argentina lacked some luck in the past few years. We lost the World Cup
as well as two America’s Cup finals. But Argentinean football has its own
spirit and pattern. Maybe we are going through the experience of the
Brazilian team over the past few years, and Argentine football will go back
to the top.”
Mascherano is pragmatic about his time at Hebei CFFC. New coach Chris
Coleman joined the team in the wake of Manuel Pellegrini’s exit. The
unstability of coaching staff cost the team their chance into the Asian
Championships League despite the arrival of Mascherano and international
players like Ezequiel Lavezzi and Hernanes.
“Pellegrini was my head coach when I was at River Plate. I was lucky to
work with him again after coming to China. As for Coleman, he did bring a lot
of new elements and styles from the Premier League to CFFC, there are already
some changes in our team,” Mascherano said.
Hebei CFFC finished sixth in the league at the end of the season. “You
definitely want to win every game, but to get good results, you have to be
patient,” he said.
When pressed on the state of Chinese football, the Argentine takes a long
term view. “We can’t hope that the Chinese League and Chinese football take
10 years to catch up with those countries with a football history of a
hundred years,” he said.
BSS/XINHUA/FI/0837 hrs