Javier Mascherano is undoubtedly one of the world’s footballing giants. After retiring, “Little Horse” took over the reins of the Argentine Olympic team. Recently, Mascherano, who is about to lead his team to the Paris Olympics, gave an exclusive interview to Clank.Media, opening up about his time at Barcelona, his conflict with River Plate, and the fun of being a coach.
On his experience as a coach, Mascherano said: “I always knew that my playing career wouldn’t last beyond the age of 36. In the last few years of my playing career, I was preparing to become a coach. Bielsa is one of the most influential coaches I have ever met. It was a great feeling to meet him as an opponent in the Olympic qualifiers.
On his days at River Plate, Mascherano said: “It was difficult playing for River Plate. Back then, being called up to the national team was my escape. In 2006, I returned to the Monumental Stadium with Corinthians to play River Plate. The fans cheered for me in an incredible way, but I was sent off in that game. In 2015, I played River Plate as a Barcelona player. I made the mistake of not saluting the River Plate fans. I tried to forget everything, but I knew I had done wrong. I knew there was no going back. I accepted that people would hate me for life. They had a reason to hate me, because I lacked respect.”
On representing Argentina at the World Cup, Mascherano said: “The final of the 2014 World Cup was unique for us. We went from strength to strength in the tournament. The 2018 World Cup was the worst tournament I have ever played in. I didn’t live up to my own expectations. I left with immense sadness after the World Cup. At that time, we were already caught in a whirlpool of conspiracy.”
On his departure from Barcelona, Mascherano said: “In the 2016/17 season, I became the backup for Piqué and Umtiti. But I knew that playing 25-30 games at a club like Barcelona was better than playing 50 games elsewhere. When Valverde arrived in 2017, I had a conversation with him. I told him that if I was left out from the start, I would consider leaving because that year was a World Cup year and I had to play. Because at 33-34 years old, if you don’t have regular game time, your rhythm disappears. He told me that he knew he had three centre-backs but only two spots. After the league started, I found myself playing less than I expected. In Argentina’s first two national team games against Uruguay and Venezuela, I only played against Venezuela. We drew, which made it more difficult for us to qualify. In the last game at the end of the year, I got injured against Nigeria. When I returned to Barcelona, I realised that I needed to leave to maintain my playing continuity for the next six months. I had planned to stay in Europe between January and June 2018, but Barcelona told me that they wouldn’t let me go to any club in Europe. At this point, a Chinese club came in with a big contract. I considered it, but in the end, Barcelona accepted, because they paid a hefty transfer fee.”
On the criticism of Messi, Mascherano said: “He is adored by the world, but he is not embraced in the place he wants to be loved the most (Argentina). But this is just the opinion of a few, even though the dissenting voices are sometimes very loud. As things unfold, you see everything differently. If the cameras hadn’t caught the scenes in the Copa America final, people wouldn’t have understood Leo as much.”
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Soccer News Pick. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.soccernewspick.com/other/9179.html
