Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza planning Lionel Messi talks

New Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza spoke with ESPN Deportes on how he plans to address Lionel Messi's retirement.

New Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza says one of his first tasks will be to speak to Lionel Messi, who plans to retire from international duty, but said the conversation would not be "about convincing him of anything."

Former Sao Paulo manager Bauza was hired by the Argentina Football Federation (AFA) on Monday to replace Gerardo Martino, who stepped down after the team's penalty shootout defeat to Chile in this summer's Copa America Centenario final, and now immediately prepares for 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela in early September.

The search for Martino's successor was complicated by ongoing institutional chaos in Argentine football, and allegations of misappropriation of AFA funds, with the national government and FIFA stepping in to appoint a Comision Regularizadora (Normalising Commission) to address the situation.

Such chaos also apparently played a role in Messi's shock decision to retire from international football following the Copa America final loss, which was Argentina's third successive defeat in a major tournament final. It had also been suggested that the Barcelona star might be consulted for his views on the new national coach, given the importance of persuading him to return to theAlbiceleste fold.

Speaking to FOX Sports' "El Paton," Bauza said: "We have had no contact with Messi, or none of his family.

"The idea is that once I have met with the Normalising Commission, I will make a trip to have a chat. It is not about convincing him of anything, just to chat about football. Those of us who were players know how frustrating it is to lose a final. I will let him know my way of working. Not just him, but other senior players too. 

"There is not much time. If Messi knows anything clearly, it is what he must do on the pitch, and what decisions he should take. Between the two of us we could see how he could help the national team, and if he can continue with all this commitment that I have seen from outside."

Lionel Messi retired from international football with Argentina following the Copa America Centenario.

Messi was not the only Argentina player reportedly considering his international future following the summer, with senior teammates including Barca colleague Javier Mascherano and Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero also said to be unhappy with how the AFA was running the team.

Asked what position he saw Messi playing in his Argentina side, Bauza said: "His position on the pitch is what concerns me the least.

"He has played many positions and in all of them done well, has been a match winner. We will see what is the best place to use him. The idea is to travel and speak also to four 

Valdano: Argentina need Messi back

Argentina need Lionel Messi back as soon as possible, according to World Cup winner Jorge Valdano.

Argentina World Cup winner Jorge Valdano has urged his nation to talk "genius" Lionel Messi out of international retirement as soon as possible.

The Barcelona star stunned the world when he announced his retirement from international football immediately after his side's Copa America Centenario final loss to Chile.

Edgardo Bauza has been appointed as coach since then, with the new boss saying he plans to talk to the 29-year-old.

Valdano, a 23-cap international who was part of the 1986 World Cup-winning squad, believes his country needs Messi back.

"Time has to do its job. You have to help choose the right time for healing frustrations," he told Fox Sport.

"But you have to bring Messi back as soon as possible."

Valdano believes Messi felt "unbearable weight" to deliver a first major trophy for Argentina since 1993, leading to his retirement.

The 60-year-old said the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was simply under too much pressure, but needs to return.

"The leaders exert a big influence on the team where they play and the opponents play an undeniable role," Valdano said.

"Messi feels the obligation to win games every time he touches the ball. There's too much burden on your shoulders.

"We are talking about a genius, the best player in the world.

"His retirement would be a problem of some gravity, especially with the situation in which Argentine football is.

"It would be a very good idea to bring back Leo as soon as possible."

Argentina are quickly running out of time, with World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela set to be played on September 1 and 6 respectively.

Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/valdano-argentina-need-messi-back#D8KkBYjvihITuVU4.99

New coach Bauza planning to woo Messi back for Argentina

Door also open for Carlos Tevez’s return

New Argentina national team coach Edgardo Bauza.

Argentina’s new coach Edgardo Bauza has set his mind to wooing Lionel Messi back from international retirement as he ponders his squad for next month’s South American 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Bauza was named yesterday to replace Gerardo Martino, who resigned a month ago after steering Messi’s side to two successive Copa America finals which ended in penalty shootout defeats to Chile.

The more recent of those results in the Copa America Centenario in the United States in June led to Messi deciding to quit the team. It was his fourth defeat in a major final with Argentina.

“I’m optimistic about Messi,” Bauza said.

“I hope the chat with him will help for him to carry on in the national team.

Lionel Messi

“I want to explain to Messi what my (tactical) idea is. The least of my worries is his position on the pitch,” Bauza was quoted as saying in the Argentine daily La Nacion yesterday.

“There’s no need to convince Messi of anything, the plan is to talk about football,” said Bauza, speaking in Brazil where he has coached Sao Paulo for eight months.

Bauza, who quit his job with Sao Paulo to accept the Argentina vacancy and will sign his contract in Buenos Aires on Friday, has only a couple of weeks to decide on his squad for qualifiers at home to Uruguay and away to Venezuela in the first week of September.

“There isn’t much time. My first squad won’t have many changes but I want to talk with five or six of the leading players,” Bauza said, no doubt referring to the likes of Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain.

He also opened the door for Carlos Tevez, overlooked by Martino since a World Cup qualifier against Para-guay away last October where he won his 76th cap.

“I’m thinking of Tevez as I am about other players... Tevez is a player good enough for the national team,” Bauza said.

Bauza, a former central defender, rejected a tag as a defensive coach, saying: “I’m one of those who think that all (the team) have to defend. Football today is like that.

“You can defend in your opponents’ half if the pressure is high (up the field) but it’s easier when you have players of the quality of the Argentina team. The options they offer you are many.”

Argentina are third in the 10-nation World Cup qualifying group with 11 points from six matches, two points behind leading pair Uruguay and Ecuador.

The top four teams after 18 matches go through to the Russia finals while the fifth-placed team goes into an intercontinental playoff for one more berth.

Had the timing been better, Argentina would probably have gone for a higher profile coach like Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone or former Chile trainer JorgeSampaoli.

But the pair, as well as Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino, are tied to their present jobs by buyout clauses the cash-strapped Argentina FA has no means of paying.

The AFA has been harshly criticised for its performance since the 2014 death of Julio Grondona, who had ruled it since 1979, and has been held partially to blame for the resignations of Messi and Martino.

Argentina hires new manager, who plans to convince Lionel Messi to return

Edgardo Bauza is the new Argentina boss, but now he must convince Messi to play for him

• 

• by Roger Gonzalez
•  @rgonzalezcbs
• 20h ago • 1 min read

Argentina has its new coach. The national team has hired 58-year-old Argentine Edgardo Bauza, who has never coached on the national team level, on Monday night. The former defender has managed numerous big clubs in South America like Velez Sarsfield, LDU Quito, San Lorenzo and most recently Sao Paulo, but now takes charge of one of the most talented national teams in the world, one that has experienced defeat in cup finals each of the last three summers.

Sao Paulo announced the move on Twitter.

View image on Twitter

 Follow

São Paulo FC 

✔@SaoPauloFC

Patón deixa o comando do @SaoPauloFC http://spfc.vc/2aY6kDj 

5:38 AM - 2 Aug 2016

 
•  1,8481,848 Retweets
 
•  1,7731,773 likes

Bauza has had plenty of success at the club level, winning the Copa Libertadores with LDU Quito of Ecuador and San Lorenzo of Argentina. But his biggest task isn't about winning a game.

With World Cup qualifiers around the corner, his biggest challenge will be to convince superstar Lionel Messi to come back from international retirement. The 29-year-old attacker called it quits after Argentina's defeat to Chile in the 2016 Copa America final, where he missed a penalty kick in the shootout, choosing just to play for club Barcelona.

"There is not much time," Bauza said to Fox Sports in Argentina about trying to get Messi into the squad, though failing to say he will try and convince him.

"It is not about convincing him or anything, just to chat about soccer. Those of us who were players know how frustrating it is to lose a final. I'll let him know my way of working."

Argentina next plays on Sept. 1 against Uruguay and Sept. 6 against Venezuela in World Cup Qualifiers, so there really isn't much time for Bauza to convince Messi if he hopes to have him back for the next FIFA date. There are also World Cup Qualifiers in October and November, and at this stage, it seems highly unlikely that we will see Messi play for Argentina at all in 2016. That is unless Bauza has what it takes to change Messi's mindset.

Bauza's first job as Argentina manager: convincing Messi, rest of team to return

The new Argentina boss knows he has to bring Messi back to the national team.

Getty Images

By Ryan RosenblattFOX Soccer  @RyanRosenblattAug 2, 2016 at 5:45p ET

For most managers, getting to lead your country's national team is a dream job. That figures to be the case for Edgardo Bauza, who left a good job with Sao Paulo to take over as Argentina boss. But this isn't your average national team job.

Argentina are currently being run by a FIFA Normalizing Commission, a response to the federation's corruption and government interference that left them unable to operate independently. There is also the matter of Lionel Messi's retirement from international soccer and rumors that many more players intend to follow him.

Maybe it won't be quite the dream job that Bauza had imagined before. But he still took the gig and he knows that getting Messi back on board has to be a priority.

"We have had no contact with Messi, or none of his family," Bauza told Central FOX.

Edgardo Bauza as Sao Paulo manager.

Brazil Photo Press/CON / Getty Images

"The idea is that once I have met with the Normalizing Commission, I will make a trip to have a chat. It is not about convincing him of anything, just to chat about football. Those of us who were players know how frustrating it is to lose a final. I will let him know my way of working. Not just him, but other senior players too. 

"There is not much time. If Messi knows anything clearly, it is what he must do on the pitch, and what decisions he should take. Between the two of us we could see how he could help the national team, and if he can continue with all this commitment that I have seen from outside."

Messi outright announced his retirement from Argentina, but many believe he would be open to a return. He was open about his frustrations with the federation during Copa America Centenario and when he said he was walking away from the team following Argentina's penalty kick loss in the Copa America final, even some of his own teammates speculated that he was simply speaking from emotion.

Argentina's departures may not be limited to Messi, though. Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria, Ezeqiuel Lavezzi and Lucas Biglia have all been named in reports of national teamers set to quit as well. Bauza has a mess on his hands and he needs to keep the team together.

There aren't issues with Argentine talent. They've been to the final of three tournaments in as many years and have proven themselves to be an excellent team. The question is whether that team will stay together. That's Bauza's biggest task and it starts with convincing Messi to return. He very clearly knows that.

Pope Francis decides that Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is the best player ever ahead of Pele and Maradona

Max Miller for Metro.co.ukMonday 1 Aug 2016 10:46 am

131

There has long been a debate over whether Messi or Ronaldo is better (Picture: Getty)

Pope Francis has appeared to have finally ended the long-held debate over whether Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi is the better player.

While many have been edging toward the former recently after he won the European Championships with Portugal this summer, the Argentina-born religous leader has other ideas.

He thinks his compatriot is actually the best player to have ever graced the game.

Asked whether Pele or Maradona is better, the 79-year-old replied: ‘For me, Messi,’ according to SPORT.

The Pope didn’t give any reasons for his choice, leaving supporters to guess why he has chosen Messi over the two footballing greats and the former Manchester United star.

The Barcelona hero already has five Ballon d’Ors to his rival’s three, and with the backing of the head of the Catholic church behind him, has this put an end to the age-old battle between fans of the two players?

MORE: Video: Messi torments Arsenal again in PES 2017 trailer

Who is the best?

• Messi
• Ronaldo
• Pele
• Maradona

Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/01/pope-francis-decides-that-barcelonas-lionel-messi-is-the-best-player-ever-ahead-of-pele-and-maradona-6041437/#ixzz4G8ge5NQf