Argentina ready for World Cup, says Caballero
Thursday - June 14, 2018 12:36 pm ,
Category : SPORTS
Argentina ready for World Cup, says Caballero
Moscow June 14 (IANS) Argentina goalkeeper Willy Caballero has insisted that the two-time world champions are well prepared for the 2018 FIFA World Cup despite playing only one warm-up match.
The Argentines beat Haiti 4-0 in Buenos Aires on May 30 before a friendly against Israel slated for June 9 was cancelled reports Xinhua news agency.
"It s true that with the cancellation of the match against Israel we had less match practice " Caballero told a press conference on Wednesday.
Argentina will debut in the tournament against Iceland here on Saturday before meeting Croatia and Nigeria in Group D.
Caballero who plays for Mexico s Tigres UANL is expected to be the team s first-choice goalkeeper following a serious knee injury suffered by Sergio Romero late last month.
"The important thing is to be ready on Saturday and I m convinced that we prepared as best we could " the 36-year-old said.
"We ve done a lot of physical work and as a result we are very fit. We ve also done a lot of collective training working on both defensive and attacking aspects."
Caballero said that anything less than a semi-final appearance would be considered a failure in Russia. But he recognized that only a victory in the final on July 15 would atone for Argentina s extra-time loss to Germany in the decider of the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
"It s going to be very difficult but we are going to give our all in every match " he said.
"We ll leave our soul on the pitch and hopefully that will allow us to get further than last time."
--IANS ajb/
The Argentines beat Haiti 4-0 in Buenos Aires on May 30 before a friendly against Israel slated for June 9 was cancelled reports Xinhua news agency.
"It s true that with the cancellation of the match against Israel we had less match practice " Caballero told a press conference on Wednesday.
Argentina will debut in the tournament against Iceland here on Saturday before meeting Croatia and Nigeria in Group D.
Caballero who plays for Mexico s Tigres UANL is expected to be the team s first-choice goalkeeper following a serious knee injury suffered by Sergio Romero late last month.
"The important thing is to be ready on Saturday and I m convinced that we prepared as best we could " the 36-year-old said.
"We ve done a lot of physical work and as a result we are very fit. We ve also done a lot of collective training working on both defensive and attacking aspects."
Caballero said that anything less than a semi-final appearance would be considered a failure in Russia. But he recognized that only a victory in the final on July 15 would atone for Argentina s extra-time loss to Germany in the decider of the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
"It s going to be very difficult but we are going to give our all in every match " he said.
"We ll leave our soul on the pitch and hopefully that will allow us to get further than last time."
--IANS ajb/
