It has been a stretch of 22 years now that the Argentinian team has been missing on the Copa America Title. This year however, ace defender Javier Mascherano feels confident that his team has potential enough to break the jinx.
Argentina’s last international success was the 1993 Copa America title and Mascherano believes that the current line up is talented enough to bring back the glory old days.
“It’s not a matter of egos, but each of us needs to win something with the national team. We want to consolidate the work that has been done in the last few years and it would be very good to add a cup to that second-place finish in Brazil (2014 World Cup),” Mascherano was quoted as saying by media.
“The national team is all set to win the title. If you check through the names we have a great team. That allows you to start dreaming,” said Mascherano.
Mascherano, who served as Argentina captain from 2008-11, explained that his team owed a duty to its nation.”There are pressure and a responsibility that we have at a moral level with our football,” he commented.
“At the end of the day, the idea is to show all the good that we can do with the shirt of our country, who helped us grow and gave us a little bit of everything. We give back through our football.”
The 31-year-old also took the time to praise the ambitious style of coach Gerardo Martino, whom he also played under at FC Barcelona during the 2013-14 season.
“As we put more players into the attack we will take more risks, but we will have more chances too,” the Argentina vice-captain added.
“Martino has brave ideas. I’ve been playing like this for seven years at Barcelona, but in the national team it requires a lot more work. Only over time will this system work,” Mascherano concluded.