Carlos Tevez

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has praised the form of Erik Lamela this campaign and believes the Argentine is finally leaving up to the investment made for his services. The attacker has been plagued by injuries and fitness concerns, which have hampered his Spurs career, but he has largely impressed since the current season started.

Lamela recently scored his sixth goal of the campaign during the recent 3-2 away win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and speaking after the game, Pochettino highlighted that the Argentine has become more mature in terms of his performances on the field, he said: “Yes he’s more mature now. Of course, always you expect when you make this type of investment that the player starts to perform in the way you expect. Of course it was tough for him from the day he arrived here. This is his sixth season and it was tough for him from the beginning, but now I think after 12 games he’s scored eight goals.”

Boca Juniors have decided to bring in Carlos Lampe, who is a Bolivian international, if they get past the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores. The Argentine club’s vice-president confirmed the decision in a recent interview. The decision has been taken in order to provide a replacement for the club’s number one goalkeeper Esteban Andrada, who has been ruled out for almost a year due to a fractured jaw. Boca Juniors have been in the negotiations to sign a short-term loan deal to bring inLampe and it was dependent on the passage of the club into the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores.

Boca Juniors were able to beat Cruzeiro on aggregate on Thursday to reach the semifinals. The first league game between the two clubs finished as a 2-0 victory for Boca Juniors at Belo Horizonte. Vice President Rodolfo Ferrari said that everything has been agreed and that the transfer will complete this phone. However, because of the rules and regulations, the player will not be available for theSuperliga Argentina matches. As a result of the signing, Boca Juniors have been able to provide substantial reinforcement of the backline which has suffered a lot in the recent few weeks.Carlos Lampe is an experienced campaigner who has featured in 24 games for the Bolivian national team. He is currently part of theHuachipato set up in the Chilean top-flight.

Former Argentina star Javier Saviola believes compatriot Lionel Messi should be given more time to consider a return to the national team. The Barcelona star was the subject of criticism from the fans after Argentina failed to progress beyond the round of 16 of the World Cup and he has since made himself unavailable for national team duty.

Despite this, caretaker boss Lionel Scaloni has recently refused to rule out Messi’s return and Saviola feels the country should remain patient for the attacker’s comeback, he said: “The best thing is to give him time and for him to come back when he has the proper strength to face other objectives. They have to form a team for him to be able to integrate into.”

West Ham United attacker Felipe Anderson has revealed that he was inspired by some of the club’sfavourites including Carlos Tevez before making the summer switch. The Brazil international became the Hammers’ record signing from Lazio during the summer and he has since been ever-present for the Premier League duties.

Speaking to ESPN, Anderson said: “Since I was a kid I knew that [the Premier League] was the most important championship. Then when I started playing all the players said that it was the best, the most difficult, the most competitive. I wanted to come here to be among the best. I was following Tevez, Mascherano... I also followed Di Canio who played here a long time ago. I always followed the English championship a lot so when they told me about the possibility of coming here I did not think twice.”

France captain Hugo Lloris has said that Les Bleus’ win over Argentina gave them the belief that they could go on to win the 2018 World Cup. Didier Deschamps’ side secured an exciting 4-3 win over the Argentines in the round of 16 stage and they thereafter managed to maintain their composure to secure a second World Cup crown.

Speaking to Omnisport, Lloris highlighted the Argentina win as the key moment which made them realise that they could end their trophy wait, he said: “We got the best of Argentina… of Messi's Argentina. It made us realise we have the potential to go through. Every game was difficult, but we did really well. We could feel a very strong team ready for the challenges ahead. We faced challenges after challenges following that game until the final victory. Every game was difficult, but we did really well.”

Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic has highlighted that he would be resting key players during the final group stage game against Iceland despite the concerns raised by the head coaches of Argentina and Nigeria. The Croats are already assured of top spot in their World Cup group after sealing comfortable wins over Nigeria and Argentina.

Speaking in a press conference, Dalic stressed that Croatia would be making any favours for their opponents and their opponents would rather mind their own business, he said: “I don't care what other teams are saying. We're minding our own business. What others are commenting, that's their business.”

After playing a dominant role as Real Madrid went on to win their third straight UEFA Champions League title, and helping Croatia to the final of the World Cup, all in one year, as well as being awarded the Golden Ball in Russia, shouldn’t Luka Modric be the one to end the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi duopoly?

The Croatia international finished in the top five last year but with regular outstanding peformances for club and country and winning titles, shouldn’t the experienced midfielder get the nod this time?

Boca Juniors striker Carlos Tevez has admitted that he misses playing for Juventus, though he is content to have returned to Argentina. The 34-year-old, who spent two seasons at the Bianconeri between 2013 and 2015, recently returned to Italy for Andrea Pirlo’s testimonial at the iconic San Siro stadium.

Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, he said: “I follow the Italian league on TV. I’m happy that Juventus won but I’m not surprised, I always thought they’d finish in front of Napoli. They deserved the title, it’s a great club with extraordinary players.Success is part of their DNA, if it wasn’t they wouldn’t have been able to put together this incredible run. I miss Turin and Juventus, those were two beautiful years, but I needed to go home.”

Argentina superstar Lionel Messi has admitted that he could step down from international duties following the summer World Cup in Russia. The 30-year-old initially retired from international football following a second successive Copa America final defeat to Chile in 2016 but he thereafter changed his mind to guide the nation through a tough World Cup qualifying campaign.

Argentina faced a must-win game against Ecuador in the final round of the qualifiers and Messi duly delivered for theAlbiceleste with a hat-trick to send them to the World Cup. Since then, there has been plenty of talk of Messi announcing his international retirement following the World Cup and he has now admitted that it could be the case, should the nation fail to win the global tournament.

Carlos Tevez has confirmed that his intention to retire from professional football once his contract with Boca Juniors concludes in 2019. The 34-year-old re-joined his hometown club for the third time after a short spell with Chinese heavyweights Shanghai Shenhua, where he was allegedly the highest-paid player in the world.

Since his comeback, Tevez has netted on four occasions for the Argentine giants but the centre-forward is now considering the prospect of retirement, he told Canal 13“I think that when my contract ends at the end of next year I will [retire]. Other times, I missed the club when I left, but this time it won't be the same. I won't go to another team and I'll retire with this jersey. "I don't want to retire and then become a coach or director. I must prepare for such a role first.”