Why Argentina winning the World Cup could be bad news for Man Utd, Man City and Tottenham as club vs country row brews
ARGENTINA won the World Cup for the first time since 1986 in the most dramatic final.
And Premier League fans are no doubt delighted for the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Cristian Romero and Alexis Mac Allister.
But the result of the thrilling final in Doha – settled on penalties after a 3-3 draw – may well have opened up a huge club vs country row as the season prepares to restart.
With the Premier League returning on Boxing Day, players will theoretically be expected back in time to train and prepare for the matches.
However, Argentina’s stars will be flying back to the UK via a massive diversion to Buenos Aires for the mother of all celebrations.
Manchester Unitedd (Martinez), Brighton (Mac Allister), Tottenham (Romero), Aston Villa (Emi Martinez) and Manchester City (Julian Alvarez) could all be affected by this.
One player who could benefit from a row with Argentina is United’s Harry Maguire.
The centre-back looked back to his old self with his England performances at the World Cup, before the Three Lions were dumped out by the French.
And if Lisandro Martinez is unable to play on Boxing Day, it would leave Ten Hag with little choice but to call up club captain Maguire.
The likelihood of being without key men was something top Prem bosses had been aware of before the tournament.
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Chelsea manager Graham Potter said last month: “I don’t know what the motivation of another human will be after a World Cup.
“Most people who have won it celebrate on open top buses – and then need a three-week holiday to get over those celebrations.
“I could be selfish and say we need them back.
“But if they don’t go and celebrate and they have to come back here it will be difficult. They have to recover emotionally.
“And if you’ve lost the World Cup final it’s going to take more than three or four days to get over it.”