Argentina’s 1978 World Cup winning striker, Mario Kempes, was full of praise for Inter captain Mauro Icardi in an interview with media outlet Clarin, where the former Rosario Central striker had nothing but good things to say about the Nerazzurri captain.
Kempes argued that Icardi should be the man that Jorge Sampaoli should be looking to lead the line for Argentina going forward into the World Cup in Russia next year: “I don’t like what Sampaoli did with Icardi. He called him up to the squad and then didn’t play him. Higuain was playing badly, Aguero & Dybala weren’t scoring. Messi was missing chances. Who else do you play? He gave Icardi two chances then dropped him because the next game was at La Bombonera and you have to play Benedetto? You need to respect the player. You call on him when you’re about to drown and then you push him aside. For me, this is bad management.”
Mario Kempes then went on to directly praise Mauro Icardi: “He is my favourite, without doubt. I don’t care about what he does off the pitch. You can’t drop him because he plays two games and fails to score. He doesn’t really know his teammates yet as they have been a part of the national team for a while whereas he is still new. If, as a manager, you don’t have faith in the ones who have been together for 12 years in this team how can you expect Icardi to do it all in just two games? So what is Sampaoli going to do now with Benedetto who failed to score against Peru and Ecuador? Icardi remains my preferred choice. He hasn’t been given the same opportunities as others. He plays for Inter. He scores goals. He’s their captain.”