The midfielder of the Argentine U-20 team Gino Infantino seeks revenge in the World Cup as a benchmark of the squad after having been the team captain in the South American tournament in Colombia. The 20-year-old from Rosario started the tournament as a substitute but against New Zealand he once again wore the captain’s armband and had the pleasure of scoring the second goal of the win over New Zealand (5-0) in San Juan.
“Having the tape is extra confidence. When it’s my turn, I’m going to defend it as it deserves,” Gino said in dialogue with Télam, after the last game of Group A of the World Cup.
Infantino was the starter and captain in all four games of the first phase of the South American and after missing an important penalty in the classic against Brazil with the game 0-1, he gave Javier Mascherano’s team one more chance by scoring the goal against Peru for the only victory in the tournament.
The hope did not last long because the defeat against Colombia on the last day ended the chances of entering the final hexagonal that defined the four tickets to the World Cup originally scheduled in Indonesia. “Yes, it’s totally a rematch,” Infantino admitted, but he quickly changed the focus and stressed that what happened in Colombia “has already happened.” “We made a clean slate,” said the footballer with the most experience as a professional on the team.
Infantino was formed in the inexhaustible youth academy of the Rosario club ADIUR, he had the opportunity to stay in the lower ranks of Real Madrid and Villarreal but he returned because he missed his family and at the age of 17 he joined Rosario Central, where he made his debut in November 2020 and three years later he already has 66 games in the first team.
“I have a weakness for Infantino. In training I used to say: ‘How does this kid play'”, said his former DT, Carlos Tevez, a few months ago and even Roberto Mancini, Italy’s coach, follows him closely to add him as happened with Mateo Retegui.
In the new team that Mascherano put together for the World Cup that is being played in our country after the loss of Indonesia as the venue, Infantino started on the substitute bench but the coach used him in all three games. Although he can play as an insider in Máximo Perrone’s position, the DT thinks of him more as an offensive replacement piece for ValentÃn Carboni, whom he replaced against Uzbekistan and Guatemala.
Against New Zealand he took advantage of the opportunity, became captain again and 17 minutes into the first half scored with a left-footed shot from inside the area after receiving a pass from Luka Romero. “I felt very comfortable on the field and scoring a goal gives you a lot of confidence,” said Capi, as some of his teammates call him, who did not hesitate to point out that the team’s goal is to be in the final of June 11. The Silver. “Our goal is to be champion, we are the Argentine National Team,” said the captain who is looking for his revenge.