Papu Gomez spoke about many issues regarding his international career, Maradona, Messi and Argentine coaches over the years. Here are some major quotes of his interview with La Nacion.
“Maradona’s presence in Seville? It’s very latent. Our team manager Martagón played here with Diego and he tells us stories. We, Argentines get respected, valued at this club. The memory of Diego is everywhere; the club’s store still sells the replica of 92/93 jersey. I feel proud and I love wearing the shirt that Diego wore.”
“Each coach feels comfortable with the players he knows. I’ll give you an example: Sabella called up my clubmate José Sosa to Argentina National team. Why? Because he had confidence in him, he knew him as a person and as a player. And I was not that lucky, Sabella did not know me”
“Then, a coach like Scaloni arrived, my former teammate in Atalanta. He began to talk about me to Jorge Sampaoli. When Scaloni took charge, he started calling me as he knows who I am, what I can contribute to the team. Bauza, Maradona, Martino and Sabella called players they knew but it’s not bad”
“Leo began to speak before the Copa final and the truth is, I don’t quite remember the right words, because right away, I was already crying. He said something about the efforts, the families…..and my tears fell like a baby.”
“Leo Messi is the most normal and simplest among all of us, the most common companion there is. But he bears surname ‘Messi’ and many believe that he behaves differently. Be careful, he is an absolute Leader, a Captain in every sense of the word. Because he shows it, he sets an example”
“People always want to compare Messi with Maradona, they want him to yell and fight but Leo isn’t like that. But if he has to do it, he does it indoors. Whatever happens he is never going to bring it to light. He is not going to sell smoke. Even when he gets really angry, he does things between four walls”
ARG Soccer News 