Abbondanzieri confiant d´etre gardien au mondial malgré sa faible forme du moment
Abbondanzieri believes bad patch is over (5 May 2006 06:44 GMT)
Argentina goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri is confident his poor run of form is over and he will be at his peak for the World Cup next month.
The 33-year-old known as ´The Duck´ was heavily criticised after the 3-2 defeat by Croatia in March and also suffered a dip in form at club level with Boca Juniors early in the year.
"I finished last year very well....but I don´t know what happened after that," he told Thursday´s La Nacion newspaper in an interview. "Everyone was watching me very closely and that made things difficult for me. But I think that after the friendly against Croatia, where a lot of things were said about me, I got it into my head that I had to be as relaxed as possible. In the last few games I´ve had the confidence that every goalkeeper needs to have and the results can be seen on the pitch."
Abbondanzieri has been Argentina´s first-choice goalkeeper for the last two years although some of his performances have left the supporters uneasy.
"I feel that I am good enough to be defending the goal for the national side," he said. "I´ll get to the World Cup at the perfect moment... in every sense: in my private life, experience-wise, and the fact that my age is right for a goalkeeper playing at the World Cup."
He said he never felt there had been a concerted campaign against him. "I would have to be very important to have a campaign against me and I don´t feel that important. I´ve been in the national team for two years and I´ve never understood why they always go for the goalkeeper when there are other areas to analyse. But I also knew it was the normal thing and I´ve had chats with people who´ve gone through the same thing. (1978 World Cup goalkeeper) Ubaldo Fillol gave me advice and this helped me," he added.