ARGENTINA midfielder Papu Gomez has shrugged off injury fears ahead of Friday’s huge World Cup quarter-final against Holland.
The Sevilla star admitted he sprained his ankle as he was taken off in the 2-1 last-16 win over Australia.
But the 34-year-old insists he will be “fine” for what could be one of the games of the tournament.
Gomez was replaced on 50 minutes against the Socceroos with Argentina leading through Lionel Messi’s first-half opener.
Messi then controlled the contest, with Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez punishing Mat Ryan’s error to double the lead.
Craig Goodwin did reply with a heavily-deflected snapshot but Argentina held on.
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And Gomez is sure he’ll be fit to start just six days later.
He told TyC Sports via mundoalbiceleste: “I twisted my ankle and couldn’t go on much longer.
“I preferred that someone else that’s better than me comes in.
“It’s a sprain, there are several days left to recover and everything will be fine.”
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Argentine journalist Gaston Edul called it a “slight ankle sprain”.
And although his team endured a nervous climax, Gomez claimed they are confident of challenging for the crown.
He added: “We could have scored several goals after but the important thing is that we won.
“We ended up suffering but we are Argentina, you always have to suffer.
“We are meeting the objectives that we set out for ourselves.”
He even believes opening with a shock 2-1 group loss to Saudi Arabia could have helped Argentina.
Gomez said: “The first game may have been good for us because it was a warning sign.
“It woke us up and we improved things that we were doing wrong.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
