ARGENTINA SACK BAUZA AFTER EIGHT MONTHS

South American soccer giants Argentina have sacked national team coach Edgardo Bauza after just eight months in charge.

The AFA chief Claudio Tapia confirmed the reports that the former Sao Paulo boss was no longer managing Albiceleste after a string of disappointing performances.

Bauza, 59, is a two time winner of the Copa Libertadores. He took over the team after former coach Gerardo Martino resigned but his tenure has ended after eight World Cup qualifiers. Martino opted to leave the hot seat after the successive defeat to Chile in the Copa America. Bauza was supposed to help the team regain confidence and qualify for the World Cup next year.

The eight games Bauza supervised ended in just three victories. Painful losses against Paraguay, Brazil and recently Bolivia made his dismissal almost inevitable.
There is still hope to make the World Cup as Argentina are only two points behind Columbia who are in the second spot.

Brazil are 11 points ahead and they have already qualified with games left. Since the top four qualifies for the mundial automatically and the fifth faces an Oceania team in the playoff, there are considerable chances but the team is in disarray – a major factor in his sack.

Others linked with the job are Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli and Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone. The latter would likely not leave a top La Liga side for national team management, considering his potential and recent achievements. However, there are strong links to Sampaoli who has not been able to match expectations since the exit of Unai Emery.

Tapia said there would be a press conference on Tuesday to make formal announcements.