Agüero talks to AFA to join Argentina’s coaching staff

Former striker Sergio Agüero, 33, who recently retired from football due to a heart problem, seems to have defined what he will do next in his career, now off the pitch.

As he revealed, he is talking to the AFA (Argentine Football Association) to join Lionel Scaloni’s coaching staff who will lead the country’s team at this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

“We still need to define what the role will be, but I will be with the team at the World Cup,” Agüero said in an interview with TyC Sports.

“I want to spend time with the players. I will be there with the team, I get along very well with them. I want to be close to them and try to have fun. I want to find a way to help the national team.”

On social media, the AFA published photos of Agüero’s visit to the association’s headquarters and of his conversation with the organization’s president, Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, but did not reveal the content of the meeting.

The striker announced his retirement in December last year, three months after suffering a cardiac arrhythmia during Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Alavés in the Spanish Championship.

Agüero had just joined the Catalan club after ten successful seasons at Manchester City. For Barça, he could only play in five matches and scored one goal, in a 2-1 defeat by Real Madrid.

With the Argentina national team shirt, he was a gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won the 2021 Copa América (as a reserve for Scaloni’s team), in addition to having played in three World Cups – 2010, 2014, in which Argentina took the runner-up, and 2018).

In 101 games for the national team, Agüero scored 42 goals and is the third top scorer in Albiceleste’s history, behind only Lionel Messi (80) and Gabriel Batistuta (56).