Football
Adriana Garcia 7y

Sergio Aguero: I can be a 'bad player' when playing for Argentina

Sergio Aguero has admitted he sometimes feels like a "bad player" when representing Argentina after missing a penalty during their 1-0 World Cup qualifying loss to Paraguay on Tuesday.

Aguero, 28, has scored 11 goals in all competitions for Manchester City this season, but his last goal for Argentina was on June 10 during the Copa America.

Aguero, wearing the No. 10 shirt left vacant by the injured Lionel Messi on Tuesday, had the best chance to equalise a minute after the restart but saw his weak penalty easily saved by Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar.

"Things didn't go as planned," Aguero told Ole. "I missed a penalty. It wasn't my day as I didn't achieve what I wanted to do.

"I sometimes feel that I'm a bad player although that doesn't happen there [in England]. I will come up with something in order to prove that I can do it. I'm trying to adapt to the new tactics. I must continue to think that this will change.

"Obviously if I'm here, it's because I'm doing a good job in my team. I'm not doing things well and if I'm not here next time, I will try to be in the next squad. I will keep on trying."

Argentina's performances have gone from bad to worse of late, with 2-2 draws away to Venezuela and Peru in their previous two qualifiers proceeding the loss at home to Paraguay -- a result which leaves them outside of the automatic qualification spots for the 2018 World Cup.

"There are no excuses, we played very badly," Aguero said. "We have no other choice but to turns thing around fast. We've got to pick ourselves up."

Paraguay had never previously won a World Cup qualifier in Argentina but did so thanks to Derlis Gonzalez's first-half goal.

Argentina had plenty of other chances to get back into the game in Cordoba but Angel Di Maria also hit the post, had a goal disallowed and wasted clear-cut chances.

"We are very hurt by what happened," Aguero said. "Paraguay defended well and we couldn't find a way through."

Aguero, who had been doubtful for the encounter due to a muscular problem, started against Paraguay and was booed just like the rest of his teammates after the final whistle.

"People have a right to boo," Aguero said. "Nobody likes to be criticised and in order to change this, I have to prove on the pitch that I can do better."

Edgardo Bauza's side have dropped seven points in their last three qualifiers without injured captain Messi and lie fifth in the CONMEBOL standings with 16 points, one point more than Paraguay, with eight games remaining.

The top four teams go through to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, while the fifth-placed team qualifies for a playoff round.

Argentina next travel to Belo Horizonte to face Brazil on Nov. 10 with Messi expected to be fit to play in that qualifier.

"Leo [Messi] is obviously important to us and you can see that," Aguero said. "We have no other choice but to think about our next game against Brazil and try to win.

"We have good players and we can solve this situation. We have already experienced situations like this before and we have come out of them."

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