Playing in a World Cup every two years will stop the players from performing to the best of their abilities, said Argentine international Papu Gomez in a virtual media interaction on Friday.
FIFA, the global governing body of world football, has been pushing the idea of a biennial World Cup but the same has met with widespread criticism.
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Gomez, who plays as an attacking midfielder for Sevilla in La Liga, said, “I wouldn’t like it to be held every two years but that’s a very personal opinion. I think the desire or the intention of celebrating a World Cup every two years would to a certain extent kill the magic of having World Cups every four years. That long wait, that four-year wait, it’s a personal opinion of course.”
And it would also prevent us competing at a higher level. I think if it was going to be every two years, many players would have to play many World Cups and they would lose a bit of the magic. I would prefer it to stay every four years.”
Gomez joined Seville from Atalanta last January despite many offers including some from Arab clubs. He feels that the decision helped him in being a part of the national squad that won the Copa America after beating Brazil 1-0 in the final in July.
“I have received many offers throughout my career from Arab football. But there are sometimes that you have to prioritise certain things. I prioritised being able to continue to play for the national team. We had the Copa America tournament and I knew that if I had gone to play in the Arab league, then perhaps I would not have had the opportunity to compete in the Copa America because the league is a step down from the Italian, French or Spanish leagues, “ said Gomez.
“It was a correct decision from my point of view as I continued to be called up to play for Argentina’s national team and I am still a competitive player in a big team like Seville and I was even fortunate to win the Copa America title last year.”
Gomez’s team Sevilla is currently second in the Spanish league, eight points behind leader Real Madrid with a game in hand. The club’s next match is against defending champion Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
About the match, Gomez said, “Atletico Madrid is under pressure in this game. They are the current league champions and if Atletico wants to have a chance of winning the title again, then they have got to go out and win the game. We have got be well prepared. Atletico is a brilliant team with excellent players. They have got excellent players on the bench.
“It is going to be a very hard match, very physical match but we are playing at home in front of our fans and we also want to win so that we don’t drop further behind Real Madrid.”
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