“Argentina has a passion for football, Messi is fundamental even at 40 years old!” » He comes from Cordoba, played at Dinamo and U Cluj: “I trained with Maradona”

Among the dozens of Argentines played over time in the domestic championship, we got in touch with one of the oldest imported footballers in Liga 1 from Argentina. his name? Elias Bazzi, former left defender with 4 Romanian teams in his CV: FC National, FC Argeș, Dinamo and U Cluj.

He played for seven years in Romania, between 2005 and 2012, and collected over 120 matches in the first two leagues. A warm, polite guy, attached to the places where he left his mark, especially Pitesti, Elias speaks fluent Romanian and keeps in touch frequently with his former Romanian teammates, but also with the supporters who “adopted” him.

Located in Río Tercero, 100 kilometers from Cordoba, the city in northern Argentina, Elias Bazzi accepted Gazeta's proposal and he introduced us to the culture and customs specific to a made in Argentina footballerthen commenting on the prospects of Scaloni's national team at the World Cup this summer.

The final tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada will feature a total of 104 matches over 38 days, making it the longest World Cup in history. Argentina is in a group with Austria, Algeria and Jordan.

3 world titleshas Argentina, one of football's great powers: in 1978, 1986, 2022

He learned football on the streets, the same is practiced today: “The passion never ends in Argentina!”

– Elias, do you remember how you started football? What was it like for a kid from the province of Córdoba to start playing football on the streets of Argentina? What memories do you carry with you from that time?
– I started playing football as a child, on the street, as all people in Argentina are used to doing. Children gather in the streets with their friends, with everyone, that's how it is here. Then I played for a team from my small town, Córdoba, that's how I started football. I remember a lot from my childhood, yes. I played soccer for about 6-7 hours a day, all the time I was with the ball, all the time I was playing. And at night we played! (laugh). I had a beautiful childhood here in my city.

– Can you remember how you arrived in Romania? What was the first impression you had when you moved from football in Argentina to the first league of Romania?
– I remember many things since I arrived in Romania… There were many words similar to those in the Spanish language, which we speak in Argentina. It was really a big change for me, but I adapted well there. In the first year I went to FC Național, where there were a lot of foreign players.

Elias Bazzi, on the left, in a duel with Juan Carlos Toja / photo: GSP Archive

– Culturally, it was a big difference, I guess.
– Culture? No, not really… You're a bit like us. We eat the same, the opening and closing hours of the shops are similar to what we have here. It was not a drastic cultural change.

– Where do you live today? Do you still see the same passion in kids starting football?
– I now live in the city where I was born, in Río Tercero, 100 kilometers from Cordoba, which is a bigger city with 3 million inhabitants. I live in a city with a population of 40,000 people. Now I work with children at the club where I grew up. The passion? It cannot end in Argentina! All the kids here play soccer. My child, who lived with me in Romania until he was 3 years old, plays for Boca Juniors' Primavera team. All the kids here love football!

Elias Bazzi and his children. Joaquin, on the left, plays for Boca Juniors

“I don't know if we will be champions, but we will go far. Naturally Messi can still help Argentina”

– How do you see Argentina's chances at the World Cup this summer? Who would be your key players? Strengths, weaknesses?
– Argentina's chances in the US? I think they are good, the Argentine national team is very strong, you can see in every match how they play, there are many quality footballers, we come after winning the World Championship. There are many key players, Messi, Enzo Fernández, Mastantuono, Julián Álvarez, I think Argentina will go very far this World Cup. I don't know if we will be champions, I hope so, I hope we will be champions once again, but we will definitely go far.

– Four years ago, the images of the joy of winning the World Cup went around the planet!
– When we became world champions in Qatar… An incredible feeling, a big, big emotion for all of Argentina. To win the World Cup after 36 years was something incredible for our country, both for the players and for Messi. We really wanted Leo to finally become world champion… All the joy in Argentina, everything that was here… Something incredible!

– It's the last World Cup for the great Leo Messi… Do you think he can still help the team like he did before? He is 38 years old, turning 39 in June.
– At 38-39 years old, even at 40 years old, Messi can still help the team! For everyone here, Messi is something very important, surely he can still help Argentina.

– What are your plans for the summer, with whom will you watch Argentina's matches? Are you planning to be there in the United States with your national team?
– I will watch Argentina's matches from here, at home, with my family. No, I will not go to the United States. We watch from here, here we will see the matches. Here we will be happy, here we will be angry.

“Blessed” by Maradona 30 years ago

In November 2020, when the news of Maradona's disappearance disturbed the entire world map, Elias Bazzi revealed a photo taken in the company of “El Pibe de Oro” in 1996. The Argentinian who went through the Romanian championship contextualizes for Gazeta Sporturilor:

“The picture is from when I was little, from 1996, and I was playing for Boca Juniors, I was 15 years old. He was training there and preparing for his comeback. I was with him in training. We lived in the training camp of Boca Juniors. He stayed there for a week. Every day, 4-5 players from Boca Juniors trained with him.

I talked to him. He asked us how old we were, where we were from. After, he gave each of us a t-shirt. He gave us advice, told us to be constant in training and that's how you become a footballer”.

Elias Bazzi and Diego Maradona, a photo for eternity

For Elias Bazzi, the final tournament achieved by the great Diego in 1986, when Argentina was crowned for the second time in history, remains an immeasurable memory:

“Maradona made us happy. We are a country that has lived through hard times, and that moment in 1986 brought joy to all of Argentina. He made a whole country happy. We are very passionate about football, the whole country is passionate about this sport, and Maradona made us happy”.

I had beautiful years in Pitesti. I stayed there for four and a half years, I was very happy. I actually have a group that I talk to with all the players I played with at FC Argeș, we talk every day. I'm also friends with the guys in the gallery, they were all like family and I'm glad they remember me.

– Elias Bazzi for Gazeta, in 2020

97 gamesgathered Elias Bazzi in League 1, accumulated in the shirt of four teams: Progresul, FC Argeș, Dinamo and U Cluj

Argentina's schedule in Group J, Romanian time:

• June 17, 4:00 am » Argentina – Algeria
• June 16, 7:00 am » Austria – Jordan
• June 22, 20:00 » Argentina – Austria
• June 23, 6:00 a.m. » Jordan – Algeria
• June 28, 5:00 am » Algeria – Austria
• June 28, 5:00 a.m. » Jordan – Argentina