Beaten Manchester City duo Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis have thanked Argentina supporters after their World Cup near-miss.
The South American pair, along with Sergio Aguero, lost out on glory in Brazil when Mario Gotze fired in an extra-time winner to break Argentine hearts in the Maracana and back home.
Aguero, for his part, was fortunate to remain on the pitch after striking Bastian Schweinsteiger with his elbow and cutting his face and he remained silent after leaving the pitch in tears.
On the other hand, Zabaleta and Demichelis tweeted their thanks for the support over the rollercoaster month and apologised for returning to Buenos Aires empty-handed:
Gracias , gracias y gracias por el grandísimo apoyo de todo el pueblo argentino.#vivaArgentina!!!!
— Pablo Zabaleta (@pablo_zabaleta) July 14, 2014
Aparte de grandes jugadores, mejores personas y esto no nos vamos a olvidar nunca!!
— Pablo Zabaleta (@pablo_zabaleta) July 14, 2014
Siento una tristeza enorme , no me banco las derrotas pero quiero sentirme orgulloso de este grupo.
— Pablo Zabaleta (@pablo_zabaleta) July 14, 2014
The Manchester City right-back paid tribute to his teammates for their efforts throughout the tournament and expressed his pride at their performance, despite his ‘sadness’ at the final result.
Perdón #ARG por no ganar la Copa. Gracias a todos por el GRAN apoyo que nos dieron en cada partido. Dejamos todo y no alcanzó.
— Martin Demichelis (@demichelisok) July 14, 2014
Demichelis echoed his Etihad club mate and begged for fans forgiveness, adding that the side ‘left everything’ on the pitch.
City captain Vincent Kompany, who saw his own Belgium side’s dreams crushed by Argentina in the quarter-finals, reassured his three teammates that they should be proud of their efforts.
He also congratulated former City defender Jerome Boateng, who shone in the tight match and collected a winner’s medal.
.@pablo_zabaleta @demichelisok & @aguerosergiokun football is hard sometimes. You made everyone proud & had a great tournament. Heads up.
— Vincent Kompany (@VincentKompany) July 13, 2014
Sad for my teammates. Congrats to @DFB_Team and especially @JB17Official. What an achievement. #gerarg
— Vincent Kompany (@VincentKompany) July 13, 2014
Back on British shores, the Blues kicked off their pre-season up in Scotland at Dundee, falling to a 2-0 defeat.
Despite having World Cup misfits Samir Nasri and Alvaro Negredo in their ranks as well as first-team stars Stevan Jovetic and Aleksander Kolarov and forgotten men Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair, City could not compete with the Scots.
Already two weeks into their training programme ahead of the new season, Dundee looked the sharper and were two-up before the break.
Debutant Willy Caballero managed to save Gary Harkins’ penalty, but the Dundee man was quickest to the rebound and slotted home.
Luka Tankulic’s deflected strike doubled the advantage eight minutes before the interval and there was no way back in for the Blues, who handed a first taste of British football to Bruno Zuculini in the second half.
Primer partido con el Manchester City, versus Dundee FC. Buenas sensaciones y contento a seguir con la pretemporada pic.twitter.com/tiMLU31uwO
— Willy Caballero (@willy_caballero) July 13, 2014
Main image courtesy of Manchester City FC via YouTube, with thanks.
