Benfica paid warm tribute to Nicolás Otamendi but ‘forgot’ Enzo Fernández who was not called up

One of lime and one of sand. Benfica beat Portimonense 1-0 this Friday, in a match valid for the 15th round of the Portuguese league. There, with the gold medal on his chest and an indelible smile on his face, he was honoured Nicola Otamendione of the figures of the team selected in Qatar 2022. However, none of that happened with Enzo Fernándezthe other Argentinian who shone in the Middle East, called up not only by the German coach Roger Schmidt after his New Year’s escape not allowed but could not even receive his reception as world champion.

“It was something very important for me and for my family. In this case Enzo could not be there, but I think he will have his toll because he is part of Argentina and he is part of the group. We will try to continue like this. The homage here in our stadium and to our people is something I will remember for the rest of my life because I won a very important title in my career and they are part of that too.” held an exciting Otamendi, 35, who played the full 90 minutes for the Lisbon team.

Otamendi, formerly of Vélez Sarsfield, played 69 games for Benfica and scored just one goal. After finishing his participation in the World Cup, the defender received a proposal from Martín Demichelis, manager of River Plate, to return to Argentina, but preferred to continue in Europe, where he recorded passes through Porto, Valencia and Manchester City, with a brief interruption due to his loan to Atlético Mineiro in 2014.

What happened to Enzo Fernández? After escaping to spend New Year’s in Argentina, the midfielder voted best young player at Qatar 2022 received a pat on the wrist from Schmidt, who didn’t like him leaving Portugal without permission.

It all happened amid rumors of his millionaire transfer to Chelsea, which had reached an agreement with the player. However, although it seemed a fact that he would have made use of the release clause – which amounts to 120 million euros -, the London club wanted to take him away for less money and the operation has currently failed.

“There’s a club that wants our player. They know we don’t want to sell him and that they can’t sign him unless he pays the clause. It’s a very clear situation”said Schmidt when asked about the matter in the press conference before the match against Portimonense.

“What the club that wants to sign Enzo is doing is a lack of respect towards all of us at Benfica and I can’t accept that. It drives the player crazy, expects him to pay the clause and then negotiate. I think this is not considered a good relationship between the clubsadded the 55-year-old German, who also booked Fernández.

“He didn’t have permission to go to Argentina and he missed training, this is not acceptable, so there will be consequences.”, warning. And in the end he didn’t even call him up for the match… Could that have been the punishment?

The point is that Enzo stood out for his absence in the 1-0 draw against Portimonense. The goal for Benfica, who claimed their 13th win of the tournament and lead with 40 points, six more than their Sporting Braga escort, was converted by Portuguese midfielder João Mário, 29, from a penalty nine minutes from start of the first phase.

Benfica have qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League and will play the round-trip match against Bruges from Belgium on 15 February and 7 March.

Source: agencies