Spain: the Truth Is I'm Worried Because There Are Nine Days Left to Compete

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said he is worried with nine days until the start of the season, as his squad has yet to train as a group due to the absence of players who featured in the World Cup final. The Argentine spoke after Atletico ended their Asian tour with a loss to Manchester City, despite a first-team goal from academy product Jorge Dominguez. "We had 10 internationals playing in the final and semifinal of the World Cup, which was something very nice.

That means they couldn't come earlier because of their needed and deserved vacations, Simeone said. "The truth is I'm worried because there are nine days left to compete. And well, we still haven't been able to train as a group, or even play as a team.

We will surely have difficulties and we'll have to see them from now on to anticipate them. On whether Dominguez will stay with the first team: "We haven't made a decision yet on whether he stays to train with us or participates with... I don't know where he is because he came from the youth teams. We understand he's an important player who can help us, and they know me, they know that for me footballers don't have age.

If they have the ability to show whether they can be there or not. And if he continues on this line, it's clear we have an important player in growth. We have to accompany him, not rush him, protect him, and we're going to take care of him because he's a kid who can help us.

On Kang In Lee: "He played few minutes, which little by little he will find the rhythm of play that he needs and that the team needs, and we're going to need that adaptation time that obviously all footballers have, especially in the physical part. On his position: I don't know, because actually he can play on the right wing, he can play as an interior on the left, he can play as a left midfielder, he can play as an attacking midfielder. He's a footballer who adapts due to his characteristics to different systems and we'll try to put him in the place where we believe it's good for the team. Simeone lamented the lack of internationals to prepare for the start of LaLiga.