After patchy Copa and exit, Bobadilla gets a week off at São Paulo | OneFootball

São Paulo is planning for defensive midfielder Damián Bobadilla’s return so that head coach Dorival Júnior can finally have a full squad available during the remainder of the mid-season training period.

The midfielder had been with the Paraguay national team for the World Cup and has not yet reported back to the Barra Funda training center. The South American side ended its run in the tournament last Saturday (4) after a 1-0 loss to France in the round of 16.

After landing in Asunción last Monday (6), the player will take a few scheduled days off before returning to Brazil. The coaching staff expects to reintegrate him into training next week.

The rest of the São Paulo squad had already been given a break of more than two weeks at the start of the national calendar stoppage. The time off was granted by the club’s board to make up for the lack of regular vacation at the beginning of the year, caused by the early start of the Campeonato Paulista.

Performance in the tournament and focus on the return of the calendar

During the World Cup, Bobadilla was used in four matches by Paraguay’s coach, totaling 190 minutes on the field.

The defensive midfielder was in the starting lineup in the opener against the U.S., when he ended up scoring the own goal that sealed Paraguay’s defeat, and in the round-of-16 clash against Germany, which was decided on penalties.

However, the player remained on the bench during the loss to the French team that confirmed Paraguay’s elimination.

Bobadilla’s return is seen as an important piece in wrapping up the tactical adjustments planned by Dorival, who has been leading the team’s preparatory training sessions since June 17.

However, it is important to point out that the club’s board had been counting on a strong showing from the midfielder with a view to negotiating a move to one of Europe’s top leagues, which would greatly help the club’s finances. Given his inconsistent run, those plans now seem to have gone down the drain, and Bobadilla has only drawn interest from French football.

São Paulo will return to the field for official matches on the 22nd (Wednesday) at 9:30 p.m. Brasília time, when they face Athletico-PR in Bragança Paulista (SP) in the Brazilian Championship.

  View this photo on Instagram   A post shared by Damián Bobadilla (@damibobadilla_8)

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.