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

São Paulo is expecting the return of defensive midfielder Damián Bobadilla so that head coach Dorival Júnior can finally have the full squad available for 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 pause in the national calendar. The time off was granted by the club’s board to make up for the lack of the usual vacation period 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 schedule

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 United States, when he unfortunately scored the own goal that sealed Paraguay’s defeat, and in the round-of-16 clash against Germany, which was decided in a penalty shootout.

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

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

However, it is important to note that the club’s board was hoping for a strong showing from its midfielder with a view to negotiating a move to Europe’s top tier, which would have greatly helped the finances. Given his inconsistent campaign, those plans now seem to have gone down the drain, and Bobadilla has only drawn interest from French football.

São Paulo will return to official action 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 post 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.