About playing through injuries before the World Cup

For many months before I went to the World Cup, I was playing in the league with an ankle injury. The reason I didn't want to take a break was that during that time Romelu Lukaku and Rafael Correa were injured and it was just me up front.

While competing, I wore a brace and underwent osmotic therapy to ease the pain.

However, now I still have an ankle injury that made me afraid to do anything during the holidays after the World Cup and after the Champions League final.

At Inter, I still play the same way.

However, shortly before the Champions League final, I had to take medicine to continue playing.

I spoke to Scaloni before the UAE game and asked him to give me a break so I could be fit for the World Cup.

The Saudi game was very painful and I had osmosis therapy again.

There was no way I could have contributed more against Mexico.

How has the injury affected you

The pain prevented me from training or even shooting with the back of my foot. Sometimes I get dizzy when I make some stops to catch the ball.

However, I didn't give up, I kept trying but eventually found it impossible.

I'm trying more and more, but my ankle is losing sensitivity. It becomes very difficult to play like that.

I felt isolated, I locked myself in my room and cried, I had a bad time in my room.

Even though my family and daughter visit me often, they are close to me.

At those moments, I longed for happiness and love from my family.

Luckily, they were close to me. I tried to get through those difficult moments with them, but it was really hard because I was always the scorer in the Scaroni era before the World Cup.

About the penalty shootout against France

Just like against Holland, I was the last one to take the penalty. When we walked onto the pitch for the penalty shootout, the coach kept asking us if we were OK.

When Martinez had already saved one, I wanted the fourth to take the penalty. I wanted to take the penalty, I even wanted my team to miss a penalty and have me take the fifth one (laughs).
I have decided: if it is my turn, I will kick hard and high, to the left of the goalkeeper. Because Lori doesn't bounce very high.