Mascherano escapes sack after Argentina U20 crash out of South American Championship

Ex-Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano has escape being sacked after Argentina under-20 squad failed to qualify from the group stage at the ongoing South American under-20 Youth Championship.

His team lost three and won one out of their four games at the tournament.  Including a 2-1 loss to Paraguay, a 3-1 thumping by Brazil and a 1-0 defeat against Colombia. Their only win came against Peru with a 1-0 victory.

Here's what the final group A standings look like:

After crashing out of the tournament Mascherano said: “I don’t have much to say, there are no excuses. Here I am the one who failed and I have to take charge. The best thing now is to return to Argentina, be calm and I repeat again: I'm very grateful for the opportunity.”

Regardless, the Argentina FA boss Chiqui Tapia came out to defend the ex-Barca player stating clearly that he won't be fired despite his team's failure.