Sawt Falasteen - Imhoff returns for World Cup hoping to write Pumas history

The 35-year-old back, who has played for Racing 92 in Paris since 2011, was part of the Pumas squad at the 2011 and 2015 World Cups but was dropped in 2019 when Argentina opted not to select any players based abroad.

He said attracting the notice of coach Michael Cheika, who took over in March 2022, has been an objective.

"I really want to be part of the Argentine national team, and that was one of my motivations at club level this year: to be the best I can be at Racing and give the Pumas coach doubts," he told AFP.

"My absence in 2019, even if it was for political reasons made me change my way of seeing things, and you realise what you have when you don't have it anymore.

"I'm not the fastest, the most talented, the best player, but I'll be the most committed".

He said he was looking forward to playing a World Cup in France.

"It's bound to be magnificent," he said. "I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think it'll be the best ever, given the commitment of the French."

- Enjoy the caviar -

In 2015, Imhoff scored three tries as the Pumas reached the semi-finals before losing to Australia.

"When you're an outsider like we are, you're motivated by everything that's said about you. We eat dirt, as they say, so that when we taste the caviar, we can enjoy it.

"We will give everything to write history," he added.

"In a player's head, there's always the hope, the belief, that you can be world champion. When you dream of it, when it's within your grasp, why not give everything to get there?"

Argentina kick off their campaign in Pool D against England on September 9 in Marseille before facing Samoa and then neighbours Chile and finally Japan.

"Our group isn't an easy one," he said. "We have to win every match, except that the decisive matches come very early, so after the first two weeks, we'll already have an idea."

Argentina beat England 30-29 at Twickenham the last time the two met, the start of a sequence of results last November that cost England coach Eddie Jones his job.

"We want to be in the quarter-finals, and we can be. But we're also not going to lie to ourselves and say that we've got an easy group and that because we beat England at Twickenham, we're going to beat them again. On the contrary, I think we'll have to work hard."

For the first time, there are three South American teams at the World Cup with Chile making their debut and Uruguay playing for the fifth time.

"We're trying to share everything we've learned with our neighbours to help the countries around us progress," said Imhoff.

W.Mansour--SF-PST