A statue of Lionel Messi in Argentina's capital has been broken in half, with the player's upper body, arms and head removed.
Argentina have been treated with suspicion by the public since the World Cup last year.
Lionel Messi announced on Friday that he wants to return to play for the national team, reversing his decision to retire earlier this year. Messi said in June that he would not play for Argentina again after the team lost to Chile in the final of the Copa America.
A first-half goal by Maxi Lopez gave Sampdoria a 1-0 win over Genoa in their derby on Monday as they avenged their 3-0 drubbing by their old rivals earlier in the season.
The Argentine striker joined the Italian club on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
\n\nThey lost to Argentine giants River Plate 1-2 in the Milk Cup.
The AFA thanked 58-year-old Sampaoli and his assistants, who have also left their positions, for their services.
River Plate could face a Monumental Stadium ban after a fan threw a piece of wood and hit Godoy Cruz defender Leandro Grimi as he celebrated scoring the equaliser in his team's 2-1 upset win on Wednesday.
Trezeguet had recently played in the Indian Super League for Pune City FC.
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick, including an exquisite second goal, as Barcelona strolled into the Club World Cup final with a 3-0 win over Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande on Thursday.
The 43-year-old from the small sub-tropical province of Misiones will become the second referee after compatriot Horacio Elizondo to officiate at both the opening match and final after being picked for Sunday's match between France and Croatia.
Liverpool's Champions League winning trio of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's player award
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has dismissed allegations of gender discrimination over the decision to play the women's World Cup on artificial turf, saying the surface could also be used for the men's tournament in the future.
Lionel Messi assumed the rare role of fan on Thursday conveying his best wishes to his idol and Argentina great Pablo Aimar who retired on Wednesday.
A decision to include Japan and Qatar as the invited sides to this year's Copa has also done little to generate faith in the new leadership, with the tournament usually featuring the 10 South American nations plus two invited teams, although they are generally from elsewhere in the Americas.
Carlos Tevez scored his first goal for Boca Juniors at La Bombonera in more than a decade but it was not enough to prevent his side from crashing to a shock 4-3 defeat to Union in the Argentine championship on Sunday.
Argentina have reached three major finals in three years but the team who came so close to winning the 2014 World Cup face crunch games against Peru and Ecuador that will determine if they miss out on the global showpiece event for the first time since 1970.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became the second England international to leave Arsenal in two days when he joined Premier League rivals Liverpool for a reported 40 million pounds on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The Copa America was played as a 12-team tournament from 1993 when the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) invited two teams from CONCACAF, the North and Central America and Caribbean region, to join in.
Luis Suarez scored an equaliser and was just wide with what could have been a spectacular winner as Uruguay were held to a 3-3 draw by Costa Rica in a friendly.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi pulled his side level in the 57th minute after a handball by Paraguay's Ivan Peris which no-one on the pitch appealed for but was spotted by a VAR review.
Fresh from propelling Barcelona to their fifth trophy of 2015, their prolific strikes are now seeking to break the Spanish record of goals in a calendar year when they play Real Betis on Wednesday.
Diego Simeone may not have the stomach to reinvent Atletico Madrid again after they suffered another morale-shattering loss to Real Madrid in Saturday's Champions League final.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Striker Jonathan Calleri chipped a brilliant 'rabona' as Boca Juniors marked Carlos Tevez's homecoming with a 2-1 victory over Quilmes at La Bombonera to stay top of the Argentine championship.
Carlos Tevez was officially unveiled as a Boca Juniors player in a 6.5 million euros ($7.15 million) transfer from Juventus.
Manchester City boosted their defensive options by signing Argentine centre back Martin Demichelis from Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
In the other match of the night, Jamaica 'keeper blunder hands Paraguay 1-0 win
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
AC Milan youth players subjected to alleged racist abuse; Argentine fan punches player.
New Valencia coach Gary Neville remains without a La Liga win after his side twice recovered from a goal down to rescue a fortunate 2-2 draw at home to Getafe on Saturday.
Radamel Falcao's hopes of playing at the World Cup finals hung by a thread on Thursday after his Ligue 1 club Monaco announced the Colombia striker required surgery on a left knee injury.
Juventus defeated second-placed Lazio 2-0 at home on Saturday to take another huge step towards their fourth straight Serie A title and boost their confidence for Wednesday's crunch Champions League clash in Monaco.
Real Madrid closed to within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona after demolishing nine-man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 while Atletico Madrid missed a chance to seize top spot outright by losing 1-0 at Malaga.
Real Madrid lifted the FIFA Club World Cup for a record fourth time on Saturday after thrashing local side Al Ain 4-1 in the final in Abu Dhabi with the help of impressive distance strikes in either half from midfielders Luka Modric and Marcos Llorente.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
A round-up of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers played on Thursday
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