Seven of the 26 world champions in Qatar 2022 were left out of the list of 27 players raised this Saturday by the technical director of the Argentine national team, Lionel Scaloni, for the friendlies of the next FIFA window in June, with Lionel Messi as the star figure of the team.
the archer Franco Armani (River); the defenders Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United) and john foyth (Villarreal); the midfielder Alejandro “Papu” Gomez (Sevilla) and the forwards Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid) Lautaro Martinez (Inter) and Paulo Dybala (Rome) are not listed in the coach’s call. Three of those absences are explained by physical reasons: Lisandro Martínez is recovering from a fracture on the foot, Dybala has ankle problemswho cast doubt on their participation on Wednesday in the final of the Europa League, and Lautaro Martínez will undergo treatment for an old ankle discomfortafter playing with Inter in the Champions League final.
On the contrary, the biggest news on the list are the presences of goalkeeper Walter Benítez, from PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands, and the central Leonardo Balerdiof the French Olympique de Marseille, in addition to the appearance of the winger Alejandro Garnacho.
Benítez, 30, with a past in Quilmes in Argentine soccer (2012-2016), received his first call for major, then record a participation in the 2013 South American U-20. The goalkeeper arrived at the Dutch club this season after an outstanding six-year performance at Nice in France. Balerdi (24), on the other hand, He was already summoned twice by Scaloni in 2019 for two friendly tours. His debut from the substitute bench came in the 4-0 win over Mexico in San Antonio, United States, and the second match was played against Ecuador (6-1) in Elche, Spain.
As news compared to Qatar 2022, The Argentine National Team will feature the returns of Facundo Medina, Lucas Ocampos, Giovanni Simeone, Alejandro Garnacho, Nicolás González and Giovani Lo Celso, these last two absent in the World Cup due to injury.
The complete payroll
Archers: Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa), Gerónimo Rulli (Ajax) and Walter Benítez (PSV Eindhoven).
Defenders: Nahuel Molina (Atletico de Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Germán Pezzella (Betis), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique de Marseille), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica), Facundo Medina (Lens), Nicolás Tagliafico (Olympique from Lyon) and Marcos Acuña (Seville).
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea), Guido Rodríguez (Betis), Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético de Madrid), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United) and Giovani Lo Celso (Villarreal).
Forwards: Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla), Ángel Di María (Juventus), Lionel Messi (PSG), Julián Álvarez (Manchester City), Giovanni Simeone (Napoli), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) and Nicolás González (Fiorentina).
Argentina will face a tour of Asia in June that includes a friendly with Australia in China, on Thursday the 15th, and another against Indonesia in that country, on Monday the 19th. Those matches will be the last before the start of the South American Qualifiers for the next World Cup, in September. On the first double date, the world champions will be local against Ecuador and then they will travel to La Paz to face Bolivia.
