DBasia.news – The coach of the Argentine national team, Lionel Scaloni, regrets the absence of Lionel Messi to defend his country in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in the Conmebol zone. The Albiceleste squad will travel to Calama, Chile, to face a series of matches in the coming week.
Argentina will play against Chile (27/01 – 07.15 WIB) and Colombia (02/02 – 06.30 WIB). Scaloni also explained the absence of Messi. According to him, the 33-year-old player is absent as he is still in the recovery stage after recovering from the corona virus.
“Obviously we would love to have Messi here with us,” Scaloni told reporters.
“I spoke to him and he told me that Covid hit him hard. This is the key for him to recover, and that’s why I decided that the best option for him was to stay at his club.”
Without the seven Ballon d’Or winners present, Argentina will be led by Angel Di Maria as team captain. Di Maria is also Lionel Messi’s partner at PSG (Paris Saint-Germain).
“The question of the captain’s position is quite logical. Angel has been in the national team for many years and he is a man who transmits a lot to his team mates, he is loved and that is all there is,” added Scaloni.
“In that case, we have no doubts at all,” he asserted.
Argentina are currently in second place in the standings with 29 points from 13 matches, behind Brazil who has 35 points.
The following are the names called by Scaloni to the Argentina national team squad:
Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Esteban Andrada, Emiliano Martinez, Juan Musso
Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Gonzalo Montiel, Lucas Mortinez Quarta, German Pezzella, Nicolas Otemendi, Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico, Marcos Acuna
Midfielders: Nicolas Gonzalez, Lucas Ocampos, Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Rodrigo De Paul, Giovani Lo Celso, Alejandro Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister, Emiliano Buendia, Angel Di Maria
Forwards: Angel Correa, Julian Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez, Joaquin Correa, Paulo Dybala.