Four days before the deadline to deliver the official list of 26 players to FIFA, the coaching staff already has 23 “defined” players.
This was anticipated by the president of the AFA, Claudio Tapia, who heads the small “Albiceleste” delegation in Abu Dhabi, in statements to Radio Mitre.
Scaloni started the day with good news that came from Paris since, as planned, the captain of the National Team, Lionel Messi, returned to training normally after an inflammation of the Achilles tendon.
Then, the rest of the coaching staff made up of Walter Samuel, Roberto Ayala and Pablo Aimar watched live Saudi Arabia, the rival of the World Cup debut next Tuesday, November 22 at the Lusail stadium, who drew 1-1 against Panama.
In turn, Franco Armani together with the young Federico Gomes Gerth carried out a light training under the orders of the trainers Damián Albil and Martín Tocalli.
Between the constant meetings of Scaloni with his collaborators, the possibility of the ninth defender grows more and more.
And for this reason too Juan Foyth’s chances increasewho after two months of recovery from a left knee injury played 15 minutes for Villarreal against Espanyol for the Spanish LaLiga on Wednesday.
The former Students of La Plata would be the ninth element along with Gonzalo Montiel, Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Germán Pezzella, Nicolás Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez, Marcos Acuña and Nicolás Tagliafico.
Foyth, like Gerónimo Rulli -one of the three goalkeepers along with Emiliano Martínez and Franco Armani-, have a commitment to their club for the Copa del Rey but there are steps to be taken so that they can be released.
One step below Foyth looms Facundo Medinathe former River and Talleres, who is going through a great moment in France in his third season at Lens.
The left-handed defender is highly regarded by Scaloni despite the fact that he only played ten minutes in the entire cycle: he entered against Bolivia in La Paz and against Uruguay in the Monumental stadium, both for the South American Qualifiers.
Still further behind were the chances of Marcos Senesi, who opted to play for Argentina despite Italy’s attempt to nationalize him.
In the midfield, after Giovani Lo Celso’s hard loss, the situation seems to be clearer since there would be seven players: Leandro Paredes and Guido Rodríguez for the center, Rodrigo De Paul and Exequiel Palacios as insiders on the right and Alexis Mac Allister and Alejandro Gómez, as alternatives on the left.
This group is joined by Enzo Fernández, the former River Plate who shines at Benfica and seems to have earned a place with the 63 official minutes he played in the National Team jersey on the last tour of the United States.
In the offensive part, the biggest doubts arise because Paulo Dybala, Ángel Correa and Joaquín Correa would fight for the last two places.
The “Joya” has been inactive since October 9 due to an injury to the rectus femoris of his left leg and is in the last phase of recovery.
However, the coach of Roma, the Portuguese José Mourinho, questioned his presence in next Sunday’s game against Torino and that would reduce his chances.
If he is in a position, the Cordovan would keep one ticket and the other would go out in a heads-up between the Correas.
Ángel was always a fixture in Scaloni’s calls but those presences did not always end with minutes of play. In fact, in the entire cycle he played twice from the beginning: against Germany in a friendly in 2019 and in the 2021 Copa América against Bolivia in an alternative team.
With the “Tucu” something similar happens. He was the author of one of the most important goals of the cycle (the 2-1 against Bolivia in La Paz) but he started in two games and was replaced in both.
In that sector, those confirmed are Messi, Lautaro Martínez, Julián Álvarez, Ángel Di María and Nicolás González.
The latter, a wild card that always provided solutions to the coaching staff, is also among the “touches” since he has not played with Fiorentina since last October 22 due to a muscle injury.
Something similar happens with “Cuti” Romero, who would be released on Saturday after the match between Tottenham and Leeds for the Premier League but has not added minutes since October 26.
The coaching staff of the champion of America still has to pass one more obstacle since most of those summoned will have games for their respective teams in Europe this weekend and only on Sunday night will they be able to draw the final conclusions.
Source: Ambito
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