After five matches in the World Cup, the coaching staff will have two casualties for the first time due to suspension due to the yellow cards received by Marcos Acuña and Gonzalo Montiel during the match against the Netherlands (2-2) that was defined in the definition with kicks from the penalty mark.
Of the two, however, the absence of the “Egg” is the most significant since he started the last four games.
Nicolas Tagliaficowho will surely enter in his place, started the World Cup as a starter but after the defeat against Saudi Arabia (2-1) in the debut he did not add minutes against Mexico but he did enter through Acuña against Poland, Australia and the Netherlands.
The composition of the rest of the defense is where the first doubt arises since the line of five fulfilled its function against the Netherlands and is a tactical resource that Scaloni values but its continuity or not will depend on the physical evolution of Ángel Di María.
The man from Rosario missed the match against Australia (2-1) due to muscle discomfort he felt against Poland.
In the round of 16 he could not even be on the substitute bench and was replaced by Alejandro Gómez and given his inability to play from the start against the Netherlands, Scaloni decided to put together the line of five with the entry of Lisandro Martínez.
“Noodle” recently reappeared to play the last eight minutes of the second half of extra time and in the first training session he only did different jobs with “Papu” Gómez.
In the midfield the attention will be focused on the recovery of Rodrigo De Paul, who played with a hamstring injury in his right leg against the Dutch.
The “Motor” of the selected team had completed all the matches of the World Cup but against the Netherlands he held out for 65 minutes and was replaced for the first time in the tournament for the entry of Leandro Paredes.
The middle zone will be completed with the two fixed pieces that Scaloni found during his stay in Qatar: Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández.
The man from Pampas made it into the starting eleven against Mexico, did not come out again and contributed a key goal against Poland.
The former River Plate player, for his part, started playing against the Poles from the start after his great entry against Mexico with a goal included and moved a history of the cycle like Leandro Paredes to the substitute bench.
In offense the panorama seems to be clearer with the unalterable presence of Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez.
Lautaro Martínez, who kicked the decisive penalty and defined the series against the Dutch, came on much more active and had situations to score. As revealed by the player himself in the dialogue with the press in the mixed zone, he feels better from the discomfort in his right ankle that he had to mistreat in the first games.
With the departure of De Paul, there are only three players who completed all five games: Emiliano Martínez, Nicolás Otamendi and Lionel Messi.
Two of them, Messi (35) and Otamendi (34), are the biggest on the squad below Franco Armani (36).
The River Plate goalkeeper is also one of the five footballers who did not enter the field during the World Cup along with Gerónimo Rulli, Juan Foyth, Ángel Correa and Paulo Dybala.
The youthful Thiago Almada played 6 minutes against Poland and Exequiel Palacios completed 31 between Mexico and Australia.
Training on Sunday will also be important to finish with the physical evaluation of the players who played most of the 120 minutes against the Europeans.
The practice will begin at 12 (18 Qatar), it will be closed to the press and on Monday it will reopen -at the same time- for the first fifteen minutes required by FIFA.
The semifinal against Croatia will be on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. at the Lusail stadium, where Argentina has already faced Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the Netherlands.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
