The Argentina coach, Lionel Scaloni, summoned defender Nehuén Pérez at the last minute for the next date of the South American Qualifiers against Chile and Colombia, while the unknown about the replacement for the Rosario star Lionel Messi continues.
Pérez, current defender of Udinese, from Italy, arrives to join the squad that will face Chile on Thursday in the Calama desert and on February 1 will be local in Córdoba against Colombia.
Center back Lucas Martínez Quarta contracted Covid-19 a few weeks ago and although he has already recovered, his viral load is positive.
The former River Plate will undergo more tests until tomorrow, the day on which the delegation will leave for Chile, a country that requires a series of requirements for entry. In case of not being able to travel, Pérez will gain greater consideration in Scaloni and his coaching staff.
In addition, Argentina carries several players on the brink of suspension due to the yellow card limit. Among them are defenders Nicolás Otamendi, Gonzalo Montiel, Nicolás Tagliafico, Martínez Quarta and Marcos Acuña, forward Lautaro Martínez and midfielders Lucas Ocampos, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso.
If Paredes received a new yellow card, Scaloni would restart the formation for the match with Colombia. The loss of central midfielder Guido Rodríguez due to positive for Covid-19 complicated the coach’s plans, who would use Lisandro Martínez central midfielder, with the alternative of Nehuén Pérez in defense.
The assembly of the team is not complete because Scaloni has not yet defined the footballer who will take Messi’s place, absent this time to recover his best physical condition in Paris Saint Germain, in France.
The Cordovan Paulo Dybala, Alejandro Gómez and Nicolás González fight for that position in a team already qualified for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
For his part, “Dibu” Martínez warned that the team is still “hungry” and will not relax despite having achieved early qualification for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
“The group is very good, we are still hungry and we are not relaxed. We want to continue winning because it is the year of the World Cup,” Martínez said in statements to the official account of the selected team.
“Dibu” and the rest of Lionel Scaloni’s squad completed the first training session on Monday ahead of the next game against Chile in Calama.
“The coach told us that what we did has already happened. You have to prove yourself to be on the list. That’s why we’re going to play this game as if it were the last,” warned the Aston Villa goalkeeper.
The former Independent felt that it will be a “brave and difficult” match, as were the last two against La Roja (1-1 in Santiago del Estero and in Brazil for Copa América) and raised the doubts that the team has about the new venue that Chile chose .
“We know that we play at altitude but we don’t know how the stadium is going to be. Let’s see what we find,” he remarked.
The Argentine delegation will leave today for Chile at 6:00 p.m. and will arrive in Calama at approximately 8:45 p.m.
Formations Argentina vs Chile for South American Qualifiers
Chile: Claudio Bravo; Paulo Díaz, Gary Medel, Guillermo Maripán and Sebastián Vegas; Erick Pulgar, Charles Aránguiz and Marcelino Núñez; Alexis Sánchez, Ben Brereton Díaz and Eduardo Vargas. DT: Martin Lasarte.
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Nicolás Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez and Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes and Alejandro Gómez; Ángel Di María, Lautaro Martínez and Nicolás González.DT: Walter Samuel-Roberto Ayala.
Time: 21.15
Stadium: Calama Desert Foxes.
Referee: Anderson Daronco.
TV: TyC Sports and Public TV.
Source From: Ambito
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