The selector of Argentina, Lionel Scalonistated this Tuesday from Miami that the delegation is looking forward to traveling to Venezuela on Wednesday to play the game on the ninth round of the qualifiers and, in addition to the setbacks caused by the hurricane Miltonsaid he was confident that player losses would not affect the team’s level.
“We had asked to be able to travel today, but they denied us because of the hurricane and the trip would be on Wednesday,” he told reporters, leaving a cloud of doubt about the game scheduled for this Thursday. To get to the Venezuelan city of Maturín the Albiceleste must fly to Colombia and from the border city of Cúcuta travel by land, since flights from Argentina and the United States are not authorized by the Venezuelan government.
“It would be almost impossible to leave on Thursday,” Scaloni explained given the possibility that the delegation could not leave on Wednesday either. “It doesn’t depend on us. The most important thing is people’s health. You can’t isolate yourself from what’s happening outside, for everyone’s health, they protect themselves when they leave their homes. It’s something new, different for us, which we are not used to. We are alert. It may just be something temporary,” he added.
The coach also referred to other changes that he had to introduce in the preparation. “It is a very difficult day for us in the call. We had many imponderables. Bringing players from Europe is difficult now. We have to take advantage of the players who are in Argentine football,” he explained.
Despite the four absences due to injury in his squad and the absence due to suspension of two more players, he said that he hopes that his team can “maintain the level” in the next two days of the South American qualifiers.
Dybala (Juve), one of those injured for Argentina
The injured are the full-back Marcos Acuña and the forwards Paulo Dybala, Nicolás González and Alejandro Garnacho. In addition, defender Cristian ‘Cuti’ Romero and goalkeeper Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez are suspended. Scaloni expressed his support for his goalkeeper. “He expressed himself in a very respectful and correct way. It is exactly what he said. These are things that cannot happen again. Especially because the team cannot afford not to have Dibu or Cuti. They are important players.”
Martínez was sanctioned for two days by the FIFA Disciplinary Court after hitting a journalist’s camera after the match played in Barranquilla and for having placed the Copa América trophy in his genital area during the title celebrations after the win. to Chile at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.
