The captain and scorer Lionel Messi leads the call to the Argentine team announced this Wednesday by coach Lionel Scaloni to face Uruguay and Brazil, in the next double date of the South American qualifier for the Qatar-2022 World Cup.
Argentina will visit Uruguay on November 12 and four days later they will receive Brazil in the province of San Juan (west) in matches corresponding to dates 13 and 14 of the qualifying rounds.
Messi will be in the selection, beyond his discomfort in the hamstrings of the left leg and a pain in the knee that marginalized him from the Champions League match between PSG and Germany’s Leipzig (2-2) played on Wednesday.
The biggest surprise in the call, in addition to some absences due to injuries with respect to the team that won the Copa América in July, It is the decision to call seven youths who were never before in the senior team to face the two classic rivals of Argentina.
The chosen ones are the 18-year-old offensive midfielder Matías Soulé (Juventus, Italy), Thiago Almada (Vélez Sarsfield), Santiago Simón (River Plate), Exequiel Zeballos (Boca Juniors), Cristian Medina (Boca), Gastón Ávila (Rosario Central) and goalkeeper Federico Gomes Gerth (Tigre), 17.
The double date will represent the return to the Albiceleste of Paulo Dybala, who scored 8 goals in 10 games for Juventus, while Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero was ruled out due to his health problems that marginalized him from the courts for at least three months, according to FC Barcelona.
This is the list of summoned:
Archers: Franco Armani (River Plate, Argentina), Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa, England), Juan Musso (Atalanta, Italy) and Federico Gomez Gerth (Tigre, Argentina).
Defenders: Nahuel Molina (Udinese, Italy), Gonzalo Montiel (Seville, Spain), Cristian Romero (Tottemham, England), Germán Pezzella (Betis, Spain), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica, Portugal), Lucas Martínez Quarta (Fiorentina, Italy), Nicolás Tagliafico (Ajax, Netherlands), Marcos Acuña (Seville, Spain), Lisandro Martínez (Ajax, Netherlands) and Gastón Avila (Rosario Central, Argentina).
Midfielders: Enzo Fernández (River Plate, Argentina), Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético de Madrid, Spain), Exequiel Palacios (Bayern Leverkusen, Germany), Leandro Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Guido Rodríguez (Betis, Spain), Nicolás Domínguez (Bologna, Italy), Giovanni Lo Celso (Tottenham, England), Thiago Almada (Vélez Sarsfield, Argentina), Santiago Simón (River Plate), Cristian Medina (Boca, Argentina) and Matías Soulé (Juventus, Italy).
Forwards: Ángel Di María (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Lionel Messi (PSG, France), Ángel Correa (Atlético de Madrid, Spain), Paulo Dybala (Juventus, Italy), Lautaro Martínez (Inter, Italy), Julián Álvarez (River Plate, Argentina), Joaquín Correa (Inter, Italy), Nicolás González (Fiorentina, Italy) and Exequiel Zeballos (Boca, Argentina).
