Argentina rumored 23 names for World Cup

By
Roy Nemer
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88
Argentina World Cup
Argentina's rumored squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

There are already a few lists of rumored Argentina squad lists circulating around in the media.

The latest one comes from Hernan CASTILLO of TNT Sports states that most of the players have already been chosen for the World Cup with only a few left to confirm.

Goalkeepers:
Sergio ROMERO
Willy CABALLERO
Franco ARMANI or Nahuel GUZMAN

Defenders:
Gabriel MERCADO
Eduardo SALVIO
Nicolas OTAMENDI
Federico FAZIO
Javier MASCHERANO
Marcos ROJO
Nicolas TAGLIAFICO
Marcos ACUNA

Midfielders:
Lucas BIGLIA
Ever BANEGA
Giovani LO CELSO
Manuel LANZINI
Angel DI MARIA
Matias KRANEVITTER or Guido PIZARRO
Ricardo CENTURION or Maxi MEZA or Enzo PEREZ

Forwards:
Lionel MESSI
Sergio AGUERO
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Paulo DYBALA
Cristian PAVON or Diego PEROTTI

Reserves:
Agustin MARCHESIN
Ramiro FUNES MORI
Leandro PAREDES
Erik LAMELA
Emiliano RIGONI
Pablo PEREZ
Lautaro MARTINEZ
Mauro ICARDI

Argentina World Cup
Argentina’s rumored squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

While this list is obviously not confirmed and we have to wait until the official word comes from Jorge SAMPAOLI, this does appear to very possibly be something we could see for the World Cup.

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88 Comments

  1. I really do not like some of the selections. But it has to be understood that the team is being managed by the manager and he has got the insights of the team. There are many things with tremendous importance that do not grab our attention. It is the team of the manager and he holds the responsibility for the player selection which he knows very well. I firmly believe that he deserves to have complete freedom in managing the team without having any direct or indirect provocation from the fans, media, administration or any other parties.

    • Midfield should be Banega, lo celso, lanzini, Di maria, perotti, meza, E Perez, forwards are Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Martinez, Pavon, Dybala. Defence should be Acuna, I don’t know why they included salvio as defender. He is a good player so I include him. And then Mashcherano, Mercado, Taglifico, Fazio, Otamandi, The Goal Keepers are Romero, cabellero, and Armani , No ROJO PLEASE. He is not a good defender. This team can bring good. My final 23 men list

  2. Why are people always complaining about player selections? We need to be more realistic and rational about Argentina’s coaching situation. Every post is about, “Why isn’t so and so from whatever league selected”? Are we seriously expecting Sampaoli to bring a team filled with newbies and our favorite players to the WC? I am hearing people spewing names such Battaglia, Centurion, Ascacibar, Pizzaro… I am all for introducing new faces/bloods but why are you guys so certain that those guys would even succeed on the NT level? As much as I am not a fan of Biglia, I can admit that he has always been good as a starter for the NT. What some of you guys fail to understand is that, his sole job is to break up attacks but some of you guys are expecting him to initiate attacks like Busquest when he’s far from that. All I am saying, I am all for Sampaoli for trying new Ascacibar or whoever as the DM, but I also understand that it is a big risk taking a bunch of new faces that have never played together before and hoping we strike lightning in the bottle at the WC. And enough with the possible Icardi omission, I get that he’s a great CLUB striker but he has yet to prove anything with Argentina. Albeit his chances has been limited but you guys make it seem like he scored tons of goals for Argentina and now he’s being omitted. I am not the craziest Higuain fan but aside from Messi, he’s the only one striker with actual WC experience. Moreover keep in mind, Argentina will only deploy 1 true striker (Aguero if fit) therefore, Higuain and /or Icardi (if chosen), will only have minimal impact. Same with the DM position, Samp will probably deploy 1 therefore no need to suggest and bring all of our “favorite” DMs. What I admire aboyt Sampaoli, he has discovered a few gems, most of whom will probably make the cut…Meza.. Lanzini..Lo Celso..Acuna…Pavon… At least 2 of them will be starters. Lets chill guys!! Lets wait and see what happens with the final list. Please keep in mind, only 11 players can start at a time…

    Mercado… Otamandi…Fazio…Tag (Acuna) who actually played well for the NT
    Lo Celso….Biglia (if fit)
    Lanzini…….Messi…… DiMaria (undisputed starter unfortunately)
    Aguero

    That is not a bad team at all….. Only 3 players from the last WC will be starting honestly.. That’s a big change honestly…

  3. It is obvious that we don’t have better names that are in the list but I am sure that we can find younger, fitter players than some that we have in the list. Rojo came back from injuries months ago, since then he has been that shadow of the player that we knew in 2014. Banega is definitely not the kind of player that can bring a plus in the NT. Kranevitter doesn’t have the level and the fighting spirit. Aguero and Biglia should be in the list but at the same time the coach should look for alternatives in case they don’t fully recover. why players like E. Perez, Pezzella, Ascacibar or Battaglia, Icardi are not in the list? That’s very frustrating!!!

    • Wait for the official one I am sure official will be similar but 1-2 changes you can expect even when 35 man squad will be announced some players may convince sampaoli to pick them in 23 man squad.sampaoli is very fickle minded he changes his opinion very quickly

  4. Good squad overall
    Specially with #10messi any squad will look great

    Injuries are matter of concern..(biglia aguero rojo mori romero salvio )

    Fully fit players must be the priority ..

    Lo Celso becoming a great in psg midfield….
    But my personal problem is about playing Higuain after seeing his form for NT ..imo if not #9icardi at least try Lautaro Martinez..or Pavon..higuain also knows how he missed lots of easy chances so higuain is under tremendous pressure from himself also…But he is far more better than other strikers outside the box with playing long pass,running hard and good game concern …just the problem is he is under lots of pressure….

    We have to rely on Sampaoli…
    Vamos Argentinos
    #Messi the great

  5. This selection partly defies logic. How can regular starters who perform well like Pezzella (a rock in the Fiorentuna defense) and Ansaldi be omitted while Rojo and Funes Mori (res) be on the list? They hardly played or were send to the stands (rojo) because of bad form. With Mercado in bad form our defense looks shaky apart from Fazio and Otamendi. With this selection of defenders winning the wc is an illusion.

    • Because Pezzella is in a good form he is automatically disqualified.. Our defense is a big liability so Sampaoli can’t pick Pezzella ..it will strengthen our defense.. on a serious note Lets pray Sampaoli’s official squad is not this one!

  7. I was said that sampaoli is mediocre..AFA kick out bauza but AFA replace with another bauza..the squad bauza selected the same path is following by sampaoli..what he see in mascherano biglia higuain aguero banega LP..I think he will apply this player in 2022 world cup because these players are very close to him..otherwise why he is select these crap players who are all mentally and physically challenged..actually sampaoli has no balls and he is afraid to bring young players and set up the team with the young guns..about icardi he said that he has chemistry problem with the team..now sampa I saying u that u know the difference between personal life and professional life..why r u mixing his personal life with the professional life?we want icardi’s performance with the team not Wanda..and regarding to maxi Lopez he always blame icardi but he never blame Wanda who wanted to love icardi instead of Lopez….and sampa said that icardi dybala doesn’t gel with his formation tactics etc etc..then why u r not create another formation tactics which is perfect for icardi dybala or for the 1st eleven including this both players?I think u also part of the friends club..I never believe in that club but ur action always thinking me that the friends club exists..

    • Avi..Is it possible to change the complete structure of the team within 9 months and 8 games in charge??? isn’t it risky for a manager to select young and inexperienced players in every positions for a bigger stage like world cup???you can’t compare bauza with sampaolis team because young talented players like lo celso,lanzini,salvio,acuna,pavon,Martinez, meza comes under sampaoli..

    • @avi and jahid, it is good that everyone is opining about the squad–my only issue is during every WORLD CUP, a manager will have one play that no one has heard about who is a wildcard or the X factor (e.g. Michael Owen in 1998, Theo Walcott in 2006, Leo Messi in 2006. Who is Sampaoli’s wildcard player or X factor that would surprise the world, at least one or two players…I do not see them, maybe he is having his cards close to his chest…we have heard about all these players.. maybe Ricardo CENTURION. He has to be brave!!!!!

  8. don’t know why till now we kicked mascherano out ,he was really bad against spain and also in qualifier stage, we are wasting 3 spots banega ,biglia,mascherano.so this is determined messi won’t be champion this year with this shit midfield of banega and biglia,it’s really astounding for me how in a team like argentina banega , mascherano,biglia even gets considered.After the qualifier stage sampaoli got enough friendlies to prepare but wasted all of them by playing banega,biglia,mascherano he could’ve tried battaglia , paredes more.we are doomed with this team only thing that can save us by including centurion and meza both droping either rojo or mascherano.if gago is here why on earth you take banega .

  9. Romero/Armani
    Bustos – Otamendi – Fazio – Tagliafico
    Paredes/Biglia/Banega – Lo Celso
    Lanzini/Dybala – Messi – Di Maria
    Agüero/Icardi

  10. Why was our Savior Banega on the bench against Madrid today? He atleast got them the seventh position in the league with his amazing play making skills!!

      • They (Banega fans) said he is a great deep-lying midfielder. But he was a joke against Nigeria playing in that position. After that they said he is a great CAM and he played against Spain in that position. This time he was more than a joke.

    • @SulaV, I believe that you are a person who watches football with open eyes and functioning brain. All you said about Banega is spot on and accurate.

      @Argentina2018, I liked how you described that useless guy. 👍👍👍

    • Because that was mainly Sevilla B before the most important Sevilla derby, and Banega got 4 yellow cards, one more and he would miss it. Lanzini will be our saviour? A mediocre player from a utterly shit team? Or Paredes who failed with his team in the russian premier league and in Europa league too? Zenit spent a lot of money to win the league (a lot of overrated argentine players) but their team is still very weak.

      • Csabalala: Thank you, these guys just make up stuff to feed their hate on a certain player. Real Madrid lineup a B team so Sevilla decided to lineup a B team as well. Why was Marcelo, Bale, Kroos and Modric all drop for the game against Sevilla? As you said, Sevilla have a big derby game this weekend against Betis hence the reason Banega was rested with the fear of picking up a 5th yellow. All they do is hype up already overrated players in some league in the middle of nowhwere.

      • Lanzini may not be the savior but he is a very good player and a midfield of locelso lanzini dimaria with biglia as dm and banega centurion and Meza as subs may do wonders

  11. Haha, now add Acuna 26, Salvio 27 and Pavon 22, all am whom will be in the line up and then complete your averages and come back with more accurate numbers instead of pick and choosing averaging numbers to fit in with your own misguided narrative. Brazil defense is older than Argentina and you can’t dispute that fact, that’s what I said and that the squads are basically the same on overall age (just as your numbers suggested). It’s not about age but half of this Brazilian team lineup conceded 10 goals in the span of five days against Germany and Holland at the 2014 world cup, they’re the ones that got humiliated not Argentina. Also, you factor in the goalkeepers which tilt the average age in Brazil favor. Buffon have already proven that age is just another number for a goalkeeper.

    • I used the starters. Is pavon a starter? Acuna is older than tagliafico. What difference does it make? Not that it intrests me but 1.3 years average is a big difference. You hwve 14 starters. Do you know that football is played 11 vs 11 right? Know the rules first then come and talk football.

      • If we are talking about our most possible starting line up – YES. We are the oldest. Far too old to win anything.

  12. 1.Allison – 25 ——– Romero – 31
    2.Alves – 35 ———-Mercado 31 (alves will probably miss)
    3. Marquinhos – 23 ——— Otamendi – 30
    4. Miranda 33 ——– Fazio – 31
    5. Marcelo – 29 ——– tagliafico – 25
    6. Paulinho – 29 ——-Biglia – 32
    7. Casemiro – 26 ——– Lo Celso 22
    8. Renato Augusto – 30 ——- lanzini 25
    9. Neymar 26 ——— Messi 30
    10. Coutinho 25 ——— Di maria 30
    11. Gabriel jesus 21 ——– Aguero/higuain 30
    Brasil 27.45 – Argentina 28.81 = 1.363 years older

    World cup 2014 –
    Argentina – 28.5
    Brazil – 27.8
    Germany – 25.9

    Winners:
    2014 – Germany 25.9
    2010 – Spain 27.3
    2006 – Italy 29.6
    2002 – Brazil 26.6
    1998 – France 28.3

    It’s not about age, Its about being washed up. Some players go on playing until they are old, some are finished early. Age doesn’t matter when you are great, current form matters. Some of our older players are washed, finished. Some are going on playing great. Some older players are better than younger players. Some younger players are better than some older players. I don’t want Biglia out because of age, I want him out because he is not good on the ball, doesn’t fit the style we want to play and others are better, was bad in the recent games. If we want to play like we did from the quarter finals to the final of the World cup, he is your man, but he is not a possession based player. I am not interested in talking about age and locations. We should talk about ability, form, fitness, and form.

      • Well summed up.we can be partially good but not completely good.complete teams usually win these tournaments and for us isn’t looking good at all. Sampaoli came a little late to the job and he seems so confused on what he wants to do

        • Thank you for a voice of reason. I don’t know what happened to people posting on this site. It seems like we don’t believe our eyes on how these guys are washed up and we keep living in some fantasy world that we are dealing with guys like Mascherano Biglia DiMaria Higuain and a slew of other players in their prime.
          Basically with this team, Messi needs to score every goal and many of them for us to even get to the round of 16

  13. I hope I’m wrong but this is how the discussion goes after we play like crap.
    Acuna and Salvio are not defenders. Shit salvio was playing right wing for a while as was acuna.
    Mascherano is washed up and in the chinese league. He isn’t even good enough to play in Argentina
    Aguero and DiMaria are hurt or will get hurt as is Biglia
    Rojo is out of form and Higuain can’t make a shot if his life counted on it. So out of 23 players we are going with 15 that aren’t too old, too injury prone too shitty or playing out of position. If you take out the the 3 goalkeepers we are really taking 12 proper players out of 20 and that is why we will wait another 4 years. All together a joke once again.
    I guess we will have to wait until Simeone is 65 and willing to coach our NT in his twilight to have any hope. Disgusting.

    It kills me that people try to justify this shit on mundo. What’s the matter with you? Have we lost all our objectivity and sensibility. And Kid, please don’t compare us to Brazil. They have twice as many world cups as us and had Messi been Brazilian I guarantee they would have won a World Cup with him

    • They are wing backs, thats how they will likely be played, hi attacking fullbacks against parked bus teams. Messi does best when he has the late running outlet pass to a left wingback like Jordi Alba. DiMaria has served that run in 2014 and Acun~a can definitely do it as well. Acun~a is an excellent bench player, he is strong, hard working, skillful and can be put in wide range of positions.

  14. People like to talk about age, here are some of the current Brazil national team squad players age:

    Dani Alves – 35
    Miranda – 33
    Thiago Silva – 33
    Fernandinho – 33
    Renato Augusto – 30
    Taison – 30
    Marcelo – 29 (will be 30 on May 12)
    Paulinho – 29
    William – 29
    Fagner – 28
    Douglas Costa – 27
    Alex Sandro – 27
    Roberto Firminho – 26
    Neymar – 26
    Casemiro – 26
    Coutinho – 25
    Marquinhos – 23
    Gabriel – 21

    I don’t see 5-7 age 20-23-year-old player on this current Brazilian roster. So what’s with the obsession about Argentina needing 18 spots on the 2018 world cup roster for 20/22 years of age players? This is pure baloney, you’re not going to win the world with players who have ZERO European club competition experience, ZERO international goals heading into the tournament and having only one or two international caps under your name. Argentina can’t even win the U20 world cup with what they have back home yet people are expecting some kind of miracle from local teenager at the 2018 world cup. NOTE: You need to play yourself through a tournament before you can start talking about winning it, this is why Sampaoli stick with some of the same players, they’ve been there and done that, the transition will come going into future tournaments. For now, guys like Lanzini, Lo Celso, Tagliafico, Pavon/Martinez etc. will add a mixture of youth to the world cup roster.

    Argentina squad age which is basically similar to that of Brazil although Brazil defense is much older than Argentina backline:
    Mascherano – 33
    Biglia – 32
    Fazio – 31
    Mercardo – 31
    Otamendi – 30
    Higuain – 30
    Messi – 30
    Di Maria – 30
    Aguero – 29
    Rojo – 29
    Banega – 29
    Perotti – 29
    Pizarro – 28
    Salvio – 27
    Acuna – 26
    Lanzini – 25
    Meza – 25
    Centurion – 25
    Kranevitter – 24
    Lo Celso – 22
    Pavon – 22
    Martinez – 20

    Can someone explain to me how is it that Argentina possess the oldest squad/roster going into the world cup when Brazil is arguable older, and have at least one outfield player who is age 35 yet Argentina don’t have any outfield player at that age? I think some people here want to see either an U20 or U23 roster for the 2018 world cup. This age group of Argentina national team players is the right balance of youth and experience even though couple players on this list might miss out on the final 23-man squad.

    • You left out Romero and Caballero, with the latter being well over 30.
      I don’t put as much stock in age as other people seem to do, the 2014 team was the 2nd oldest team i the tournament but that didn’t stop them getting to the final and it certainly wasn’t the reason why they failed to win considering Pipita, Messi and Palacio are the ones who dropped the ball (so to speak) in the final and only one of those 3 was over 30.
      The reason why I don’t want Biglia, Mascherano and Pipita there isn’t because they’re on the wrong side of 30 but rather because they’re not good enough.

    • If we are talking about our most possible starting line up – YES. We are the oldest. Far too old to win anything.

  15. Remember when Barca’s got knocked out many in here where happy that Messi lost because he would rest, HE IS NOT RESTING!
    Even though not a Barca fan, I was furious that he lost because I wanted him to win the Champions league to further cemment his greatness. It was clear that he would not rest.
    those are the same people when anyone dares to criticize him for things that he actually should do better defend call you a hater, while wanting him to lose and go unprepared to the World cup.
    People don’t understand that this squad can win the World Cup, I have no doubt about that!
    Is it a good squad? – YES!
    Can it be better – YES!
    if you can get better just 1% then you have to do everything to get that 1% because in a final and World cup games only little nuances decide games, while not use that 1%?
    when we were headed to the World cup 2014 I was one of the most critical people and was calling for a plan b and to not let certain players at home.
    It cost us, in my breakdown of the world cup I proved that we didn’t score 1 goal from the bench! there was nobody there to change the game. and our strikers beside Messi scored 2 goals if we count di maria. We need to squeeze every drop to go well prepared to the world cup and have alternatives on the bench because we will need them.
    I don’t know about you but I take Argentina losing hard, especially looking since 94 we havn’t used all of our resources to win. IF you do your best and lose that I can accept. But if you don’t use all of your resources and lose that is unacceptable. Losing breaks my heart!

    • Three players will absolutely break our hearts.

      1. Di Maria
      2. Banega
      3. Biglia

      Biglia is absolutely useless in a system where you buildup for your play. Banega is right for that, but he is toooo inconsistent and need a cerebral pivot like Nzonzi by his side and another central
      Midfielder as well, which we don’t have. And when you puts these two missmatch together, there is absolutely no midfield. Our midfield needed A fucking Paredes, who can defend, pass out of press and pass forward or to the wingers. Banega actually can do the later parts, but I wouldn’t count on him for anything.

      And the matter of Di Maria. Well, I don’t like to say these things, but I wish he was injured. The sooner the better as I know he is going to get injured during the tournament. I don’t even want to go towards the argument of his playing style, as that has been discussed in lengths. He is just like Banega in the consistency department.

      The positives of our squad is we have somewhat of a semblance of replacements. Pavon can be used in both wings and if Di Maria gets injured we will be fine. And Lanzini will be there as well, and Dybala too.

      I just wish we had a world class (or close to it) right back and Paredes was called up.

      • Yes, paredes and a real right back. Paredes is the most complete. Defends, creates, short pass, long pass, holds possessions, sets tempo, is a big robust body and shots(we try to run with the ball into the goal. We are arsenal london of the national teams). Banega i admire so much one of my favorite players but the things being said about him are true. Mascherano is a cheerleader. Biglia can only defend. So does kranevitter. Lo cleso, perez, lanzini are further up or on the dide midfielder. They are not the last man time of midfielders but lo celso can become one in the future. Pizarro from the rumored is good but i feel paredes is what we need. Anyway life goes on.

        • Frankly speaking we need biglia type of player to guard the shitty defense.besides biglia recently playing well for Milan.admit it we don’t have any busquets in our side and biglia is going to play we just can hope that he plays well

    • everyone also messi is overrated except banega,banega is the best undisputed starter we have.

  18. Why Messi is playing this meaningless game against Villareal? I mean, yeah it would be great to win golden boot. But risking himself of getting injured in a league match before World Cup make no sense imo. I thought, El Classico was Messi’s last game for Barca this season after giving everything! But no…..smh!! 🙁

  19. This is exactly what I mentioned in an earlier post.

    Forwards: This is exactly the 5 I chose, with Perotti, to cover for the right side. The only reason Icardi is out, is to keep the balance. Dybala got in, because Sampaoli realized if Messi is not there for whatever reason, we need Dybala. What I do not like is Higuain over Icardi. I guess Higuain is winning because of experience and better connectivity with other players (both in play and personally)

    Mids: Not surprised. Again going for complete cover and balance. Not sure how Kranevitter gets in. If this is the list indeed, go for Pizzaro and Meza. Remember worst case Masche can play 20 mins in mid.

    Defense: Predictable

    GK: who cares. all are bad. Or no one exceptional.

    • So true about the GK 😀 I hope Armani starts because he plays at River and both World Cups we won our goalkeeper came from River. We have to rely on superstition 😛

    • I agree. There is nothing to add on the forward or the defense.

      But Paredes should be picked ahead of Kranevitter or Pizzaro in midfield.

      • While I preffer Paredes, he is silky and has good passing, the truth is that Pizarro and Krane are 2x more athletic than him. If we need a DM to actually defend, Paredes is not our man.. we should drop Banega and put him in instead, they serve the same functions (deep playmaker with some defensive cover). But if the coach needs muscle, we are better off with others. LoCelso and Lanzini and Dimaria are plenty creative in that midfield..

        • If athleticism was the barometer for midfielders, then you would have never seen Xavi, Iniesta or Busquets play.

          Or a guy called Messi.

          These guys plays pro soccer and plays regularly. So you can be sure that they have the required level of fitness and athletic abilities.

          What differentiates one from the other is how smart he is and how skillful he is.

          You need to be buffed and puffed is the most overrated American football thing ever, and copied and pasted by some boneheaded British football pundits.

  20. Messi still playing against Villarreal. His golden boot is already done. Shouldn’t he be now just chilling & preparing for wc ? Why risk an injury like Dani alves

    • Messi did not run too much in the game. He was about chilling. I think Messi knows he can just walk and will be fine in barca. I actually think coutinho ran too much in that game. He looked so exhausted.

  21. Its not a bad squad…i cant understand people bashing sampaoli and saying no difference between him and bauza martino etc…
    We were in trouble to qualify for the world cup and more importantly were unable to string a set of passes together in the pitch. One thing is sure that we are playing better…dont count on friendly results too much…
    As far as the defense is concerned its not world class for sure..but whats the options left.garay bustos ansaldi pezzella musachio funes mori etc all are either past their prime or too immature.we cannot say 100% which one is better.
    Pezzella bustos played in friedlies and were not world class.ansaldi insua too..
    Mori or rojo whos better now a bit confuased too…garays case is a little bit different though…
    Midfield: lanzini lo celso meza/centurion are good additions.biglia is a pure no. 5 and best one we have.ascacibar in and biglia out in a world cup squad is way too much to think…
    Attack: messi aguero dybala higuain pavon….is that too bad.?? May be icardi in for higuain is debatable…
    What about age factor….there should be a mix of experience and youth for sure.
    Rb mercado salvio
    Lb tagliafico rojo acuna
    Cb otamendi fazio mercado rojo tagliafico macherano
    DM biglia pizzaro macherano
    CM banega lo celso lanzini
    RW salvio pavon
    LW dimaria acuna centurion
    10 messi dybala
    Fw aguero higuain dybala
    Almost every aspect is covered.
    For me right back and CM positions are a little week.if mercado is not playing we have to use salvio and for banega there is no direct sub…..anyway its a gamble between enzo meza and centurion… Taking enzo will be more conservative….i think somewere along the line sampaoli will switch to back 3 formation..
    Anyway with one or two complaints it looks decent.

    • How are Garay, Ansaldi and Pezzella past their prime? Seriously! Also how is Biglia the best DM Argentina has when Ascacibar, Battaglia and even Pizarro, Kranevitter, Enzo/pablo perez (who aren’t even DM by trade) are all better than him?
      You also asked what’s so bad about kun and pipita? Well the former will not be fully fit by the time the WC starts while the latter has proven to be a serial choker and shouldn’t even be on the stands let alone the bench or the field .

  23. No Maschersno No Mercado
    Only Ansaldi Ascacibar Battaglia are needed or they gonna to give tears to Messi.Lo Celso Lanzini Meza Banega Biglia Bsttaglia are enough in midfield.Do not include Dybla on his place Centurion should be included Sampoli has chose mostly good players unlike Bauza who was complete waste.

  24. Can anyone tell me what are the diffrences between Sampaoli and Bauza/Martino???
    Romero, Rojo, Higuain, Di Maria, Banega, Biglia, Mascherano and Mercado are all there…….

    My Starting 11: Caballero/Bustos Pezella Otamendi Tagoliafico/Lo Celso Batagllia Meza Lanzini/Messi Icardi

    • Those coaches are good but as soon they become argentina manager they got infected with infection called ” the group” which made them dummies. Some of them went to extreme & forgot that they are the coach (sampaoli) & started fanboying.

      • @guled

        I think it’s really the case. Argentina coaches our best choice for other NT and worst when they take team of their own nation.

    • @karl,

      as far there’s no difference between Bauza and Sampaoli. Many good call ups players that will finally probably out of WC.

      • There is difference in playing style , under bauza Argentina forgot to pass the ball, at least Argentina is passing it now, next step to create more chances and score

  25. Good team but why he chose biglia he is half fit. Mash as defender is ok he can’t play 90 minutes as a dressing room motivator he chose him. But the team is good except 1 or 2 failures. Always few exceptional cases will be there. Last time also so many people commented the team but they reached final. This time believe them they will acheive. Sampa will shape the players before the world cup. All will be free after 20th may so they have 20 days for practice. Definitely they will come in shape. Only talent will not win the world cup. They need support and luck. Last time we are unlucky. This time we will make it

  27. The back line looks old or short. I don’t see why Rojo is included with ACUNA and Tagliafico. Too many left back players unless Sampaoli wants to play Rojo as centre-back, which is and has been a horrible position for him.

    Like Rojo a lot, but only play him at left back, bring Funes Mori for backup centre back, would mean cutting Mascherano to save Tagliafico and ACUNA (who are both young but short). Or decide between bringing only one of those two.

    I can see the predicament, Mascherano past his expiry but leadership qualities are probably worth a lot for the team. Also, over the qualifiers he made tons of errors but in a tournament he always gives 150%. I’m optimistic he has one superstar sunset tournament left in him.

    • The defense is scary. Salvio & acuna are not defenders. Atleast bustos should come in & pezella instead of rojo. Also if meza is dropped , thats very sad inspite of his good show against Spain.
      I am hoping this is just rumours.

      • Salvio and Acuna will be used for wing back in 3-4-3/ 3-5-2 formation. slip of Formation to back 4 would switch Mercado to Right full back and probably Acuna if not Tagliafico as Left Backs. I still think Sampa will go for both formations depending on the game hence Salvio and Acuna are selected.

    • rojo actually better in cb position but he is shit .only reason he picked because of his strength and height and sampa thinks he can be a good sub for fazio or otamendi if anything happens.mori also not playing.so better to pick pezella instead.mascherano is passed it.

    • Rojo can play as the Left Centre Back in a three man backline because of his pace. Mercado can be used as a Right Sided CB if Sampaoli opts to drop Fazio in the middle of the game to switch to a 3-5-2. I don’t trust Rojo as a CB in a 4 man defence. But he may work as a LCB in a 3 man defence.

  30. tn.com.ar/deportes/tremendo/rusia-2018-seleccion-argentina-ricardo-centurion-sera-el-jugador-numero-23_867837

    Indeed it seems that Centurion has good chances to be on WC. Well, generally I’m not against him despite he is biggest ‘enfant terrible’ of Argentina football recently. Undoubtedly he is most similar to Neymar in style of play (toutes proportions gardées – of course). His fastness and permanent prone to dribble is making him constant trouble maker and threat in opponents defence. I would take him over some players but when I hear Centurion may takes Meza’ place I feel that’s absurdal.

    What’s the logic?: You are best player of our last friendly (Meza) and you may be out?!!! So what’s the aim of calling him up and playing friendlies at all. Or maybe it could better for Meza if he were our worst player against Spain because the worst like Biglia or Banega have already guaranteed places in WC. That’s world upside down. The more Meza had also good performances in club recently.

    • Don’t try to make sense of this team.
      Biglia, Mascherano, Rojo, were horrible but they are awarded while Meza was great and he is punished.
      Icardi gets punished for off field antics while Centurion(who I like) is awarded.
      Pezzella gets punished for one mistake while players like Rojo and the other fenders who were in the game like Mascherano get awarded.
      Pezzella is Captain of Fiorentina at such a young age, while Funes mori and Rojo never play but they get awarded.
      Pizarro and Kranevitter are mostly subs in their teams, mind you Kranevitter( who I like) plays in the same team as Paredes where Paredes is starter and Kranevitter some times starter.
      Let’s punish Paredes for 1 mistake, and also Bustos but let us award the others.
      It’s like having a chance between De gea and Romero, but you choose romero.
      Mascherano saved us against the Netherlands, let’s give him a life time role, never mind let’s bring Maradona back as a player because he made us Champions 32 years ago.
      Let’s play Lanzini on the right and not on the left or in the middle where he usually plays.
      Let’s make Acuna and Salvio defenders.
      Let’s talk over and over again about how Lo Celso made a mistake against Real Madrid and never say anything when senior players make mistake after mistake.
      Let us play the youngsters and if they don’t score 10 goals in a game let’s axe them and return to the proven failures who had unlimited chances.
      Let’s rave how Rojo did the Rabona in the World cup, where he should never do such things and only dumb players do such things in that position. Instead of punishing him we rave about that.
      Don’t try to make sense of this team.
      Hopefully we win the cup, as soon as the final 23 are confirmed I will not talk about that anymore and will support the team with all my heart, but I am also prepared to lose.
      The Argentine newspaper are more often wrong than right. Do you rember when it was sure we will call Armani for the friendlies, when we were to call Belluschi, etc…Let;’s hold up hope until the 23 are confirmed.

      • @ghostdeini
        that’s true. That’s apt litany of absurd moves of Sampaoli.

        “Don’t try to make sense of this team”.

        You are right. All this seems do not have any sense. Sometimes I try to get any pleasure of this when I hear this player or that player (which I like and regard as needed) may be part of team but finally wheter he is he able to change our destination. Sampaoli knows 3-man defence doesn’t seem right for us and still he has not real RB. Salvio can’t defend as defensor. That’s one of many sensless ideas.

      • Try not to get too frustrated, after all it’s just a rumored list.
        On the other hand even thinking about talking a choker like Higuain, a recovering/injury prone kun, a recovering/’not good enough for the NT’ biglia, an inconsistent Banega, an over the hill Mascherano and a ‘not quite yet fit’ Rojo to the WC is shear lunacy.
        I do hope to god that Kun and Biglia don’t recover in time so maybe Icardi and maybe Battaglia or even Pizarro make the list since that would be something I guess.

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