Lionel MESSI returns to Argentina team, Mauro ICARDI left out as squad is announced

By
Roy Nemer
-
72

The Argentina team has been announed and Lionel MESSI returns while Mauro ICARDI is the big exclusion.

We have our first squad for 2019 and Lionel SCALONI has selected four goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 10 midfielders and seven forwards. Here’s the list:

Goalkeepers:
Agustin MARCHESIN (Club America)
Juan MUSSO (Udinese)
Esteban ANDRADA (Boca Juniors)
Franco ARMANI (River Plate)

Defenders:
German PEZELLA (Fiorentina)
Gabriel MERCADO (Sevilla)
Juan FOYTH (Tottenham Hotspur)
Nicolas OTAMENDI (Manchester City)
Walter KANNEMANN (Gremio)
Nicolas TAGLIAFICO (Ajax)
Marcos ACUNA (Sporting Lisbon)
Gonzalo MONTIEL (River Plate)
Renzo SARAVIA (Racing Club)
Lisandro MARTINEZ (Defensa y Justicia)

Midfielders:
Leandro PAREDSE (PSG)
Guido RODRIGUEZ (Club America)
Giovani LO CELSO (Real Betis)
Manuel LANZINI (West Ham)
Roberto PEREYRA (Watford)
Angel DI MARIA (PSG)
Matias ZARACHO (Racing Club)
Ivan MARCONE (Boca Juniors)
Domingo BLANCO (Defensa y Justicia)
Rodrigo DE PAUL (Udinese)

Forwards:
Lionel MESSI (FC Barcelona)
Gonzalo MARTINEZ (Atlanta United)
Paulo DYBALA (Juventus)
Angel CORREA (Atletico Madrid)
Lautaro MARTINEZ (Inter)
Dario BENEDETTO (Boca Juniors)
Matias SUAREZ (River Plate)

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72 Comments

  1. 31 player guys ,,,
    31 and only one classic DM which is Paredes

    This is making me very nervous
    What if some how scaloni went with good old 4-2-2-2 formation and he needed 2 DM to play it safe
    Who is the player in this squad who can help paredes ?
    not lo celso please ,, he is an AM
    And remember that paredes is a good passer but not a beast defensively .

  2. I don’t know if having Messi back is a good thing. I don’t have much confidence with Scaloni and do not want Messi to endure unwarranted pressure to win by himself again.

  6. From the list i think scaloni ‘s team should be 433
    #######Armani
    Saravia #otamendi#Kanneman#tagliafico
    #########Paredes
    ###lo celso#####Lanzini
    Messi##########di maria
    #######Lautaro or dybala

    This formation i don’t think can be shine during copa america .

  7. I still predict scaloni will step down after copa america .from the selection we can see scaloni still keep trying .

    Let’s give him some times to show us his ability .I think after copa america it will be very clear.

    As to the list ,some players are not fit at all ,some players are missed.

    GK : MARCHESIN ,Armani ,andrada are not that impressive at all . Walter benitez ,Juan musso should be called .Romero also

    Defense: It is okay ,lisandro Martinez ,montiel ate decent but Mercado, acuna, kanneman are not needed. Instead Barbosa, manmanna are our future

    Midefield : De Paul is not suitable for Argentina ,let’s see why .technically If we have messi and dimaria ,De pual is useless .he is a typical weak team number10 ,His ability is limited .433 formation he doesn’t have place . Blanco is just moderate ,i prefer robertone or Nicholas Dominguez ,Reynoso

    Winger: Angel Correa is not fit at all ,Joaquin Correa still no show . But we have messi ,di maria ,pity Martinez ,Lanzini that s okay. I would rather bring in Pedro De lavega or Benjamin garre or ocampos

    FW: Dybala is not fit at all ,matias Suarez is ridiculous. Aguero is very fit right now , Lautaro martinez not that impressive at all . I would prefer using aguero ,Joaquin Correa together with GAICH or colidio for future.

    Actually scaloni is not my cup of tea, let’s see what happen next.

  8. Happy with the modfield in general.
    Otamendi, Mercado, Acuna (never seen a crappier shit) have absolutely no place in this NT.
    Di Maria please fucking quit. Played for 12 years and close to 100 games and U have nothing to give us than run around like a madman.
    Angel Correa and Dybala are just not good enough for international football.

      • Mercado shit? I must be blind.

        Otamendi shit? Won’t even bother because it’s a stupid opinion.

        ADM no hater can still tell me who would have done better. This bullshit “oh I can’t name anyone because they weren’t given a chance” is just bollocks.

        • He only says that because they didn’t win anything. By that pogic, Aguero didn’t win anything. Messi didn’t win anything. But Mercado gave us the cross to Rojo, allowing us to beat Nigeria. Di Maria gave us a chance against France, so did Mercado. Paulo and Correa haven’t even been playing with us for a year yet! They get played sometimes, then they get removed.

        • Choripan,

          You should get with the program, friend. Or you will be branded as an ‘Oldies fan boy’ or ‘Old guard follower’ who does not care about Argentina, and be accused of not knowing anything about football, or be accused of calling for Mascherano and Biglia to come play for the NT.

          I am gonna share this link, it was here before the WC to show how this generation of ‘oldies’ inspire the love of Argentina around the globe, maybe it’s time to really support those who bled for the shirt AND ADMIT that some of them is still the best available players, instead of calling them crappy, shitty,pecho frio and losers!!
          AND (in the proccess) accuse millions of GLOBAL Albiceleste fans of being ‘Messi fan boys’.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=194&v=kbNqgeGfhAo

          Woosah Woosah 🙂

          • @Ebo
            Sorry ebo you re always talk
            As you re only the one who
            Cares Argentina nt..
            Pal weather you re believe or not
            Banage kun aguero re my favourites
            From this generation you know
            They were not always starting for
            As much as biglia mascherano
            Di Maria or higuain but and now
            They re not getting call up at all
            I’m cool with that
            cuse I support Argentina
            I had my favourites for Every generation likes batistuta simeone
            Ayala zanatti demichelis heinze
            Juan Pablo sorin Pablo aimar
            Juan Roman riquelme kily Gonzalez
            List goes on they came and gone
            But one thing remains with me
            Is supporting albicelestes unconditionally now I have my
            Favourites likes lanzini paredes
            Lo celso… if those guys don’t get
            Call up or don’t play I won’t be
            Mad or angry cuse I support Argentina Not individuals.

          • > Favourites likes lanzini paredes Lo celso… if those guys don’t get. Call. up or don’t play I won’t be. Mad

            Welp, id be freaking pissed and id talk shit. lol. just like dumbass Sampa dropped Lo Celso in WC. I didn’t get dropping Lo Celso then and i don’t understand Aguero now, at all.

          • Choripan
            You make me laugh mate
            id be freaking pissed”
            Right words

            Aguero situations all I can say
            Kun 100% better than those strikes
            Who just made the list
            Those kinda things do happen
            In th Nt: in 2002 world cup bielse
            Left young Javier saviola who was
            Playing fcb at that time
            Four years later pekerman left
            Javier zanetti in favour for Lionel
            Scaloni that was very shocking
            To any Argentina fan it was had to
            Understand. In 2010 diego maradona
            Left again Javier zanetti in favour
            For Jones Gutierrez that was insane
            Too also he left cambiasso and riquelme: in 2014 sabella left javier
            Pastore and ever Banega that was had too in 2018 jorge sampoali criminally Left Leo paredes and German pezzela. So my friend I do understand your frustration
            Trust I been so disappointed so
            Many times because the decision
            Of our managers.

          • @godin11

            ….. and you forgot to mention that Bielsa held the younger,more effective Crespo (27 years old at the time)hostage on the bench for the older Batistuta (about 34 years at the time) who was approaching the end of his career.
            This shows double standards as no one is talking about it, but trying to impose it on players greater than Batistuta, TODAY.

            and you also forgot to mention that Riquelme quit the NT twice , once in september 2006 for receiving a lot of criticism from Fans and Media to the point that his mother was hospitalized twice in a month because she could not take the insults towards her son. (SAME SHIT that is being thrown against the ‘oldies’ and ‘Messi friends club’ TODAY.)

            and once before the WC2010 because Maradona and fans preferring the ‘YOUNGER’ players (just like today) over the 30 years old Roman.

            LEARN FROM HISTORY, Pal.

            and show me where I ever accused anyone of not being Argentina fan because they want younger players and saying you are a Paredes, Locelso, Dybala or whoever player follower not Argentina supporter, like the phrases thrown at “Messi fan boys’

            It had been very clear that I always defend players of the NT shirt, including Meza and Tagi and others and I never said I don’t want to see this player’s face or that player’s face in the NT anymore because they are losers, failures …. etc! or accuse the coach of being a puppet .

          • “and once before the WC2010 because Maradona and fans preferring the ‘YOUNGER’ players (just like today) over the 30 years old Roman.

            LEARN FROM HISTORY, Pal.”

            @ebo

            You’re absolutely wrong pal. In Riquelme’s case it was more like an issue with Maradona. Diego was always critical of him(well Diego being Diego). It has nothing to do with age. Besides Riquelme’s at fault too. As far as I remember he was in bad shape and in bad form too. And he openly said he won’t play for La Albiceleste as long as Maradona’s there. That was the reason Riquelme wasn’t there in 2010WC not because of his age.

            If age was the case back then(as you strongly suggest), then how come Palermo, Veron(both above 35), Samuel, Demichelis, Heinze, Ariel Garce( Deigo’s surprise) and even Diego Milito made into the WC squad??! Maxi, Clemente and Burdisso being next in line.

            Pretty ironic you said “Learn from HISTORY”, when it’s actually YOU ,who needs “REAL HISTORY LESSONS” instead of creating a new one!

            PS: I don’t give a damn about players ages! Whether he’s 30 or 40 I don’t care.

          • @ebo

            I also find it extremely amusing that you actually believe “PLAYER SELECTION” particularly Riquelme( and Zanetti and Cambiasso and maybe Aimar too) was the reason for the debacle and completely forget who was at the helm of the NT . Imagine that Spain 2010 side with him in charge, do you honestly believe they can win anything(It’s football anything can happen, but honestly do you have any hope?)? Reaching quarter final was some kind of a miracle imo.

            You chose WRONG HISTORY & a RIDICULOUS COMPARISON!

          • @batigol_gaucho

            i remember very well the chants :
            “Don’t call anyone, We have Messi now”
            if you have an opinion say it and Don’t go around accusing people of lying and fabricating fiction into facts like a lot here
            enough said…

          • ..and you have not really said much differencfe in Riquelmes’s Case. Main reason he quit the NT was the Media and fans.of course he had problems with Maradona, But Maradona was encouraged by the fans and Media to drop Riquelme the second time instead of working out solutions. But maybe you got really pissed because I said in 2002 IT WAS Crespo’s time not Batistuta’s and we crashed out of the WC

  9. those who are complaining about some players i thing they wont get a chance……
    but should have called some youngsters…..they would have atleast learn something….
    anyway The Squad Scaloni should use imo –
    RB- Gonzalo MONTIEL
    CB- German PEZELLA
    CB- Nicolas OTAMENDI
    LB- Nicolas TAGLIAFICO
    CDM- Leandro PAREDSE
    CM- Giovani LO CELSO
    CM- Manuel LANZINI
    LW- Gonzalo MARTINEZ / Angel CORREA / Rodrigo DE PAUL
    ST- Lautaro MARTINEZ
    RW- Lionel MESSI

  10. I expect two completely different teams. Messi will only play in Madrid and not play against Morocco.

  11. Finally the long awaited list. My initial thoughts in a long post so apologies:

    GK: First impression seems to be that Scaloni is picking players here who are playing regular first time games regardless of potential or history. Form and game speed is so important in sports so I like this message. No amount of practice is a substitute for game speed. This should give guys like Gazzaniga more incentive to break into first teams of their current squads or look for opportunities elsewhere, and for Rulli to find consistency of form. I don’t watch enough Liga MX to comment on how Marchesin has been recently, but obviously his inclusion over Benitez is a surprise. This looks like Armani’s position to lose right now, but I do hope Andrada (who I rate better than Musso) can beat him out.

    RB: Call ups to the most aggressive full back in all the super liga, an experienced veteran who can fill both RB and CB spots in a 23 and thus save one spot as well as back 3 or 4, along with a new introduction who has a balanced offensive/defensive style. I like the mix of choice and may the best two options out of the three arise here.

    LB: Acuna’s continued call up as in the back up role tells me that Scaloni is not only looking for a classic LB but someone who can play comfortably in back 3 systems like Mercado. This was often Scaloni’s plan B in the friendlies so makes sense to have someone who can play that.

    CB: Pezella, Foyth, Kanneman, Otamendi keep their call ups from last time. Funes Mori gets dropped and seeing his poor form in the league comes as no surprise. I believe Kanneman is now the closest to the next cut here. Lisandro Martinez gets his first call up. Many people here are already saying he can slot in at LB of which I am not fully convinced yet, but I think his ball skills, forward passing and ability to drive forward can also make him a fit for DM if required. So you get a player who can potentially fit two or three areas in an emergency if it works out and this value earned him a pick I believe.

    Mid: My favorite England based argentine got dropped so I will shed a small tear here for Lamela, but it was right decision as he doesn’t play enough. Possibly Lanzini can be judged the same way but I suppose his form from last year and potential has qualified him. I like him as a creator but Scaloni needs ball hunting advanced mids for his style. Players not afraid to get stuck into tackles. I will be judging him (as well as DiMaria) on this to see if his bad injury has left any nervousness or fear in him. Paredes, Lo Celso, Pereyra, DePaul keep their spots for continuity and I see no problems there. Zaracho and Blanco have been the two best creative mids in the two best teams of the SuperLiga. In my previous post I had mentioned if the goal is to reward players AND teams in form then this is a good message. And finally the most important call ups in my view: Marcone and Guido. No comments on Guido as I don’t watch much of Liga MX so I lost track of him. Marcone always struck me more as a 6 than a 5 so its an interesting pick in terms of XI balance. If he decides to play a double 6 in the heart with Parades (who I consider closer to a 6 than a 5 as well) it would be an interesting approach. We will see.

    Forwards: Simeone’s drop is not surprising to me and neither is Icardi’s. One does not have sufficient quality to lead an international line yet and the other has not played or practiced for a month and might not till Copa is over due to club tensions. Again I like the consistent message- play good continuous club ball or you’re out. Aguero’s non call in this regard disappoints me as it is counter to the message. One would think a professional coach would do anything required to get over any interpersonal tensions with a valuable player if necessary. There is some growing up to do here. Finally Matias Suarez? Well I am as surprised as anyone.

    Finally short after thought: These new call ups are heavy in creatives from the back to the front: Lisandro, Lanzini, DiMaria,Zaracho, Blanco, the fifth best player in the world – this tells me Scaloni recognizes his offensive problems, so hopefully he can find a fix now.

  12. After spain,Nigeria match ,before the world cup, 99% of Mundo people praised Pavon and Meza.Before world cup 2018 u guys were mad about Pavon,Meza.On that time , a lot of mundo people were consider (Pavon Meza) better than Dimaria. But now no one are interseted pavon ,meza.time has been changed just 6 months. But mundo People will never been changed.They judge a player just watching 1,2 good matches.

  13. Happy with this team. But ascacibar, nicolus dominguez, Icardi, and some players from u 20 specially goalkeeper pourtoua and nahuen perez should have been there instead of marches in and mercado. Happy for Lisandro Martinez and gonzalo montiel

  14. Messi Lautaro Dybala must fire together, Yes it can be emotional to ignore Aguero Dimara but a team can’t afford more than two 34+ player when Messi must be in 2022, as a messi fan i was sad when messi failed to win worldcup in 2018 which is considered his last world cup if messi won then messi lost hunger and can’t be in 2022 now we will see messi another 4year which is blessings in disguise for all messi fan, same thing happened with sachine teldulkar. Just look at the comparison between Sachine vs Messi
    Sachine 2003 worldcup final lost, Messi 2014 final lost
    Sachine 2007 eliminated badly from wolrdcup with Golden Indian generation, Messi 2018 eliminated badly from worldcup with Golden Argentna generation
    Sachine 2011 wordcup winner with new Indian Squad, Messi 2022 will win 2022 worldcup with Young Argentina Squad
    Sachine vs Messi World cup outcome differs by 11year, both considered God of Cricket and Football respectively criticised for not wining worldcup for their country but one thing everyone must remember Worldcup will not consider Big thing if God of individuals is not lift it.
    But Indian young team won the ICC tournament following year despite favourite Australia therefore Argentina have to win copa 2019 and starts the new era with wining mentality, i sometime agree with Gonzalo it’s not bad to get rid of mentally broken players, Argentina can’t afford more because messi will feel more pressure if he see same faces.

  16. Excited to see the new players. Some good choices and some interesting ones. Matias Suarez and Marchesin shouldn’t be there imo haha
    Blanco interest me a lot in particular. He performed really well against Boca. Literally toyed with their midfielders and defenders. A very skilled dribbler. Let’s see how Scaloni lines us up !

  17. Well done scaloni that is good for me
    Obviously there few players I prefer
    Them not be in the squad
    Kanneman
    Mecerdo
    Di Maria
    Armani
    Suarez
    scaloni may not even
    Call di Maria if palacios and battaglia
    Were fit olso said he got nothing
    Against kun aguero this is what he
    Said. “We think it can be good to look at more players and not always stay
    Them”

  18. Santiago Ascacibar ,Franco Cervi,Rodrigo Battaglia. These three players should have in the core team . Battaglia is underrated because he plays for Portuguese leave.
    Cervi had a great performance in last few matches for Argentina .

  22. Worst list by scaloni by a distance, Aguero should have been in the squad, exclusion of Rulli(in Form) and Romero(Played last two games as captain) indicates scaloni wants final experiments, trying new GK, MF or even DF is understable but FW??? why need to fix something which isn’t broken, Icardi and Aguero should be our striker if there is third then should be lautaro then why is so much experimenting i hope next time best squad announced, messi and Dimaria comes hope Aguero and romero returns too unfortunately Benega NT career is over

  23. Happy for angel correa……we need some player upfront who got energy..
    Matias Suarez’s is the disappointing one
    Good chance for Dario Benedetto

  25. Lisandro Martinez and Domingo Blanco of Defensa players. No doubt the team deserved to have his representatives in NT.

    2 Defensa players
    3 Boca players
    2 Racing players
    3 River players

    Scaloni is looking for pairs trios to give the new ones more comfort.

  26. blanco ,matias suarez? really suprise us. angel correa is not fit at all , marchesin wastes a quota. i prefer barbosa rather than mercado. we have tagliafico and lisandro martinez no need to choose acuna.

    at last joaquin correa still no show, i dont think matias suarez and blanco are better than joaquin correa who is man of the match vs roma!

    • Blanco and correa dont play in same position. Blanco a midfielder while correa a winger/forward. Agreed correa should have been instead of suarez.

  27. Oh, Domingo Blanco! He is so good recently. Great game against Boca and more. I just thought about him after the match Defensa – Boca when Defensa dominated.

      • Barboza, Martinez, Miranda, Blanco, Togni, Unsain – all are impressive. Blanco is more creative than Miranda. Miranda is DM, kinda Santiago Caseres. Blanco, No.8, attacking central midfielder.

        I remember Domingo Blanco when he was getting first games in Independiente. Was surprised they let him go to Defensa.

        • I saw Scaloni watching the Defensa – Boca game and that thought crossed my mind Blanco would impress Scaloni just like Gaston Gimenez did when Scaloni was watching Velez to call up Nico Dominguez.

  29. Finally, no Mesa!

    BUT, What the f*&*(^&*)^(&) is Pity Martinez is doing here????

    When you keep selecting players from Mexico and MLS, you’re giving them more incentives to go there!!!

    No matter it’s Messi, Arguero, Dybala, or anyone, if he goes to MLS/Mexico, he should never be selected!!!

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