Argentina continued their preparations following the 2-1 win over Mauritania with a training session on Saturday morning at Ezeiza, where players who saw limited action in that match took part in a friendly against the U-20 team led by Diego Placente.

The senior side won 1-0, with José Manuel López scoring the only goal of the match as he continues to strengthen his case for a spot in the final World Cup squad. Meanwhile, the players who featured against Mauritania focused on recovery work and gym sessions.

It is also worth noting that Argentina’s U-20 team came into this match after a recent 3-0 defeat against the United States U-20 side

Lionel Scaloni’s team for the friendly included Gerónimo Rulli in goal, with a back line of Agustín Giay, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Nicolás Otamendi and Nicolás Tagliafico. In midfield were Exequiel Palacios, Leandro Paredes and Valentín Barco, while Gianluca Prestianni, López and Nicolás Paz led the attack. Several players were rotated in during the match, including Juan Musso, Gabriel Rojas, Tomás Palacios, Máximo Perrone, Franco Mastantuono and Giuliano Simeone.

The squad has now been given Sunday off and will return on Monday morning, when they are scheduled to regroup for lunch before resuming training. From there, the focus will shift fully to Tuesday’s friendly against Zambia at La Bombonera, which will be Argentina’s final match on home soil before traveling to the United States for their pre-World Cup camp.

Scaloni faces key decisions in the coming weeks. The preliminary squad list, which can include between 35 and 55 players, must be submitted by May 11. The final 26-man squad deadline is May 30, although the list is expected to be announced earlier, as Argentina plans to travel to Kansas on May 28 to begin its final preparations for the World Cup.

Emiliano Martínez commented on Argentina’s 2-1 win against Mauritania.

Martínez allowed one goal in the match against Mauritania but had a lot to say about the team. Speaking to the media after the match, here is what he had to say:

“It was one of the worst matches that we have played. We have to have a little bit more heart. Thank God we didn’t play the Finalissima. If we played like that, we would lose…

“When we put on the national team jersey, we have to put more. We need more heart. We lacked intensity.

“Before the last World Cup, we were tested against Italy and we showed that we can do it. Now, we don’t know if we have are at a top 10 World class level to compete.

“This serves us to show that we need a bit more blood.

“Yesterday, we lost Panichelli to a torn ACL, maybe today people played with less intensity out of fear of injury or something. But when we put on the Argentina national team jersey, we have to do much better.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke about Argentina’s 2-1 win against Mauritania.

Enzo Fernández and Nico Paz scored for Argentina in their 2-1 win but the team’s performance was wasn’t the best. Speaking to the media after the match, here is what Lionel Scaloni had to say:

“We did not play a good game. We were not at our level. We have to admit that and we have to improve.

“It’s obvious that we can play a lot better, we have done it All the guys we have been able to see have contributed their part but when a match becomes complicated, it’s harder.

“We are talking individually with each player to discuss what we expect and what we see. This is what these two matches are all about. These days also serve us to make it clear that there is no easy opponent, although we do know that when we are in good form, we can compete against any team.

“Sometimes it can happen that when we try something different, the performance might suffer, especially if there’s not much time.

“Now is the time to analyze and we believe we have more or less a clear idea of why today’s performance was what it was. We know that if this team plays well, the chances of winning well go up a lot.”

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has named his starting eleven for the match against Mauritania and Thiago Almada starts.

Lionel Scaloni’s team will play Mauritania and Scaloni has made some changes to the team. Lionel Messi starts the match on the bench and Thiago Almada starts. Here is the starting eleven:

Emiliano Martínez; Molina, Romero, Senesi, Acuña; Enzo, Mac Allister, Nico Paz, Nicolás González; Almada and Julián Álvarez