Nicolás Tagliafico is progressing well from his injury with the Argentina national team.
Tagliafico missed Argentina’s 3-0 win against Algeria at the World Cup due to injury. According to Diego Monroig, the 33 year old is progressing well and aims to be back for Argentina’s match against Austria.
Facundo Medina started in place of Tagliafico in the 3-0 win against Algeria.
Almada should be benched against Austria. Nico / lo celso should start. And why not Barco? He can contribute to the defense as well.
Salam and hola Mohammad.
I agree. Not that Almada is bad. But I feel that his energetic movement would be more beneficial as a sub late in the game. I think nico G is also more natural in that area of the field then Almada, but scaloni see something we don’t maybe, and for sure he knows what we don’t
WalaikumusSalam
Almada was superb in qualifiers . Thats why he is starting and nico is not fully fit as well. Almada dropped his level,thanks to simeone . Missing Buendia badly anyway.
I have seen many comments about Almada being benched. While I do not disagree with these, I wanted to give my two cents on the issue after watching the first game. This post has more to do with Scaloni’s genius than Almada per se. I should post the disclaimer that I love all our players (Almada, Soule, Buendia, Lo Celso, Barco..).
The issue Scaloni faced was how Argentina would break down defenses after Di Maria retired. There was no natural replacement, and for a decade or more, Di Maria was really the other main attacking threat apart from Messi. And the game against Algeria was our first glimpse of seeing Scaloni’s solution in a first competition game after Di Maria’s retirement. Play highly technical, gifted midfielders, and simply pass the ball through tight spaces. It was GLORIOUS! I didn’t think any coach had the balls to try such a tactic in 2026 (and I really hope it works against better teams, but Algeria are no mugs). Most other coaches try to play with wingers since their teams cannot pass the ball through the center. But with the midfielders we have, plus Messi, Scaloni threw in Almada to carry the ball with our players close to one another and pass packed defenses this way. And based on Algeria match it worked, and for football purists (and Argentina fans) lets hope it keeps on working.
This brings me to why I think Almada was chosen ahead of Buendia, or Barco not starting etc. This style of playing requires almost psychic connection between players, and these take a long time to build. Almada was fully integrated in this style, so it made sense to have him have the first go. Buendia can obviously play in this system, but the coach had to balance if there was time enough to bed him in this system, and the answer Scaloni came up with was a no. And, while I love my Barco, I am not sure how adept he will be playing this system. Lo Celso can obviously do it. With Nico, I guess we are back to playing more similar to Di Maria style attack (with more defensive cover, since Nico runs his ass off). Buendia does not fit style either, so I can see why he was left out.
We should also remind ourselves how many people doubted RDP. His thru pass is what turned the match completely (the first goal is always the most important in a nil-nil situation). So, Scaloni nailed that one, and perhaps the idea with Almada didn’t work. But I doubt anyone could have predicted either without trying these out on the field. I hope either Almada finds his form, or his replacement shines. Scaloni has shown in the past he is more than capable of taking such decisions. Can’t wait for the second game!