Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni and Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton have tested positive for COVID.

Lionel Scaloni and Alexis Mac Allister will not be travelling with the Argentina national team for their World Cup qualifying match against Chile. Coach Scaloni mentioned it at a press conference on Wednesday that they have both tested positive and they cannot travel.

Current laws in Chile require a negative PCR test to enter and both the coach and the player will not be with the rest of the team. This would be in addition to Pablo Aimar, who also tested positive.

Pablo Aimar has tested positive for COVID as he has left the Argentina national team.

The Argentina national team will be travelling to Chile on Wednesday evening and they will be without one of their coaching staff. In order to enter Chile, everyone must present a negative PCR test and one for Argentina returned positive. According to TyC Sports, Aimar is already in isolation.

Aimar was not present in Wednesday morning’s training session and will not be travelling to Chile for Argentina’s World Cup qualifying match.

Paulo Dybala and Lautaro Martínez were the two up front for Argentina in the training on Tuesday.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni held a training on Tuesday and with no Lionel Messi in the team, all eyes on who will be in the starting eleven in place of the Ballon d’Or winner. Lionel Messi isn’t the only big name absentee as Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur was also rested for the two World Cup qualifiers due to injury.

Lionel Scaloni went with Lisandro Martínez in place of Romero and decided to play Paulo Dybala with Inter’s Lautaro. According to TNT Sports, here was the eleven in training:

Emiliano Dibu Martínez; Molina, Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez, Acuña; Di María, De Paul, Paredes, Lo Celso; Dybala and Lautaro.

Dybala started the 1-0 win vs. Uruguay in November when Lionel Messi started that match on the bench and it could be that Scaloni decides to start him once more. Argentina play Chile on Thursday in their first of two World Cup qualifying matches with a match against Colombia on February 1 at home.

Nehuén Pérez of Udinese has been called up to the Argentina national team.

Pérez has been selected for the Argentina national team as coach Lionel Scaloni could be short on defenders for the first match. As we reported on Monday, Germán Pezzella is suspended for the first match against Chile.

Lucas Martínez Quarta is also just recovering from COVID and with no Cristian Romero in the team, Scaloni is likely to star both Nicolas Otamendi and Lisandro Martinez. Here is the updated Argentina list:

Goalkeepers:
Franco Armani (River Plate)
Esteban Andrada (Monterrey)
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Juan Musso (Atalanta)

Defenders:
Nahuel Molina (Udinese)
Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla)
Lucas Martinez Quarta (Fiorentina)
German Pezzella (Real Betis)
Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica)
Lisandro Martinez (Ajax)
Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax)
Marcos Acuna (Sevilla)
Nehuén Pérez (Udinese)

Midfielders:
Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina)
Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla)
Leandro Paredes (PSG)
Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis) (COVID, injured)
Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid)
Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham Hotspur)
Alejandro Gomez (Sevilla)
Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton)
Emiliano Buendia (Aston Villa)

Forwards:
Angel Di Maria (PSG)
Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid)
Julian Alvarez (River Plate)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
Joaquin Correa (Inter) (injured)
Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
Maxi Meza (Monterrey)

#SelecciónMayor El defensor de @Udinese_1896, Nehuén Pérez, se suma a la convocatoria para los partidos contra @LaRoja 🇨🇱 y @FCFSeleccionCol 🇨🇴. pic.twitter.com/bFsrdzLErN

— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) January 25, 2022