BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Argentina already has its list of 26 names to go in search of its second consecutive Copa América title.
Coach Lionel Scaloni’s roster released this Saturday highlights the inclusion of Valentín Carboni and the exclusion of Ángel Correa, the only one of the world champions who was left out in the last cut before the competition in the United States.
In addition to the Atlético Madrid attacker, of the 29 called up for the previous friendlies, with 1-0 victories over Ecuador and 4-1 against Guatemala, defenders Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique Marseille) and Valentín Barco (Brighton) were also marginalized from the final list ).
Carboni, 19 years old and an Inter Milan player on loan at Monza, was the surprise, since he just made his debut as a starter for the Albiceleste in Friday’s friendly in Washington against Guatemala. The offensive midfielder had a very good performance and was praised by captain Lionel Messi himself.
Most analysts assumed the exclusion of Balerdi and Barco from the roster — after the good performance of two defenders who joined the team with physical discomfort, Germán Pezzella and Marcos Acuña, while they maintained doubts about the third name. Finally, Scaloni opted in favor of the excellent present of Alejandro Garnacho and Carboni over the polyfunctionality that Correa offered him.
In total, 21 of the 26 world champions in Qatar 2022 will be in the Copa América. For various reasons, Paulo Dybala, Juan Foyth, Alejandro Gómez, Thiago Almada and Correa will not be part of the squad that will open the tournament against Canada in Atlanta on Thursday.
Argentina, with Messi as an exclusive figure and Ángel Di María in his last competition with the albiceleste shirt, is part of Group A along with Chile, Peru and Canada.
List
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa), Franco Armani (River Plate), Gerónimo Rulli (Ajax).
Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel (Nottingham Forest), Nahuel Molina (Atlético de Madrid), Cristian Romero (Tottenham, England), Germán Pezzella (Betis), Lucas Martínez Quarta (Fiorentina), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica), Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United) , Marcos Acuña (Seville), Nicolás Tagliafico (Lyon), Valentín Barco (Brighton).
Midfielders: Guido Rodríguez (Betis), Leandro Paredes (Roma), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético de Madrid), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea), Giovanni Lo Celso (Tottenham).
Strikers: Ángel Di María (Benfica), Valentín Carboni (Monza), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Ángel Correa (Atlético de Madrid), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolás González (Fiorentina), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Julián Álvarez (Manchester City).
