Debut for Capaldo, Balerdi out
©IMAGO
Coach Lionel Scaloni does not want to “sound the alarm” shortly before the start of the World Cup. After defending champion Argentina beat Honduras 2-0 in the penultimate test match before the World Cup emergency, the world champion coach admitted: “Many players are not yet 100 percent fit.”
Superstar Lionel Messi only watched the game from the bench. The almost 39-year-old Albiceleste captain was recently injured and the Inter Miami professional’s thigh muscle was overloaded. “Leo is making good progress, he has already trained partially with the team and that is very good,” Scaloni assured before the game against Honduras. It remains to be seen whether Messi will be used in the final test against Iceland in midweek. As the Argentinian sports newspaper “Olé” reported, the images of Messi on the screen in the stadium in College Station, Texas, alone triggered storms of enthusiasm among the spectators. Especially when Messi did a few sprints on the pitch after the game.
In addition to a few others from the Qatar 2022 World Cup team, goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez from Aston Villa was not there yet, as he broke a finger while warming up in Aston Villa’s uniform before winning the Europa League final against SC Freiburg. However, it is assumed that he will also be ready for action when the Argentines kick off on the night of June 17th German time. The opponent will then be Algeria, and Argentina will also face Austria and Jordan in the preliminary round.
A former Bundesliga professional is out, Capaldo makes his debut
Defender Leonardo Balerdi will definitely be missing. The former Borussia Dortmund professional, who is under contract with Olympique Marseille, is out due to a muscle injury in his right lower leg.
Meanwhile, central defender Nicolás Capaldo from Hamburger SV made his debut for the Argentine national team against Honduras. He came on as a substitute in the final stages. Only a controversial penalty, converted by Lautaro Martínez, gave the South Americans the lead in the 37th minute. In the 54th minute, Giuliano Simeone from Atlético Madrid and son of coach Diego Simeone increased the score to 2-0.