With the tournament now less than a month away, Argentina have named their preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup. The current group will be trimmed to 23 before the competition gets under way, but there are already several notable absentees: Tottenham Hotspur forward Erik Lamela, Atletico Madrid attacker Angel Correa, Boca Juniors striker Carlos Tevez and Zenit Saint Petersburg midfielder Matias Kranevitter.
Sergio Romero remains his country’s No.1, despite a strange club career in which he has only occasionally been first choice. Wilfredo Caballero, Nahuel Guzman and Franco Armani are the other goalkeepers included alongside Manchester United’s back-up glovesman.
Javier Mascherano was superb at the 2014 World Cup, the then-Barcelona midfielder helping to drag his country all the way to the final. He is now included among the defenders, though, with Roma’s Federico Fazio, Manchester City’s Nicolas Otamendi, Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo and Everton’s Ramiro Funes Mori also vying for the centre-back spots. Marcos Acuna, Eduardo Salvio, Cristian Ansaldi, German Pezzella and Nicolas Tagliafico all feature despite the fact each has only won a handful of caps up to now.
Milan’s Lucas Biglia, River Plate’s Enzo Perez and Sevilla’s Ever Banega all provide experience in the centre of midfield, while Angel Di Maria could also be used in the middle of the park or further forward. There are high hopes for 23-year-old Leandro Paredes in Argentina, even if last summer’s move to Zenit Saint Petersburg represented a sideways step at best, so too Paris Saint-Germain’s Giovani Lo Celso. West Ham playmaker Manuel Lanzini is one of those who could be cut from the squad in the coming weeks, with home-based trio Maximiliano Meza, Ricardo Centurion and Pablo Perez similarly unlikely to be among the final 23.
Inter striker Mauro Icardi has been included by Jorge Sampaoli, although he still has work to do to ensure he is on the plane to Russia. Lionel Messi is the undoubted star and his relationship with Sergio Aguero both on and off the pitch will probably see the Manchester City man assume the role of Argentina’s starting centre-forward. Gonzalo Higuain is next in line for that position, but Paulo Dybala could find game time hard to come by given he shares several similarities with Messi. Diego Perotti and Lautaro Martinez complete the set of attackers.
