2024-10-12 03:01:00
The Argentine National Team returned to Buenos Aires this Friday after the draw against Venezuela in Maturín, for the ninth date of the South American Qualifiers for the World Cup United States, Mexico and Canada 2026.
After a one-goal tie against the locals, the two-time champions of America They moved to the Colombian city of Barranquilla From there, they flew to the Ministerio Pistarini International Airport in Ezeiza, where they landed around 2 p.m.
On Argentine soil and concentrated at the AFA grounds in Ezeiza, Lionel Scaloni’s team started preparing for Tuesday’s game against Bolivia at the Monumental de Núñez stadium.
The meeting will take place at 9 p.m. in front of a rival that has been giving surprising results in the Qualifiers and is in sixth place in the table, as one of the momentary qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Since Oscar Villegas took over as coach, Bolivia tied 0-0 with Uruguay and beat Colombia 1-0 in El Alto, and defeated Chile in Santiago by 2-1.
In relation to the team, Cristian “Cuti” Romero, who has just completed a suspension date due to the accumulation of yellow cards, will replace German Pezzellaof high level in Maturín. The rest would be similar to the one that played in the Venezuelan waters. The point will be to know if Scaloni decides to start again Thiago Almada, who was only there for the first 45 minutes, or if you prefer to include Lautaro Martínez to accompany Messi and Julián Alvarez up front.
The other unknown is knowing if Alexis Mac Allister He is again on the substitute bench or appears from the start, since in Venezuela the coach preserved him because he suffers from a slight muscle load in the right adductor, which originated in training with the English Liverpool. In the event that the former Boca is a starter, the one who would come out is Giovani Lo Celso.
Carboni’s serious injury
The youth Valentin Carboni He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be out for the rest of the year. The midfielder had already been disaffected from the call for the match against Venezuela due to discomfort in his knee, but after carrying out the corresponding studies, the 19-year-old confirmed the torn ligaments that will sideline them for approximately nine months.
In addition to missing this Tuesday’s duel against Bolivia and the following two dates in November against Paraguay as a visitor and Peru as a local, the attacker will not be able to continue playing the current season of the French Ligue 1 with the Olympique de Marseille (on loan from Inter in Italy until June next year).
Carboni was gaining ground in Scaloni’s consideration for the team’s future, thinking about the 2026 World Cup. The youth was part of the 2024 Copa América squad, where he played one match – the 2-0 victory against Peru on the last date of the group stage – and received great praise from the squad’s leaders, also adding his first trophy with the albiceleste team.
Usually positioned as a right winger and compared to Ángel Di María, Carboni has three games with the National Team: In addition to those mentioned, he started in the 4-1 friendly against Guatemala last June.