Argentine NT: News, Stats & Players [R]

Alario with the winning goal for Leverkusen vs. Schalke on his return as a starter.

The goal itself was fantastic, comprised of great ball control, physical strength to beat his defender, and a wonderful, powerful finish as the cherry on top.



Man how I do miss Pipa in River

 

One hell of a goal by Vangioni for Monterrey in the FIFA Club World Cup:



I understand he hasn't been called-up in a good minute and probably won't ever again now that we have Tagliafico, but who knows... still a great, hard-working, strongarm defender with clear offensive, technical skills.

Paredes also scored a volley from outside of the box (with the help of a defender) to open up to game for PSG vs. Saint Etienne:



Looks like he's finally getting some playing time, after sitting on the bench practially all season. Today's game was his second consecutive start (last week he scored an own goal, btw), which is of significant importance considering how he had only started in 3 other league matches since the season began. I wonder if Tuchel is giving him minutes to try to convince him to stay, since it was almost certain he would be leaving in January in search of regular playing time before Copa America. Not sure how much truth there is to it, but in recent days the British press has been linking him (along with Lautaro Martinez) with a possible Man Utd move in the next transfer window.

Icardi was also on the mark in that match. 13 goals in the last 16 games for Mauro, if I'm not mistaken. He's slowly catching up the top-scorer of Ligue 1 and has the best goals per minute ratio in the entire league (81 minutes per goal). Such a good performance is making PSG seek a permanent move (€70 million buyout clause with Inter), although he is said to be using this as a stepping stone in hopes of moving to either Real Madrid or Juventus next season.

Ansaldi scored two goals in Torino's 3-3 tie vs. Hellas Verona... Like Vangioni, his time with the NT is probably long done, but who knows.... somehow this guy always ends up making the roster as a surprise inclusion due to his multi-functionality.

Nacho Fernandez scored this absolute tikitaka golazo the other day in the Copa Argentina final:



The guy has been on fire for the last year and must be seriously considered for Copa America. Even Riquelme has praised him as the best player in the country.

For those unfamiliar with him, I recommend you also check out his participation in the third goal of the same match to understand how important he can be for moving the ball around and linking plays:

 

The U-23 roster has been released for the Olympic Qualifiers tournament, which is set to take place between January and February in Colombia.



Much of the base of the squad is the roster that won the Pan American Football gold medal in August (Gaich, Urzi, Valenzuela, Colombatto, Medina, Vera, Mosevich, Herrera, Alvarez, etc.). Additions include Nehuen Perez, Lucas Robertone (Velez midfielder), Nicolas Capaldo (Boca midfielder), Nahuel Bustos (Talleres winger), Hernan de la Fuente (Velez defender), Lautaro Valenti (Lanus defender), Tomas Belmonte (Lanus midfielder), and Claudio Bravo (Banfield midfielder).

The only players with senior NT experience in the squad are Matias Zaracho, Alexis MacAllister, and Adolfo Gaich (all received their first cap this year under Scaloni)

Carlos Fernando Valenzuela (Barracas Central) is the only player not playing in a top tier division. Joaquin Blazquez is the only player without regular playing time, if I'm not mistaken (he partakes in Valencia's youth matches instead). Anibal Moreno, who featured regularly in the Pan American games and the U-20 WC the month before, has been dropped likely due to his lack of playing time this season with Newell's.

A perhaps surprise inclusion is that of Valentin Castellanos, a 21-year-old forward who has been on the mark 11 times this season for NYCFC in the MLS.

Maroni may have shot himself in the foot by moving to Sampdoria and riding the bench (2 cup appearances, 0 league games)

Incredible that they keep on ignoring Thiago Almada... maybe next time around.

Anyway, in the first stage we will face off with Colombia (opening game), Chile, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The top two ranked teams in the Final Stage (which will be in round-robin format between the best two teams of each group) will be given the two CONMEBOL spots in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

 

This kid’s going to make noise in Europe. It shouldn’t be long before he moves to a bigger side.

I always forget just how young he is since his football IQ and trajectory is that of a much more seasoned player, but he barely turned 21 about a month ago. We’re talking someone who is technically still eligible for the U23 Pre-Olympic Tournament and could have been playing U20 competitions til very recently. I am very excited to see how he continues growing and expect him to become a part of our NT for years to come.

 

I’m not sure if clubs are obligated to release players for this tournament. I believe this is one of those cases in which the clubs have the final say, so I can see the European clubs refusing to send their guys. From my understanding this is the final, confirmed roster.

Edit: Yup, that’s the case. Players who were not allowed to participate by their clubs include Lisandro Martinez, Cristian Romero, Ezequiel Barco, Balerdi, Nicolas Dominguez, and Matias Pellegrini (source)

That link also points out the absenses of Matias Vargas, Thiago Almada, Pedro de la Vega, Agustin Almendra, Cristian Ferreira, Santiago Sosa, Francisco Ortega, Gonzalo Maroni, Ezequiel Ponce, Santiago Colombatto, and others — although all those were by choice, rather than club objection.

Montiel and Palacios were also left out despite being eligible, but in their cases it’s because they’ll likely be playing Copa America in June instead of the Olympics.

 

Hopefully we don't have to go to Quito with our hearts in our mouths this time around... 2017 was already enough.

That streak of games in Sept/Oct 2021 (Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Colombia) could end up being decisive.