Who are the seven youth called by Argentina who come with Messi to Guayaquil for the match against Ecuador

The seven players with dual nationality who are in Argentina’s squad for the matches against Venezuela and Ecuador, for the double final date of the South American qualifier for Qatar-2022, are Franco and Valentín Carboni (Inter Milan), Luka Romero (Lazio ), Matías Soulé (Juventus), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolás Paz (Real Madrid) and Tiago Geralnik (Villarreal).

Argentina, already qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, will host Venezuela on March 25 and will visit Ecuador on March 29 in Guayaquil.

The first thing in this list of coach Lionel Scaloni: the return of Lionel Messi, absent in the previous days, against Chile and Colombia, to recover from COVID-19 is confirmed; Ángel Di María comes the same despite being touched; there are several weight loss due to injury, suspension and decision (among them, Paulo Dybala); and two “new” ones: Manuel Lanzini and Lucas Boyé.

The seven who were formed in important teams in Europe (and almost unknown in Argentina) are the product of a work of scouting that the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has been carrying out in Europe for two years, according to the newspaper’s website Ole.

Ole He points out that the call for the ‘kids’ is not by chance but rather the product of silent work that has been going on for almost two years.

It is assumed that Scaloni will take advantage of both commitments to carry out tests and draw conclusions for the final team that will go to the World Cup. But with the youngest, the plan is to take them to train with the sub-20 led by Javier Mascherano thinking about the 2023 South American Championship that will be played in January in Colombia.

The objective of creating this Scouting Department, which even has an office in Madrid, explains Oleis “to make a personal mark on future Messi, Buendía or Icardi who may emerge or be hidden in some corner of the Old Continent.”

“The folders with data and information on more than 300 boys ranging from 11 or 12 years old to approximately 20 and the hundreds of gigabytes of videos with their plays were the cornerstone of something else. About what? Of visits to training sessions, to matches of lower categories or of affiliated teams in which they play and in close and constant contact with them and their families, ”says the note.

And he reveals: “… Many of these children are children of the 2001 crisis. Their parents emigrated in search of more and better opportunities in those times of five presidents in one week and they ended up being born on foreign soil, for which they are in a position to be cited by other teams. Luka Romero, who has already played a U-15 with Argentina, is an example: born in Mexico, but also has Argentine and Spanish citizenship, he knew how to be tempted to wear the La Roja shirt, but ended up leaning towards the light blue and white ”.

Regarding this list published by the AFA, the Spanish newspaper Brand titled that “Argentina scored a goal against Spain” by summoning three players who could well play for their National Team. Something similar happens with Italy, since Franco and Valentín Carboni (sons of Ezequiel, former Lanús and Banfield) were born in Argentina but immediately went to Europe following in their father’s footsteps. When they returned to the country they started in Lanús, but when they emigrated again they joined Catania, then Inter bought them and due to their good performance they were summoned to the Italian youth teams on several occasions.

“With the call to the Mayor (absolute team) they seek to insert the Argentinian chip inside the boys, even though they have never set foot in our country, to make sure that they do not play with other shirts and, incidentally, that the powerful clubs do not have excuses when giving them up. And Javier Mascherano, the new coach of the sub-20, can take the opportunity to work with them thinking about the South American that will be played in January in Colombia”, concludes the note from Ole. (D)