Posted in: 23/09/2022 – 09:18Last updated: 23/09/2022 – 09:16
Miami (AFP) – Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni expressed his dissatisfaction with the late arrival of two of the most prominent defenders in the squad to participate in two friendlies in the United States in preparation for the Qatar World Cup 2022, after a visa issue linked to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
It was scheduled to join Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez and his counterpart in Tottenham Christian Romero to the “Tango” before the Honduran national team at Inter Miami on Friday and Jamaica in New York on Tuesday.
But following the death of the British Queen, the US Embassy in London closed its doors, forcing both players to return to Argentina to secure a visa to come to the United States.
While Martinez arrived in Miami in time for the Honduran friendly, doubts remain over Romero’s fate, while Scaloni remains unsure whether the latter will be available for the second game at the Red Bull Arena.
“It annoys me,” Scaloni told reporters. “This is an important week of training for us before the World Cup and Cristian (Romero) is not there. His request is late.”
Scaloni suffers from several problems in the defense line, especially with the injury of Juan Foyth, so that Lionel Messi’s companions start their race against time to reach the highest levels of physical technicality ahead of preparations for the football wedding in Qatar, where they will face Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland in the third group.
Scaloni added, “We have the utmost respect for Honduras. Although they will not participate in the World Cup, they have strong traditions and good players,” stressing that the Argentine “will not underestimate any team.”
Regarding the Argentine fans’ reception of their country’s national team in Miami, he said, “There are many Argentines here who welcomed us warmly and made us feel at home.”
On the other hand, Honduran defender Denil Maldonado confirmed that his country will not retreat in front of Messi and his companions, and promised to make the evening of the Scaloni team difficult, and said, “We never have bad intentions to enter a match like this, but we plan to play hard and hard.”
“It may be a friendly match for Argentina, but for us we plan to leave our spirit on the field and show that the Honduran national team has the qualities and the desire to compete,” he concluded.
© 2022 AFP