Argentina have already secured their place in Qatar, and as a result the last two qualifiers are a great opportunity for coach Lionel Scaloni to test players who are in good shape on the team and are likely to reach the World Cup.
And really, in the extended squad one can find Manuel Lancini from West Ham, Giovanni Simeone Morona and Lucas Boja Malcha, but what really catches the eye in this squad is the amount of young and unknown players for the general public.
And these are their names: 17-year-old Luca Romero from Lazio, 18-year-old Mathias Sola from Juventus, 18-year-old Franco Carboni and 17-year-old brother Valentin, both from Inter, 17-year-old Alejandro Granacho from Manchester United, Nicolas Pass 17-year-old from Real Madrid and 18-year-old Thiago Haralnik from Moiarial.
Very happy Contento for my
debut and for the victory @OfficialSSLazio pic.twitter.com/IyuhIk0tuu
- Luka Romero (@lukaromero_) August 28, 2021
Common to all?
Games in senior European teams, with little to no experience in a senior team, and with dual citizenship who are allowed to represent several teams.
The Carboni brothers, who left for Europe at a young age, have already played for Italy's youth teams.
Granacho, Fez and Romero were not born in Argentina at all and are allowed to represent the Spanish national team (Romero can also play in Mexico), however since they all have a mother or father from Argentina, the association approached them and invited them to the current match window.
Matthias Sola.
The young lady's young talent, Photo: Facebook Yuba
In the case of Granacho, who has already played for Spain's youth teams, the summons came as a complete surprise to United fans who were sure it was an original Spaniard and did not really know about his Argentine roots.
The Marca newspaper also referred to the summons of the three under the headline "Argentina scored a goal for Spain and Luis Enrique. There is no doubt that the goal of Scaloni and the Argentine association is to ensure that all these players represent Argentina and no other team in the future".
It is very likely that all seven will not play against Venezuela and Ecuador in the remaining games, but the very summoning is Argentina's way to win the most prestigious war today in national football - the battle for talent with dual citizenship.
Since this is an official window of FIFA, the teams must release those players who, upon arrival, will pass into the hands of coach Javier Mascherano in the young team.
In fact, once they get to Argentina they will go through a kind of double persuasion chain.
They need to convince Argentina that they deserve the national team shirt, and Argentina needs to convince them that they deserve it.
Skloni.
Not waiting for anyone, Photo: Reuters
They will first get to train with Messi and his friends and present their abilities to the eyes of the national coach Skaloni, and then Lar will move on to train with the young team that will absorb them in the future.
Although the current summons will not prevent them from representing another team in the future, Argentina has taken an important and significant step here.
Similar stories can be found today in the Uruguayan team, Mexico and many teams around the world, who understand that recruiting team players should start very very early and in a very thorough manner.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us