Martinez and Gonzalez called up for Argentina without Messi

Emiliano Martinez and Nicolas Gonzalez have earned maiden call-ups to an Argentina squad that is again without talisman Lionel Messi.

Captain Messi was handed a three-month ban by CONMEBOL after accusing the governing body of "corruption" during the Copa America, which was appealed against earlier this month. The Barcelona superstar is suffering with a thigh injury, having also missed the start of the campaign with a calf complaint, and would have been absent for friendlies against Germany and Ecuador next month regardless. Head coach Lionel Scaloni has not called any River Plate or Boca Juniors players into his squad due to their Copa Libertadores semi-final clash.

However, Arsenal's back-up goalkeeper Martinez and Stuttgart forward Gonzalez, who has three goals in five second-tier matches this term, will hope to earn first caps.

 

September 27, 2019

Tottenham duo Juan Foyth and Erik Lamela return to the 23-man squad, while Borussia Dortmund defender Leonardo Balerdi and Espanyol midfielder Matias Vargas – who each have one cap – will be looking to earn more experience.

Argentina face Germany in Dortmund on October 9 and are also scheduled to face Ecuador during the international break.

The Argentina squad is as follows: 

Agustin Marchesin (Porto), Juan Musso (Udinese), Emiliano Martinez (Arsenal); Juan Foyth (Tottenham), Renzo Saravia (Porto), Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City), German Pezzella (Fiorentina), Marcos Rojo (Manchester United), Walter Kannemann (Gremio), Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax), Leonardo Balerdi (Borussia Dortmund); Guido Rodriguez (America), Matias Zaracho (Racing Club), Leandro Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain), Nicolas Dominguez (Velez Sarsfield), Rodrigo De Paul (Udinese), Marcos Acuna (Sporting Lisbon), Roberto Pereyra (Watford), Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid), Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla), Erik Lamela (Tottenham); Matias Vargas (Espanyol), Nicolas Gonzalez (Stuttgart), Lucas Alario (Bayer Leverkusen), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Paulo Dybala (Juventus)