Capaldo shines in national team training and dreams of the World Cup | OneFootball

Monday’s long, intense training session at the Compass Minerals complex served as a first sketch in shaping Argentina’s starting eleven for next Saturday’s friendly against Honduras, set for 9:00 p.m. at Kyle Field in Texas. With several injured players and others in the final stage of recovery, right back is a position that worries Lionel Scaloni. Both Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel are dealing with muscle tears and, although the Atlético Madrid player is in the final stretch of his rehab and is expected to be fine, there are doubts regarding Cachete. In this context, Nicolás Capaldo was tested at right back and is waiting to see if he can make the World Cup squad if the River player does not recover properly.

In this first training session, Capaldo got the nod over Agustín Giay, another of the seven players who are not on the official roster but are training with the squad, and who is more used to playing in that position and had also already made his Argentina debut in the friendly against Mauritania held in March. The La Pampa native who came through Boca’s youth ranks was one of the key pieces for Germany’s Hamburg in their return to the Bundesliga; he even captained the team in several matches during the season. Overall, he played 27 of 37 matches, scored one goal, and provided three assists.

What is peculiar is that, although he has occasionally played as a right back, at times with Boca and during his spell at Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, he never played in that position with the German club; at least not in a back four. He alternated between midfielder and right-sided stopper for most of the campaign, and in the last match, a 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen, he played as a wing-back and assisted Portuguese player Fabio Vieira for his team’s only goal.

The first training session in Kansas began with work in the gym, and then the players moved onto the field, where they practiced speed, coordination, and technical drills at four different stations. Afterwards, Scaloni set up tactical work: first, the group did an 11-vs.-0 drill to work on automated movements and, after that, a traditional football practice match that lasted 40 minutes. In the last two exercises, Capaldo was part of the starting lineup.

Whether the La Pampa native makes the squad will depend on the progress of Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel. The Atlético Madrid man suffered a Grade I tear in his left hamstring on May 11 against Celta Vigo. Because of the mild nature of the injury, the coaching staff believe he will return to training in the coming days. It is unlikely that he will get minutes against Honduras, but he could be part of the team the following Tuesday against Iceland, nine days before Argentina’s World Cup opener.

Cachete, meanwhile, is the one in the more difficult situation. He suffered a Grade II tear in his left quadriceps during the Apertura Tournament semifinal against Rosario Central on May 16, which, in addition to ruling him out of the final against Belgrano, could also leave him out of the World Cup. Based on the timeline of his recovery, he would arrive just in time for the start of the tournament, but it remains to be seen whether he responds well when pushed.

Although Capaldo, or Giay if necessary, have an opening to make Lionel Scaloni’s squad, both know that the coach will prioritize the two world champions, who are part of the official roster announced last Thursday. In addition, to make a change to the squad, there must be a confirmed injury.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.