Capaldo turns heads in national team training, dreams of the World Cup | OneFootball

Monday’s intense and lengthy training session at the Compass Minerals complex served as an early sketch for starting to shape Argentina’s starting eleven ahead of next Saturday’s friendly against Honduras at 9:00 p.m. at Kyle Field in Texas. With several injured players and others in the final stage of their recoveries, right back is a position that concerns Lionel Scaloni. Both Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel have muscle tears and, although the Atlético Madrid player is in the final stage of his rehab and is expected to be fine, there are doubts about Cachete. In this context, Nicolás Capaldo was tested as the No. 4 and is waiting to see if he can make the World Cup squad if the River player does not respond 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 already made his Argentina debut in the friendly against Mauritania held in March. The La Pampa native who came through Boca’s youth academy was one of the key pieces for Germany’s Hamburg in its return to the Bundesliga; he even captained the team in several matches during the season. In total, he played 27 of the 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 Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg, he never played in that position with the German club; at least not in a back four. He alternated between midfield 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 set up 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 pitch, where they worked on speed, coordination and technique in four different stations. Afterwards, Scaloni organized tactical drills: first, the group did 11 vs. 0 to work on rehearsed movements and, after that, a traditional football practice that lasted 40 minutes. In the last two exercises, Capaldo was part of the starting side.

The La Pampa native’s presence on the roster 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 de Vigo. Given the minor nature of his injury, the coaching staff believes 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 the World Cup opener.

Cachete, meanwhile, is 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 properly when pushed.

Although Capaldo, or Giay if not him, have an open door 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 change the squad list, there must be a confirmed injury.

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