National team diary: staff monitor players hit by Europe’s schedule | OneFootball

With other national teams already presenting their official squads, Scaloni’s coaching staff is taking its time and evaluating some players, not only because of injuries, but also because of the strong performances of several who are putting pressure on for a spot.

What concerns the coach most, and what is making him take more time than usual, is the injured players. He has already come to terms with the idea that several starters will arrive at the World Cup physically on the edge, some of them even barely fit. The grueling European schedule took its toll on the squad, and the effects are plain to see.

The case requiring the most attention is Cristian Cuti Romero, who is recovering against the clock from a lateral ligament injury in his right knee, suffered at Tottenham in mid-April in an accidental collision with his own goalkeeper, Antonín Kinský. The squad’s physiotherapist, Luis García, traveled specifically to his home in London to oversee a personalized rehabilitation plan. At the moment, the defender is being monitored from Córdoba, where he arrived earlier this week to watch from the stands at the Kempes the Apertura final between his beloved Belgrano and River next Sunday.

Cuti Romero is progressing well from his injury with just over a month to go before the World Cup.

Also in the treatment room is Nahuel Molina, who suffered a grade 1 hamstring tear at the end of the season with Atlético Madrid. It was also at Atleti that Julián Álvarez had set off alarm bells during the Champions League semifinal against Arsenal, when a twist to his left ankle left Diego Simeone and Scaloni holding their breath. He now appears to have recovered, although the fear of a setback never fully goes away.

In addition to the confirmation last Sunday of Gonzalo Montiel’s left quadriceps tear in the middle of River’s match, this week the national team also regretted the bruise to Nico Paz’s left knee, which has been troubling him at Como since the visit to Hellas Verona, as well as the injury to Emiliano Dibu Martínez’s ring finger on his right hand, suffered before Aston Villa played the Europa League final, in which they were ultimately crowned champions.

Dibu Martínez suffered an injury to his finger in the lead-up to the Europa League final. (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

“Today I broke my finger in the warm-up… I’d never broken a finger before. Every time I caught the ball, it bent the other way. But well, these are things you have to go through”, he admitted on ESPN. This Thursday he will have an X-ray to determine the extent of the fracture, although people close to him told TyC Sports that he will have no issues keeping goal at the World Cup.

But it’s not all about injuries. Scaloni is also keeping a close eye on players who keep growing and are making his job harder in a good way: those who are putting pressure on from within through their performances. The most notable case right now is Emiliano Buendía, a standout performer and newly crowned Europa League champion with Villa. Asked about his chances of making the World Cup squad, he was brief and mysterious in equal measure: “The national team? We’ll see…”, he replied before taking the victory lap in Turkey.

A creative midfielder who has already been called up by Scaloni before, Buendía is part of the 35-man preliminary list and is one of the dark horses with the best chances. But he’s not the only one. Also in the running are Valentín Barco (with one foot in the squad thanks to his season at Strasbourg and what he showed in the friendlies at the Monumental), Máximo Perrone, Gianluca Prestianni (he would miss the first two matches due to a UEFA suspension extended by FIFA), and Matías Soulé. They are all pushing. Scaloni watches, evaluates, and for now, remains silent.

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