Scaloni’s options for Argentina without Gonzalo Montiel | OneFootball

The Argentine National Team will face Mauritania and Zambia in the last two friendlies before the World Cup, and Lionel Scaloni's squad has already suffered two injuries, as both Leonardo Balerdi and Gonzalo Montiel were ruled out this Monday.

Scaloni decided to call up Lucas Martínez Quarta to replace Balerdi, while for now, the Argentine National Team coach has not called up a player after learning about the injury of the world champion right-back in Qatar 2022.

Without Montiel, Scaloni only has one "natural option" on the roster to occupy the right-back position, which is Nahuel Molina.

The Atlético player is experiencing the best moment of the season and recently scored a couple of stunning goals, the latest this past weekend against Real Madrid, in the Spanish capital's derby.

If there are no setbacks, Molina will have to play one of the friendlies, and the question is who Scaloni might place in that position if he chooses another of the called-up players.

Just as Scaloni once decided to play Nicolás González as a left-back, one of the options to occupy the other side of the field in case of improvisation is Giuliano Simeone. Curiously, today both share a team at Atlético.

Simeone earned a spot in the National Team with his good performances at Atlético and is now a certainty to be among the 26 who will be part of the World Cup jointly organized by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Giuliano has the ability to naturally cover the entire right flank, and although he has not yet played as a right-back for the National Team, Scaloni might consider placing him there against opponents that may offer little in attack, such as Mauritania (March 27) and Zambia (March 31). Similar to what he did with Nico González.

Meanwhile, if Scaloni opts for a "more defensive" option, such as placing a central defender as a full-back, he doesn't have many alternatives since most of the called-up players play on the other side. Thus, the name that comes up is Martínez Quarta.

The River defender, who joined the training sessions due to Balerdi's absence, has already played in that position with the National Team and could be an alternative if Scaloni needs to improvise.

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