Hope remains: can HSV star Capaldo make the World Cup after all? | OneFootball

To the disappointment of many HSV fans, Nicolas Capaldo’s name was missing when Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni announced his final World Cup squad a week ago.

The Hamburg player had still made it into the preliminary 55-man roster. Accordingly, hopes were high that Capaldo would also be among the 26 selected for the finals in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. But in the end, Scaloni decided against taking the 27-year-old.

Capaldo is, however, in the squad for the two friendlies against Honduras and Israel. The matches will take place on June 7 and 10 in Miami and Dallas respectively and mark the Albiceleste’s final internationals before their World Cup opener against Algeria on June 17. Scaloni named a total of 35 professionals for these games in order to be able to react to any injury absences. After that, Capaldo is currently expected to head off on his well-deserved summer vacation.

However, the HSV star’s World Cup dream is not completely over yet. The 2022 world champions are currently dealing with persistent injury concerns, including in defense. In addition to Tottenham star Cristian Romero, who is expected to return to training in the coming days, backup right-back Gonzalo Montiel is also unavailable. The 29-year-old has already been sidelined twice this year by a muscle tear, which means his participation in the World Cup is still far from certain.

Photo: IMAGO

HSV ace Capaldo can keep hoping

Further hope for Capaldo’s World Cup participation came on Wednesday evening in a post by Argentine sports journalist Hernán Castillo. Writing on X, the reporter said that Capaldo, along with Máximo Perrone and Emiliano Buendía, is among the three players with the best chance of a late call-up. This is “based” on the condition of the injured Leandro Paredes, Nico Paz, and Montiel.

So if the latter does not recover in time for the start of the World Cup, Capaldo could indeed still make the jump from the waiting list into the final squad. His enormous versatility would likely work in his favor above all: the HSV professional can be deployed at right-back, center-back, and in central midfield.

Andreas Geipel also believes these exact qualities could still become important. The filmmaker is considered a proven expert on Argentine football and has been responsible for Primera División market values at transfermarkt.de since 2009. “Capaldo would be valuable as a versatile backup who can cover three positions. In addition, his engine qualities (stamina, pressing) are a strong argument in extreme temperatures. Especially in tournaments with major heat exposure and a large number of matches on the way to the hoped-for title, Scaloni needs someone who can maintain a high tempo for 90+ minutes and physically carry the team,” Geipel told Nur die Raute.

For now, however, such scenarios remain purely hypothetical. First, Capaldo needs to make a strong case for himself in the friendlies against Honduras and Iceland — while also hoping that his rivals’ injury problems do not ease up.

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