ARGENTINA COACH ALEJANDRO Sabella has omitted Carlos Tevez, Javier Pastore and Erik Lamela from his 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup.
Tevez scored 19 goals for Juventus in Serie A this season, but the 30-year-old former Manchester City striker has been deemed surplus to requirements nonetheless. The Buenos Aires native has not played for his country since 2011.
Paris St-Germain’s attacking midfielder Pastore has also been left out of Sabella’s initial selection after a season in which he produced one goal and one assist in 28 Ligue 1 appearances for Laurent Blanc’s side.
Lamela joined Tottenham Hotspur for £26 million last summer, but had an injury-disrupted campaign for the London club and has made only 10 starts. The former Roma playmaker will now have a summer off in which to prepare himself physically for the 2014/15 campaign.
The surprise inclusions in this 30-player group are Franco Di Santo of Werder Bremen, Fabian Rinaudo of Catania and River Plate’s Gabriel Mercado. Man City defender Martin Demichelis is named too, having made his last Argentina appearance in 2011.
Midfield trio Fernando Gago, Angel Di Maria and Augusto Fernandez are currently carrying injuries, but all three hope to be fit in time for the World Cup. Argentina will face Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Nigeria in Group F.
Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (Sampdoria), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Agustin Orion (Boca Juniors).
Defenders: Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Federico Fernandez (Napoli), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica), Marcos Rojo (Sporting Lisbon), Hugo Campagnaro (Inter Milan), Martin Demichelis (Manchester City), Jose Basanta (Monterrey), Nicolas Otamendi (Atletico Mineiro), Lisandro Lopez (Getafe), Gabriel Mercado (River Plate).
Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors), Lucas Biglia (Lazio), Ever Banega (Newell’s Old Boys), Ricardo Alvarez (Inter Milan), Augusto Fernandez (Celta Vigo), Jose Sosa (Atletico Madrid), Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid), Maxi Rodriguez (Newell’s Old Boys), Fabian Rinaudo (Catania), Enzo Perez (Benfica).
Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Rodrigo Palacio (Inter Milan), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Paris St-Germain), Franco Di Santo (Werder Bremen).
You can see why tevez lost out, Messi Hugain Lavezzi and Augero all on the same team.. Mouth Watering stuff..
They choose di santo over tevez….
i agree great going forward but poor at the back, id say they will get far but wont win it!!!
Some quad. Easy group. Could be the winners
Safe to say he would be in every other nations squad and most likely team.
http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/212046-carlos-tevez-quits-argentina-national-team
According to this website Tevez retired fro international football last August.
His attitude has cost him. More importantly the Colombian squad was named. Falcao included in the provisional 30 announced yesterday.
Big mistake , only Messi has scored more goals then him this season , he’s had a great season with juve aswell.
Aguero 28 goals, Higuain 22 goals, Tevez 20 goals are the total club goals for the year according to my quick google search.
Don’t think Argentina will miss him but very surprising that Di Santo made it ahead of him.
Higuain and Palacio both scored 17 Serie A goals this season – two less than Tevez. Aguero has also hit 17 for Manchester City, albeit in fewer games.
Only Lionel Messi has scored more goals than Tevez this season, with 28 for Barcelona in La Liga.
I’m talking about goals scored this season at club level Barry
The stats I used included their performances in Europe. Tevez got 1 in 12, Aguero got 6 in 6 and Higuain got 5 in 10. Admittedly these don’t reflect well on Tevez so I understand why you’d be keen to omit them.
Aguero’s other goals came in the Carling and FA Cup. I didn’t include any international goals.
According to Eurosport he’s right Barry as I’ve just read the same information there
Sad B@stard. The same account again.
Di Santo over Tevez is like picking Heskey over Rooney…Bizarre to say the least!!
Reveal will probably demand to play for another country now.
*tevez not reveal.
He has a grandmother Phelan…………
Well he hasn’t played for Argentina since 2011 so not a big surprise really
The Brazil and Argentina squads must be the weakest we have seen in a long time. The Argentinans look really weak in defence and midfield but I guess they do have real talent upfront. Brazilian goalkeeper with Toronto and this one here playing with Catania. I guess their home leagues are quite strong.