Argentina’s World Cup winning manager Lionel Scaloni reveals the reason behind Alejandro Garnacho’s absence from his squad to take on Uruguay and Brazil over the international break.
Scaloni guided his side to their third ever World Cup title last winter, with a Lionel Messi-inspired Albiceleste team going all the way, beating reigning champions France in a thrilling final.
Since that point, Argentina have gone unbeaten, winning each of their eight games since that momentous victory in Doha 11 months ago.
In that time, Manchester United forward Garnacho has emerged as something of a regular in the Red Devils’ team, but seemingly has not done enough to warrant a place in the national set-up.
The 19-year-old was born in Madrid, Spain, but is eligible to play for the world champions through his mother, who is Argentinian, although Scaloni gave a brutal reason why he has not been called up in his latest squad.
Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho was left out of Lionel Scaloni’s recent squad
The Albiceleste will take on Uruguay and Brazil in a tough run of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers
‘The reason for not calling up Garnacho? Ale’s non-selection is due to a form issue,’ admitted Scaloni in his press conference.
‘We don’t like to bring players in and constantly leave them out or leave them out of the squad.
‘Everyone wants to be there and it’s great, but the human side plays and you have to make decisions.
‘It would have been easy to bring him in, but in the last few call-ups he didn’t get minutes and there are times when you have to make decisions, but he’s a guy who’s on our radar and he’s going to continue to be there and he has a huge future.’
Garnacho has so far managed just three appearances, all of which have come after the World Cup.
He played 46 minutes of his nation’s friendlies in the summer, winning both 2-0 against Australia and Indonesia.
Garnacho was then called up to the next two squads in September and October, but managed just five minutes across all four games, coming off the bench for the final stages of Argentina’s 3-0 win over Bolivia.
Argentina are currently leading the way in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying, with maximum points after four games, five ahead of Uruguay, Brazil and Venezuela on seven.
The 19-year-old has only played 51 minutes of action for his country across three games so far
