Argentina has a positive for covid-19, before the game with Bolivia – International Football – Sports

After the global role of the classic with Brazil interrupted five minutes later by health authorities in Saint Paul, and that still does not have an institutional definition, the Argentine team went through another cause for concern: the chef from the Ezeiza have coronavirus.

And there, near the airport, is where the squad’s footballers coexist, in a bubble format. If some of them had been infected, they could not have been from the game this Thursday, when Argentina receives Boliviafor date 10 of the tie heading to Mundial Qatar 2022.

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This Monday night there was a massive barbecue, of about 50 people, in the complex where the team trains, feeds and rests. After that, the cook had symptoms of Covid-19, and on Tuesday morning all the members of the bubble were analyzed.

The rapid test of the food preparer was positive, and that result was confirmed with the PCR test. In contrast, none of the players contracted the disease, according to the team’s Twitter account, @Argentina.

Anyway, for the Albiceleste team it will be a Thursday of reunions: yours with the Monumental and that of Argentine soccer with the public in person. The first of the distances was four years ago, when after a 1-1 against Venezuela for the qualifying rounds, the squad he directed Jorge Sampaoli He considered that the surroundings of the River stadium did not enhance his capacity; a way to mask football deficiencies. And he asked to move to the Bombonera.

The second untying was precipitated in March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic emptied the stands of fans. While the clubs are still waiting for the official authorization of the Government so that as a local they can make room for something more than the “relatives”, the selected one will feel against Bolivia, starting at 8.30 on Thursday, the encouragement of 21,000 spectators, the limited capacity that this Tuesday it swept in a few hours with the sale of tickets online.

It will also be Argentina’s first match in Buenos Aires in 2021, after receiving in June Chile on Santiago del Estero. In 2020 he was a local in La Bombonera in front of Ecuador (1-0) and Paraguay (1-1).

No casualties due to coronavirus, then, for the confrontation with the penultimate in the positions Lionel Scaloni will have to make three changes regarding the formation that played five minutes against Brazil.

The four footballers from the Premier League, Emiliano Martínez, Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Emiliano Buendía, they traveled to Europe because the permissions of Aston Villa and Tottenham they were only for the first two encounters of this window of three in September.

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Two positions have predictable replacements and for the third there is a range of variants. Without Dibu Martínez, and with Franco Armani unconverted by synovitis in the right knee, the arch will remain for Juan Musso, which accumulates just 23 minutes in the Argentine fence, which go back to a friendly against Morocco in March 2019, when he replaced Esteban Andrada.

In more than three years of management, Scaloni summoned 11 archers, of which four never acted. The last to join was Agustín Rossi, due to the loss of Armani. This list does not include Agustín Marchesín, injured, and Gerónimo Rulli will be the substitute for Musso, who at 27 was transferred in the recent transfer market from Udinese to Atalanta for 20 million euros.

In place of Cuti Romero will enter Germán Pezzella, who started 3-1 over Venezuela, when the defender emerged in Belgrano, from Córdoba, served a suspension. Pezzella, who has just moved from Fiorentina to Betis, faced 15 of his 17 matches in the Scaloni cycle in the selected team.

There is more uncertainty about the substitute for Lo Celso, who in the scheme occupies the interior function from the left. In the Copa América, Alejandro “Papu” Gómez was a replacement in that position. But the coach has other alternatives. That strip has already been traveled by the powerful Nicolás González. If you opt for greater control of the ball in that area, the candidate is Exequiel Palacios. Or you can take advantage of the good time of Ángel Correa, many used by Diego Simeone at Atlético de Madrid as a fourth midfielder.

In short, the probable alignment is the following: Musso; Gonzalo Montiel, Pezzella, Nicolás Otamendi and Marcos Acuña; Angel Di María, Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes and Gómez or González or Palacios or Á. Strap; Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martínez.

Bolivia holds the world record for no-win matches (59) as a visitor by knockout. The last triumph was in 1993, a 7-1 to Venezuela. With his technical director César Farías on the tightrope, at least he boasts the highest scorer in the South American classification, Marcelo Martins, who scored 8 goals. In addition, the captain is the third historical scorer in the qualifying rounds of the Conmebol teams, with 20, behind Luis Suárez, who scored 25, and Lionel Messi, who scored 23.

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