Almada of Major League Soccer with Messi in the Argentina team.

 

Almada of Major League Soccer with Messi in the Argentina team.

Almada with Messi in the Argentina team.

Argentina will play their last international match before the World Cup in Qatar this month. September 23 against Honduras, September 27 against Jamaica. Both matches will be played on US soil. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni announced the initial squad for the two international friendlies. The 32-man squad includes all the top players including Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria; Thiago Almada, playing in the Major Soccer League (MLS) of the United States, has received a call among the newcomers.

Almada, 21, plays for Atlanta United. At the beginning of this year, Atlanta bought him from Argentine club Velez Sarsfield for a record 16 million dollars. Attacking midfielder Almada has already scored 4 goals and assisted his teammates with 10 goals. Almada, who is awaiting his debut in the Argentina national team, has already played for the country in the Olympic Games. According to the Argentine media, Almada can be considered for the World Cup if he does well in these two friendly matches.

Argentina wanted to play against Mexico and Canada in the CONCACAF region as part of their World Cup preparations. But that idea was scrapped as Mexico was a direct opponent in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar. Meanwhile, Canada has finalized the schedule of friendly matches against Japan and Uruguay. The Argentine Football Association eventually decided to play against Honduras and Jamaica.

Honduras, Jamaica did not do well in World Cup qualifiers in the North and Central America region. Honduras was eighth out of eight teams, Jamaica sixth. In the last week of September, Argentina will play the match against Honduras at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and the match against Jamaica at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.

Argentina Team: Goalkeepers: 

Funko Armani, Jeronimo Rulli, Emiliano Martinez, Juan Musso. Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Gonzalo Montiel, Lucas Martinez Cuarta, Jermaine Petsya, Nicolas Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico, Marcos Acuna, Facundo Medina, Nehuen Perez, Christian Romero. Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Rodrigo De Paul, Giovanni Lo Celso, Alejandro Gomez, Alexis McAlister, Enzo Fernandez, Angel Di Maria, Ezequiel Palacios. Forwards: Angel Correa, Julián Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez, Joaquin Correa, Paulo Dybala, Thiago Almada, Lionel Messi, Nicolas Gonzalez, Lucas Ocampos.