Argentina replaced two players for the World Cup
Correa has suffered a heel injury since October 5, in the Inter - Barca match in the Champions League group stage. After 20 days of treatment, the 28-year-old winger returned to play in the club's shirt, then was called to Qatar for the World Cup. But he relapsed this injury in a friendly against UAE 5-0 on November 16.
Correa replaced Marcos Acuna from the beginning of the second half, setting the score 5-0 in the 60th minute against UAE. However, a few minutes after the game, the coaching staff discovered that Correa could not move normally.
Argentina decided to replace Correa with 21-year-old winger Thiago Almada. In February, American club Atlanta United set a club transfer record when buying this player from Velez Sarsfield for $ 16 million.
Almada has just played one match for Argentina, a friendly match against Honduras on September 23. That day, this young star made a good impression on senior Messi. "Almada is very fast, intelligent, fearless and capable of one-on-one dribbling," the Argentine captain assessed.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Gonzalez was discovered injured after a training session on November 16. According to the examination results at the Qatar University Medical Center, the Fiorentina winger had a torn left thigh biceps muscle. This type of injury takes three weeks to recover and the player who scored three goals in 21 games for Argentina cannot qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Coach Lionel Scaloni called Angel Correa to Qatar instead of Gonzalez. Angel Correa once expressed his displeasure when he was dropped from the original 26-player list. The Atletico Madrid forward then went on vacation to Buenos Aires and Rosario. Angel Correa has scored three times in 22 games for Argentina.
Argentina will play three matches in Group C of the World Cup 2022, against Saudi Arabia on November 22, Mexico on November 26 and Poland on November 30. If not second in this group, Scaloni's team is at risk of meeting France in the 1/8 round. France is likely to top Group D when it meets Ausstralia, Tunisia and Denmark.
