The night gives a respite from the stress of the day. When the sun sets and the sky gets dark, the temperature drops a few degrees and a light breeze provides the necessary caresses after the intense heat. At that moment, late Tuesday morning here in Abu Dhabi, the last remaining players arrived to complete Lionel Scaloni’s 26 picks. The Argentine national team is thus reunited in full to face the last stretch of preparation before the debut at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Emiliano Martínez, Alexis Mac Allister and Lisandro Martínez were the trio arriving from England after the last weekend of Premier League action at the St Regis Hotel, the luxurious place where the national team stays in the capital of the United Arab Emirates waiting for the friendly that will be played this Wednesday against the local team led by Rodolfo Arruabarrena.
Shortly before, those of Spain and Portugal had entered the albiceleste bunker: Nicolás Otamendi, Enzo Fernández, Alejandro Gómez, Marcos Acuña and Gonzalo Montiel. And on Monday afternoon, almost at the end of the open training session that the team carried out with Lionel Messi at the helm and 13 other players, those from the Italian league had landed: Lautaro Martínez, Joaquín Correa, Nicolás González and Paulo Dybala.
Laughter broke out automatically when Papu entered, who together with Otamendi forced De Paul to dress in the same clothes he had arrived in to take the photo together and upload it on social networks, as a cabala but also a bit to show off the their modern looks.
Mac Allister and Dibu and Licha Martínez only greeted most of their colleagues at breakfast as they were all resting in their respective rooms at check-in.
This Tuesday there will be a new training day in the Al-Nahyan stadium, but behind closed doors.
Nicolás Tagliafico, who had differentiated work in the first round with muscle overload due to the hustle and bustle of Lyon in France added to the trip, is expected to be level with the others and available for this Wednesday’s fixture.
Shortly before, at 10:30 in Argentina, Scaloni will hold the first press conference of this last leg before the world premiere on Tuesday 22nd against Saudi Arabia for group C of the World Cup.
The loss of Lo Celso (he underwent successful surgery for detached right hamstring), who suffers from malaise, the decision to leave out Angel Correa, the friendly, the debut in the World Cup… The manager of the Scaloneta, which is already in World mode.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Special delivery.
GL
Source: Clarin
