Gomes Gerth, the 27th player of the national team who accompanied Argentina and at 18 made the boy’s dream come true

The Argentine football cut before European, that’s why FrancoArmani he was the first of the 26-man squad to arrive in Abu Dhabi to begin preparations for the world with the friendly match against the United Arab Emirates on 16 November.

However, he didn’t train alone. I was there Federico Gomes Gerth, the 18-year-old goalkeeper of the Tigre. “Start this beautiful adventure”, The little boy posted on his Instagram account that he was already living a dream by that time. He had no idea what awaited him.

His name is no surprise. He had already been called up when he was 17 years old, together with Matías Soulé (18), for the double qualifying round against Uruguay and Brazil in November last year. No doubt, Lionel Scaloni has him as one of the names of the future renewal of the selection when the older ones, like Armani himself (36), begin to lose ground.

Most likely the national coach relied on one of his assistants, Paul Aimar, to put it on the plane bound for Qatar. It is that the Clown directed him in 2019 when he was the DT of the Under 15 that the South American played in Paraguay. “It’s something nice to wear the Argentina shirt and enter the club”he said in those days.

He was born on March 5, 2004 in San Isidro, in the northern part of the province of Buenos Aires, and at the age of eight he came to Tigre. He has yet to make his debut in the First Division, but he was part of the champion squad led by Diego Martínez who achieved promotion in 2021 to the highest category and is very well taken into consideration by the technical staff of the Matador. Likewise, they want to take it little by little.

He repeats over and over that his first dream in football is to play in the First Division, but in Qatar He had to live an even bigger dream, one that he never imagined at the age of 18: to become a world champion. While it is true that he was not included in the 26-man squad and his name will not appear alongside those of Messi, Di María and company, he experienced this unforgettable World Cup from within as one of the delegation.

“The best photos of my life WE ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS”, he posted on Instagram, from Lusail, with the World Cup in his hands. Then he uploaded a photo to the plane that took them back to Argentina with Foyth, Rulli, Pezzella, Guido Rodríguez, Acuña, Dibu Martínez and Tagliafico. And he was also photographed with Messi. The real dream of the child.

Someone dared to call him “Player 27” because, beyond the fact that Lo Celso, Joaquín Correa, Nico González, Agüero and Musso are the first to be excluded, Gomes Gerth was training with Scaloni in Qatar and realized the pleasure of participating in some informal football training.

He was champion of the Torneo L’Alcudia, already in the Under 20 in 2022, he is nicknamed “Chiquito” like Romero, despite his great height (he measures 1.93 meters), and in the halls of the property they call him Ezeiza “The Goalkeeper of the Future”, but none of that meant a confidence boost as big as the magical month she experienced in Qatar. And he is already excited, why not, to be a World Cup player in 2026.