Argentina, without Messi, against El Salvador, friendly in the United States: time, how to watch it and probable lineups

The Argentine national team returns to the ring. This Friday, in Philadelphia, in the United States, the world champion team will face El Salvador, in a double FIFA friendly match that will end next Tuesday against Costa Rica. It will start at 9:00 pm at the Lincoln Financial Field stadium, with television Public TV and TyC Sports.

Lionel Messi will not be there, disappointed by the injury he suffered with his Inter Miami, but most of the world champions will be at Qatar 2022, in a call-up that has had several victims, but which does not cause them to lose spirit and concentration: the Copa America next June, where he will have to defend the title.

The preview of the duel was marked by the statements of coach Lionel Scaloni, who confirmed that he will remain in charge after months of uncertainty, based on his own words after the victory over Brazil at the Maracaná, the last match played by the team. Albiceleste.

“I never said I would leave. What I said in Brazil was premeditated. It was a moment of reflection, thought and meditation after a difficult year. Many things have happened on a personal and footballing level. Life doesn’t change, but changes is a little upset, a little and we wanted to see what to do and reflect on what would happen”explained the 45-year-old coach.

The arch, an unexpected “problem” for Scaloneta

Pointing out that Scaloneta has a problem in goal seems silly because Emiliano Martínez, the undisputed starter, is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Protagonists of all the teams and all the national teams in the world lined up to praise the Draw. But a silent and significant issue worries Lionel Scaloni less than three months before the start of the Copa América. Who is the replacement? What happens if Dibu cannot participate in a match? How much does it affect the fact that Gerónimo Rulli and Juan Musso don’t have minutes in their teams?

Gerónimo Rulli (31) and Franco Armani (37) supported Dibu in Qatar, while Juan Musso (29), one of the coach’s favourites, remained in goal. According to Rulli himself he was Martínez’s replacement. “I warmed up against Croatia as if I were going to play, everyone was waiting to see whether Dibu could play or not. They treated him first and he was able to leave,” he said.

But time passes and this season is not at all the best for Rulli. The goalkeeper, saved in 4 matches for the national team, suffered a dislocated right shoulder in the first match, on 12 August 2023 against Heracles and had to undergo surgery. Since then, he hasn’t seen action. He has played just 32 minutes in Ajax’s 39 games (3,510 minutes) this season.

At the beginning of the year Rulli was close to returning to Estudiantes to seek continuity, but due to a family matter he decided to stay in Europe. At this moment, he went from being Dibu’s replacement to being five feet away from the Copa América.

Juan Musso (2 matches for the national team) was the other substitute when Rulli was not present. He was even superior to Armani in Scaloni’s consideration, beyond the fact that the River player almost didn’t miss the calls. But the year of the one who grew up in Racing was not productive in Atalanta either: he saved in 2 of the team’s 12 duels (both against Sporting Lisbon, in the Europa League). That lack of continuity has sidelined him from this tour.

In this context, therefore, Armani (19 appearances for the national team) appears as the natural candidate to replace Dibu. It happens that the Casilda native has lowered his level in recent years at River and that he does not compete week after week in the European championships.

“In the definition work you can see the quality of the kids who play in Europe. They wait until the last minute for the goalkeeper and always try from the low post or from a tight angle. It helps you a lot to keep adding experience. I have to take advantage of this moment, as well as enjoy it, because you don’t experience it every day”, Armani confessed in 2018, when he had just arrived in the national team.

Then the figure of Walter Benítez bursts in. It is very likely that the 31-year-old from Chaco will make his debut in Tuesday’s match at midnight against Costa Rica. And, if it happens, it will be an act of justice because the season he is experiencing at PSV Eindhoven, leaders of the Eredivisie, is brilliant: he saved in 39 of the team’s 41 matches and scored 31 goals.

“Many times the game happens in your head. As a goalkeeper you have to stay there for 90 to 100 minutes, concentrated in the background, to be ready for that shot that could change the whole game. Now the goalkeeper has more responsibility than before,” he said Benítez to The Athletic. And he expanded: “I spent a lot of time in France, facing incredible players like Messi, Mbappé, Di María and Neymar. They can do incredible things in a second. You think: ‘Ah, the ball goes in that direction, and before it hits you , you know, they changed the shape of her body and placed her on the opposite side.

The probable formation of Argentina-El Salvador

Scaloni would field Emiliano Martínez from the start; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi or Nehuén Pérez, Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernández, Giovani Lo Celso or Nicolás González; Ángel Di María and Lautaro Martínez.

For its part, El Salvador, which has just drawn against the humble Bonaire – a small Dutch island in the Caribbean – with an unusual goal, would form with Mario González; Tereso Benítez, Melvín Cruz, Erick Cabalceta, Jorge Cruz; Diego Lores, Oscar Rodríguez, Eric Calvillo, Melvin Cartagena; Nelson Bonilla, Brayan Gil. His coach is David Dóniga Lara.