The biggest storyline surrounding the Argentina national team continues to be on just why manager Lionel Scaloni did not include Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Angel Di Maria in the team’s squad list for next month’s international fixtures. Whether by teammates or opponents, Di Maria has been renowned as one of the top playmaking midfielders this year. But now, Scaloni is providing his reasoning as to why Di Maria was not called up for the international fixtures next month.
Scaloni gave further clarification (via TYC Sports) as to why he left Di Maria out of the squad list and alluded that it had much to do with the midfielder’s previous performances for Argentina along with how the team ended up performing in his absence last year.
“I’m not worried that he’s angry,” Scaloni said. “I appreciate it and value it, but after the Copa América, in those six games the team worked without him.
“The team works without Di Maria and I am not going to touch on this. He is not part of this call, but he is not outside the national team.”
As Scaloni mentioned, Argentina played its last six fixtures without Di Maria in the lineup. The team went undefeated over the fixtures, which included friendly wins against Mexico and Brazil. Argentina also had an impressive comeback draw against Germany.
Still, it was interesting to see Di Maria not in the squad list, as he performed at a high level for PSG over the team’s recent domestic treble-winning campaign and also its UEFA Champions League knockout stage run.
Scaloni did also mention that the door is open for Di Maria to receive a call-up to the national team in the future, which could possibly come later this year.
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