October 07, (THEWILL) – Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has basically ruled Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso out of Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Newcastle United next week.
Spurs had hoped that the pair would be granted an exemption from Argentina’s third World Cup qualifier of the international break, which is against Peru on Friday morning, but Scaloni has stated that they will not be granted an exemption from the third fixture as they were for the September fixtures.
“We are not going to do the same as last time with the Premier League players,” Scaloni said. “Before the game with Venezuela I said that they came to play all three games but the players raised a difficult decision for me and I understood it, I released them.
“Now the players are here to play the three games. Under no point of view they will leave earlier.”
Spurs face Newcastle on Sunday, October 17, which will be too short of a turnaround for Romero and Lo Celso if they play on Friday. The north London club’s Emerson Royal and Davinson Sanchez are both playing for Brazil and Columbia respectively this fortnight.
Both countries are anticipated to keep their players for their third qualifiers, which are scheduled for next Friday morning for the former and Thursday night for the latter. Royal and Sanchez would also be unable to travel to Newcastle as a result of this.
Apart from Tottenham, Emi Martinez of Aston Villa will join the Argentina squad, while Thiago Silva, Emerson Royal, Alisson, Ederson, Fred, Fabinho, Gabriel Jesus, and Raphinha of Manchester United have been named in the Brazil squad, while Edinson Cavani of Manchester United will play for Uruguay.
Yet, Spurs will consider it a setback. Both Romero and Royal started Tottenham’s previous match against Aston Villa, and both had strong showings. Team manager Nuno Espirito Santo would be left with few options for the journey to St James’ Park in all these absences.
It is not, however, a huge shock. Spurs have been in talks with the Argentinian Football Federation in the hopes of reaching a deal, but there has always been a danger that Scaloni will stick to his guns.
Because Romero and Sanchez are expected to be absent, Joe Rodon will be able to fill in at centre-back and make a case for a regular role in Espirito Santo’s team, with Japhet Tanganga and Matt Doherty vying for the right-back spot.
Espirito Santo is in an unfavourable situation, but at least this time his players will be able to return to Hotspur Way immediately rather than travelling to Croatia for a ten-day training camp.
When they visit Newcastle, three points are a requirement, but it appears that the manager will have to achieve that goal with a new Tottenham backline.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
