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Top sparring picks: Scaloni's
for the warm-up friendliesArgentina head coach Lionel Scaloni finalized the list of 26 players who will compete at the 2026 World Cup. However, the manager surprised many by calling up seven additional players from the preliminary 55-man list for the friendlies on June 6 and 9 against Honduras and Iceland.
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Youth, the present, and emergency options
The selected players are Santiago Beltrán, Agustín Giay, Nicolás Capaldo, Tomás Aranda, Ignacio Ovando, Joaquín Freitas, and Simón Escobar. Although their main role will be to serve as high-intensity sparring partners during training sessions in North America, they are shaping up as the first line of response in case of any unexpected last-minute absences.
Within this group, the potential of local football gems such as Aranda (Boca), Beltrán and Freitas (River), and Ovando (Rosario Central) stands out. Capaldo’s European experience also catches the eye — he is Hamburg’s captain — as does the precociousness of Escobar, a Vélez reserve-team defender who is only 16 years old.
The trimming of the 55-man list
On the other hand, the final World Cup squad left internationally renowned names such as Alejandro Garnacho, Matías Soulé, Alan Varela, Marcos Senesi, and Germán Pezzella out of contention, completing a major generational overhaul.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in here.
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