Argentina captain Lionel Messi has been left out of the squad named by coach Lionel Scaloni ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to be staged this month.
La Albiceleste will be without their 35-year old enigmatic forward who stays with his club, Paris Saint Germain, having recently recovered from COVID-19.
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Messi has sat out of action since the turn of the new year when he contracted COVID-19 but has since returned to training with his PSG teammates as of Wednesday.
Argentina have two World Cup qualification encounters coming, first away to Chile on 28th January before hosting Colombia in Buenos Aires four days later.
The 1978 and 1986 World champions have already secured their place at the global showpiece with five matches to spare.
PSG star Angel Di Maria is among the wholesome of familiar faces that have kept their places in the squad along with Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, Benfica centre-half Nicolas Otamendi and Inter’s Lautaro Martinez.
Meanwhile, Scaloni has made new inclusions to his roaster with Aston Villa midfielder Emiliano Buendia making his return to fold while Brighton & Hove Albion striker Alex Mac Allister has received his first call-up since 2019.