The weekend withdrawal of Toni Kroos from Germany’s friendly with Argentina on Wednesday took the number of 2014 World Cup final survivors down to one in each squad.
Manuel Neuer, who will be replaced by Marc-Andre ter-Stegen for this one, and Marcos Rojo, a defender who can’t even break in to the worst Manchester United side in decades, are the two men. The churn evident in both national teams speaks to their struggles to move on to the next generation.
Among the retired and discarded, it’s the absence of Lionel Messi that really stands out, with the Barcelona great serving a three month international ban for comments criticizing South American governing body Conmebol during this year’s Copa America.
That competition started with a group stage defeat to Colombia and a draw against Paraguay and ended with a 2-0 semifinal defeat to arch-rivals Brazil. The Albiceleste only recorded victories over Qatar and Venezuela. Even so, Lionel Scaloni – initially appointed as a caretaker coach after Argentina’s second-round World Cup exit – was given the job on a permanent basis, apparently with Messi’s blesing.
Notable absentees
“I think they got it right in giving him the job permanently and the space and time he needs to work with the national team,” the 32-year-old told FIFA.com recently after winning their ‘The Best’ award.
Mario Götze celebrates his 2014 World Cup winner
But he isn’t the only notable absentee in a traveling Argentina squad short on stardust. Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Mauro Icardi are all left out, as Scaloni tries to plot a path forward ahead of another Copa America next June, a result of a change to move the South American continental competition in line with the Euros.
The absence of players from River Plate and Boca Juniors due to their meeting in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores semifinals later this month means an even more unfamiliar look to Scaloni’s squad.
Rojo and fellow defender Nicolas Otamendi are the only players to have featured more than 30 times for their country, with the three goalkeepers sharing six caps and an average age of 28.
With Messi likely to only have one more World Cup in him, the impetus for Scaloni, who wasn’t a popular choice among the country’s fans, to try and build a new core is similar to that currently felt by Germany coach Joachim Löw, who has had mixed results of late.
Giants rebuilding
With the likes of Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane, Niklas Süle and Joshua Kimmich, Löw at least appears to have a core of players ready to compete at the highest level.
Scaloni doesn’t quite have the same luxury. Paulo Dybala has yet to really fire for his country, scoring just twice – in a friendly against Mexico and the third place Copa America playoff against Chile – in his 26 international appearances and the current squad features relatively few others playing at the very top level.
Leonardo Balerdi is in the Argentina squad but hasn’t broken through at Dortmund
But hope that some of the goalscoring burden can be removed from Messi has recently arrived in the shape of Lautaro Martinez. The 22-year-old Inter Milan forward’s hat-trick in a different friendly against Mexico recently has taken his tally to nine goals in 13 caps.
The changing of the guard and need for experimentation has also proved benficial to a number of players based in Germany. Leonardo Balerdi (Borussia Dortmund), Lucas Alario (Bayer Leverkusen) and Nicolas Gonzalez (Stuttgart) have all been included despite failing to make a significant impact in the the Bundelisga, though Gonzalez does have three in five games following Stuttgart’s relegation last season.
With Argentina’s absentees and lack of experience and Germany’s recent struggles, it’s apparent that neither of these two footballing superpowers are at the height of their powers. But, with six World Cups between them, these two heavyweights will be keen to show they’re capable of rising from the canvas.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Eintracht Frankfurt 2 – 2 Werder Bremen
Late drama at both ends but these two had to settle for a point. Davy Klaasen started the scoring with this first half effort before Sebastian Rode’s spectacular volley opened his Frankfurt account on 55 minutes. With just two minutes remaining, Andre Silva slammed home a rebound to give the Eagles the lead but Klaasen won his side an injury time penalty, converted by Milot Rashica.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Borussia Mönchengladbach 5 – 1 Augsburg
A blistering start helped Gladbach climb clear at the top of the Bundesliga table for the first time in 35 years. Denis Zakaria’s second minute opener set the tone before Patrick Herrmann scored twice to put the hosts 3-0 up in 13 minutes. Alsanne Plea took advantage of an error from Augsburg keeper Tomas Koubek before Florian Niederlechner pulled one back and Breel Embolo wrapped it up.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Wolfsburg 1 – 0 Union Berlin
After earlier being awarded and then denied a penalty by the VAR, Wout Weghorst (front) struck to send Wolfsburg second and maintain their status as the league’s only unbeaten side. The towering Dutch striker lashed home his fourth of the season on 69 minutes to settle a drab contest and condemn Union to their fourth consecutive defeat.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Schalke 1-1 Cologne
An injury-time equalizer stopped David Wagner’s side from going top. Simon Terrode flicked a header onto his own post in the first half, but eventually Suat Serdar popped up to head Salif Sane’s header in at the back post. Guido Burgstaller hit the post late on, but even later on, Jonas Hector headed past Alexander Nübel, who had made four stunning saves beforehand, to level the scores.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Bayern Munich 1-2 Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim’s new signing Sargis Adamyan had a day to remember as Bayern lost their first league game of the season. After missing a glorious chance early, the 26-year-old Armenian eventually grabbed a goal that stunned a Bayern team who looked all out of ideas after midweek. Robert Lewandowski grabbed an equalizer, but Adamyan’s turn and shot put Hoffenheim back into a lead they never surrendered.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Freiburg 2-2 Dortmund
Another week, another late equalizer for BVB’s opponents. Axel Witsel’s brilliant first-time volley from a corner put BVB ahead against the run of play. The hosts did find the goal they deserved – Luca Waldschmidt with a firm low drive. With BVB wobbling, Achraf Hakimi cut in and sent a deflected strike into the far corner. But, with time running out, Manuel Akanji’s own goal leveled the scores.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Leverkusen 1-1 Leipzig
Julian Nagelsmann was left dumbfounded as to how his side weren’t leading at the break, or didn’t win the game. Timo Werner missed a glorious chance, and Cunha hit the bar and spurned a chance of his own as Leverkusen were fortunate to escape. Leverkusen took advantage though, as Kevin Volland scored at the end of a swift attack. Sub Christopher Nkunku equalized brilliantly to secure RB a point.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Paderborn 1-2 Mainz
Even without Sandro Schwarz (suspended), Mainz got a huge win in their fight against relegation as the hosts once again failed to turn their brave play in to points. After Ben Zolinski had dragged Paderborn level following Robin Quaison’s opener, Daniel Brosinski’s penalty put Mainz back in front. In the second half, Jamilu Collins missed a penalty as Paderborn were once again left empty handed.
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Bundesliga Matchday 7 in pictures
Hertha Berlin 3-1 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Ante Covic might have had a rough start as head coach of Hertha, but his team are clicking now as they secured their third straight win. Despite going down to a Rouwen Hennings penalty, Hertha quickly responded. Vedad Ibisevic proved his worth again, before Javairo Dilrosun’s sweet finish turned the game around. The contest was ended by Vladimir Darida’s goal after a tidy second-half breakaway.
Author: Jonathan Harding
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/argentina-arrive-for-2014-world-cup-final-rematch-without-messi-and-in-state-of-flux/a-50721417?maca=en-rss-en-sports-1027-xml-atom