BUENOS AIRES: Inter Milan captain Mauro Icardi, the joint top goalscorer in Italy’s Serie A this season, was left out of Argentina’s World Cup squad on Monday as coach Jorge Sampaoli named his 23 players for next month’s tournament in Russia.

Icardi scored his 29th Serie A goal of the season on Sunday as Inter pipped Lazio to a Champions League place, but he was one of 12 players cut from a provisional 35-man squad revealed last week.

The 25-year-old made his Argentina debut in October 2013 but spent four years in international exile before he was recalled last September for the final four World Cup qualifiers.

Two-time champions Argentina reached the final in Brazil in 2014, losing to Germany 1-0 after extra time, and will again look to Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi for inspiration in what may well be his last World Cup.

The five-time Ballon d’Or recipient heads a potent attacking line-up that includes Juventus pair Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain, as well as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, who has not played since March and is recovering from a knee operation.

“The goal is to have a great World Cup. We’re going to be very competitive. We’re going to bank on an attacking game,” Sampaoli told a press conference at the national team’s training base in Ezeiza, near Buenos Aires.

Sampaoli said his choices were based on “players that can do many functions to give us different characteristics”. “Those players in the final list are closer to the idea we are implementing. They are closer to the opposition’s goal line than to their own.”

Although Argentina boast some of world football’s most prolific strikers, they have struggled for goals in competitive matches, scoring just 19 times in 18 qualifying matches in the South American group. Only Bolivia scored fewer.

Argentina needed a hat-trick from Messi in their final qualifier, a 3-1 victory away to Ecuador, to clinch their place at the finals, and results in subsequent friendlies have been concerning.

They were beaten 4-2 by Nigeria in Krasnodar in November and then suffered a humiliating 6-1 defeat by Spain in March, although both losses came without Messi in the side.

“I see him in optimal form, very enthusiastic and doing well physically. He was able to pace himself at training after winning the league title,” Sampaoli said of Messi, who scored 45 goals in 54 games for Barcelona this season.

Aguero had a great season with English Premier League champions City, scoring 31 times until he was injured. It is still uncertain when he will be back in action.

“If we are up for it and play our game then we are going to be a complex opponent for anyone,” Sampaoli said, adding that Aguero is training normally.

Also injured, defender Gabriel Mercado and midfielder Lucas Biglia were in the squad.

Mercado’s injury opened a door for Torino defender Cristian Ansaldi. Ansaldi has yet to play a competitive match for the two-time world champions, with his five starts all coming in friendlies, the last of which was four years ago.

“I decided on Cristian Ansaldi because he is a full back who can play on both sides of the field,” Sampaoli told reporters.

Asked about the risks of taking recovering players to the World Cup, Sampaoli said he will take full responsibility for his choices.

“We need to face the World Cup without fear,” he said. “In this list there are players with a lot of skill. The ones that understand our game better will be closer to being starters.”

Sampaoli said the squad is one “that attacks with the ball, that plays the game, that goes looking for a result. I think that Argentina have great potential with lads who really know what do to with the ball.”

Former Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano was one of six players selected who started the 2014 final, joining Messi, Higuain, Lucas Biglia, Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo.

Paris St Germain midfielder Giovani Lo Celso was called up after an impressive first full season with the French champions, while only three players — Franco Armani, Maximiliano Meza and Cristian Pavon — were selected from home-based clubs.

Argentina are in a challenging Group ‘D’, which includes Croatia, Nigeria and World Cup debutants Iceland.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (Manchester United), Wilfredo Caballero (Chelsea), Franco Armani (River Plate).

Defenders: Cristian Ansaldi (Torino), Gabriel Mercado (Sevilla), Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City), Javier Mascherano (Hebei China Fortune), Federico Fazio (Roma), Marcos Rojo (Manchester United), Marcos Acuna ( Sporting Lisbon), Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax).

Midfielders: Cristian Pavon (Boca Juniors), Maximiliano Meza (Independiente), Angel Di Maria (Paris Saint-Germain), Giovani Lo Celso (Paris St Germain), Manuel Lanzini (West Ham), Ever Banega (Sevilla), Lucas Biglia (Milan), Eduardo Salvio (Benfica).

Strikers: Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City).

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2018