With Messi, without ‘Dibu’ and promise, Scaloni prepares to face Venezuela and Bolivia

The captain of the Argentine national team, Lionel Messi, returns for the matches with Venezuela and Bolivia on matchdays 9 and 10 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, in which the starting goalkeeper Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez will not be there due to suspension, although he will be the young promise Nicolás Paz.

Coach Lionel Scaloni called 27 players to visit Vinotinto on October 10 at the Monumental in Maturín and receive La Verde on the 15th at the Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires.

Messi will return to the Albiceleste after recovering from an ankle injury he suffered on July 14 during the Copa América final that Argentina won 1-0 against Colombia in Miami.

To replace ‘Dibu’ Martínez, coach Scaloni has the options of Gerónimo Rulli from Olympique, Juan Musso from Atlético Madrid and Walter Benítez from PSV Eindhoven.

Suspension

Martínez was suspended for two dates for an incident with a Colombian television cameraman after the 2-1 loss to Colombia in Barranquilla.

“I accept the sanction from FIFA and I apologize if I offended anyone, the moment of celebration is to make many kids smile and not disrespect anyone. “I will support my friends on this FIFA date with the pain of not being able to be there,” the Aston Villa player wrote on his social networks.

The surprise among those called up comes from the creative Nicolás Paz of Como 1907 of the Italian first division, who caught Scaloni’s attention due to his performance with his previous club, Real Madrid.

Gaucho youth

There, Paz became the second-youngest Argentine to score a goal in the UEFA Champions League. The first was Lionel Messi.

At 20 years old, Paz has already tried out in 2022 with the under-20 team led by Javier Mascherano.

Argentina leads the South American qualifiers with 18 points, followed by Colombia with 16 and Uruguay with 15.

List of those summoned by Scaloni:

• Goalkeepers: Gerónimo Rulli (Olympique Marseille-FRA), Walter Benítez (PSV Eindhoven-NED) and Juan Musso (Atlético de Madrid-ESP).
• Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla-ESP), Nahuel Molina (Atlético de Madrid-ESP), Cristian Romero (Tottenham-GBR), Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique Marseille-FRA), Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United-GBR), Germán Pezzella (River Plate) , Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica-POR), Marcos Acuña (River Plate) and Nicolás Tagliafico (Lyon-FRA).
• Midfielders: Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético de Madrid-ESP), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool-GBR), Leandro Paredes (Roma-ITA), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea-GBR), Giovani Lo Celso (Betis-ESP) and Thiago Almada (Botafogo- BRA).
• Fronts: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United-GBR), Nicolás González (Juventus-ITA), Nicolás Paz (Como 1907-ITA), Paulo Dybala (Roma-ITA), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami-USA), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan-ITA ), Julián Álvarez (Atlético de Madrid-ESP) and Valentín Carboni (Olympique Marseille-FRA).

Buenos Aires / EFE