Despite the obvious star names within the Argentinian national team, the focus as of late has been on one of Gerardo Martino's selections. The former Barcelona coach has decided to buck the trend and re-call Carlos Tevez back into the fold. After three years in the international wilderness, the Juventus star is finally seeing his efforts with the Bianconeri recognized by making a return and could feature in the upcoming friendly clash against Croatia.
Explaining his reason for bringing Tevez back, Martino offered a simple explanation:
"We have seen how him and [Lionel] Messi get along, playing with [Gonzalo] Higuain and with Sergio [Aguero], because they've been playing together [at Manchester City] for the last two years or so. And we have lost our sight about how he had played with Carlos [Tevez] in the past," he stated in a recent press conference.
"[Tevez] has been one of the best or one of the three best players of the Serie A during the last two seasons. [And by] playing on the Juventus team that has won the championship repeatedly, that makes him worthy to be recalled."
Meanwhile, Croatian coach Niko Kovac could use this friendly as a chance to give some of the younger and less experienced members of the Vatreni some playing time. The former midfielder will naturally be looking ahead to the upcoming UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying clash with Italy this weekend and reports indicate that a whole crop of senior members will not be making the trip to London.
Players like captain Darijo Srna, Liverpool's Dejan Lovren, and La Liga trio Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic, and Ivan Rakitic are among those who could possibly stay in their nation's capital to prepare for their meeting with the Azzurri. Yet, despite this, Kovac was keen to stress that he expects whomever he selects to put in a good shift:
"Argentina is a challenge for the players who will travel...[I] will see who can [perform well against] Argentina [and] who can come closer to [securing a solid spot in] the national team. I'm sure we can get a good result, and most players have already been with us. I wouldn't call the reserve team."
Croatia have not lost a game since crashing out of the World Cup this past summer, let alone conceded a single goal. Argentina, who were close to winning it all but were denied by Germany, got revenge on them in a recent friendly and bounced back from a loss to Brazil by cruising to a 7-0 win against Hong Kong.
Hence, fans and neutrals will both be interested to see who and who will take to the pitch in what hopefully will be an interesting friendly in England's capital.
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