Argentine Forward Ruled Out Due to Injury After Squad Announcement

The reigning world champions, Argentina, are set to play two friendly matches during the October international window. Both matches will take place in the United States, where Argentina will face Venezuela and Puerto Rico. On 3 October, head coach Lionel Scaloni announced a 28-man squad for these fixtures.

However, the Albiceleste have received unfortunate news: young forward Thiago Almada has been ruled out of the upcoming matches due to injury.

Almada was unable to participate in Atlético Madrid’s La Liga clash against Celta Vigo last night. Speaking on the player’s condition, Atlético coach Diego Simeone said: “He is not yet fit to compete.”

Almada had previously suffered a muscle injury, and the national team now has limited time to prepare. Argentina will face Venezuela on 10 October at Miami’s Miami Gardens and Puerto Rico on 13 October at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

According to Argentine media outlet TyC Sports, citing Simeone:

• Almada has been training well despite the injury.
• He sustained the injury at the start of September while on national team duty, making the total recovery period over 20 days.
• He has completed rehabilitation successfully and participated in training sessions on Friday and the subsequent session, but is still not ready for competitive play.

Despite Almada’s withdrawal, Argentina has not yet called up a replacement for him. The 26-year-old attacking midfielder last played for the national team on 5 September. He is also capable of playing in attacking roles.

Almada has missed seven matches for Atlético Madrid due to injury, including:

Atlético coach Simeone hopes to have Almada fully fit for their La Liga match against Osasuna on 19 October: “We are keeping a close eye on him. Hopefully, he will be fully fit and able to join us before the Osasuna match. My expectation is that he will have recovered completely by then.”

Almada joined Atlético Madrid from Brazilian club Botafogo during the current transfer window for a fee of €21 million.

The squad for the upcoming friendlies still includes Lionel Messi. However, his participation against Venezuela is uncertain, along with his Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, due to a Major League Soccer (MLS) match against Atlanta United the following day.

Additionally:

• Aníbal Moreno (midfielder), Lautaro Rivero (defender), and Facundo (goalkeeper) have received their first call-ups to the national team.
• Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández returns to the squad after serving a two-match suspension.

This structure organises the article into clear sections for context, injury updates, squad details, and upcoming match information, while tables make Almada’s missed matches easier to read at a glance.