Argentina have failed to explain why West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini was absent from the side that got beat 3-1 by Venezuela earlier this week.
The 26-year-old was recalled to the national side after a lengthy absence following a ligament injury sustained in the build up to last summer’s World Cup.
It came as something of a surprise, therefore, when Lanzini failed to make the match day squad for the Venezuela clash.
In the aftermath of that game, Argentina delivered a squad update, as quoted by Football.London, but failed to address the Hammer’s absence.
It read: “Meanwhile, the rest of the squad, did various soccer exercises, all in a small space. Within the activity, pressure, recovery and permanent movement of the lines were highlighted to generate superiority in the rival.
“Gonzalo Martínez, with a muscular ailment, worked together with the physiotherapists on the campus.”
OPINION
This is a really strange situation. Why wouldn’t Lanzini even make the bench if he wasn’t injured? But then if he is injured, why wouldn’t the Argentine FA mention it in their comments on the welfare of the squad? It really is quite baffling, and West Ham fans must be fearing the worst. They just got Lanzini back from a horrendous injury, and the playmaker just started looking as if he was getting back to the kind of form and fitness that made hims such a terrifying proposition prior to that injury. The hope will be that he isn’t ruled out with anything sinister, and that his exclusion is more a result of something minor than an aggravation of something more serious. It doesn’t make any sense, but then again, this is a squad that regularly leave Sergio Aguero out of contention for no apparent reason, so what’s going on is anybody’s guess. All the Irons can do now is just hope and pray that everything is okay.
