Lionel Messi to lead Argentina in Kolkata match

Buenos Aires, Aug 19: Argentina have left out striker Carlos Tevez for the friendly match against Venezuela, to be held at the Salt Lake stadium, Kolkata on 2 September. Tevez has also been ignored for another friendly match, against Nigeria, on 6 September in Bangladesh.

It will be Lionel Messi who will now lead the Argentina team in both these matches.

The salient feature of the team selected by the newly-appointed Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella is that the players included are mostly the ones who are plying their trade in European leagues.

Unlike his Manchester City team-mate Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero has found a place in the 26-member side that also has players like Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain (both Real Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Martin Demichelis (Mallaga) and Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle United).

Squad: Lionel Messi (c), Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain, Javier Mascherano, Ever Banega, Eduardo Salvio, Martin Demichelis, Federico Fernandez, Ricardo Alvarez, Nicolas Burdisso, Mariano Andujar, Sergio Romero, Ezequiel Garay, Fabian Rinaudo, Nicolas Otamendi, Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Jonas Gutierrez, Javier Pastore, Luis Gonzalez, Lisandro Lopez, Cristian Ansaldi, Nicolas Pareja, Red Marcos Jose Sosa, Stephen Andrada

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