Argentina's national team has faced new setbacks ahead of the March friendly double-header due to injuries to Rodrigo De Paul and Joaquín Panichelli. According to the Argentine News Agency (NA), the Inter Miami midfielder will miss both of Lionel Scaloni's team's matches due to a physical problem. During this FIFA window, the Albiceleste will face Mauritania on March 27 and Zambia on March 31, both matches at La Bombonera at 20:15. In recent hours, the midfielder had already been dealing with a physical issue that kept him out of the coach's main training sessions. To this injury was added the injury to Joaquín Panichelli, who felt discomfort during Thursday's training, raising another alarm at the Ezeiza training center. The AFA (Argentine Football Association) had already confirmed the absence of Leonardo Balerdi due to injury, with Lucas Martínez Quarta replacing him, while Gonzalo Montiel was also sidelined in recent days due to a muscle problem. With this scenario, Scaloni will have to rebuild pieces in midfield and also adjust alternatives in attack, in a call-up that, beyond the results against African rivals, is crossed by a race against time for several players seeking to arrive in shape for the World Cup. The forward, one of the offensive bets Scaloni had been closely monitoring, underwent studies to determine the severity of the injury, but it was confirmed at the last minute on Thursday that he has a torn cruciate ligament, so he will miss the World Cup. In this way, the reigning world champion arrives with several physical problems to their last commitments in the country before the 2026 World Cup.
