Garnacho set for full Argentina debut
Alejandro Garnacho is poised to make his senior debut for Argentina, with coach Lionel Scaloni promising to give game-time to the exciting teenager.
The Manchester United winger recovered from an ankle injury in order to enjoy a strong end to the 2022/23 campaign, and was excellent when coming on as a second-half substitute in last weekend's Emirates FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Although born in Madrid, the 18-year-old qualifies for Argentina through his parentage and has already impressed at Under-20 level for the world champions.
Scaloni, who guided the South American nation to glory in Qatar at the end of last year, has been speaking ahead of the fixtures with Australia and Indonesia.
The clash with the Socceroos takes place next Thursday in Beijing in a repeat of the entertaining World Cup round-of-16 tie, a match in which Lisandro Martinez made one brilliant goal-saving challenge.
Martinez is still out due to injury but Garnacho will get the opportunity to parade his talents on the international stage next week.
"We let him come and let him join the group," Scaloni said. "We'll analyse if he'll play from the start or he'll have minutes. But he is exciting, like the other guys we have. I hope he fits in well with the group."
The injury, sustained against Southampton, denied Garnacho a senior debut in March, after he had again been called up by Scaloni.
Argentina begin their qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup in September, and Garna will hope to earn a place in the squad for those games.