Scaloni issues fresh Romero injury update ahead of Argentina and Tottenham games
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has issued an update on Cristian Romero’s fitness following question marks over the Tottenham defender’s fitness on international duty
cristian Romero looks on course to feature for Argentina against Bolivia this week (Image: Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has revealed that Cristian Romero is “fit to play” in their World Cup qualifier against Bolivia on Tuesday. Playing the full 90 minutes on Thursday evening in his home country as the World Cup winners defeated Ecuador 1-0, Spurs were given a scare on the injury front regarding their centre-back.
Question marks surrounded the player’s fitness as suggestions from Argentina claimed that the 25-year-old had picked up a minor injury to his right leg. It was then claimed that a decision would be made over whether he would remain with the squad and travel for Tuesday’s game in Bolivia or potentially even return to England.
Already light on centre-back options following the decision to sell Davinson Sanchez to Galatasaray, Spurs fans had their fears over Romero heading off on international duty due to the possibility of injury striking and forcing Ange Postecoglou into a defensive reshuffle. However, there was some good news for all connected with the club on Saturday evening as Romero could be seen hugging Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez and one other player on the training pitch in photos published on the national team’s official website and Twitter.
In a further boost to Tottenham regarding the player’s fitness, Argentina boss Scaloni provided a positive update on Romero and Manchester United’s Martinez when speaking to the media in a press conference on Sunday.
“Both are fit to play the match, we’ll see if they start or not. Or even not play,” he said, as reported by Mundo Albiceleste. “They only trained for the typical precautions.”
On his team selection to take on Bolivia, he added: “I more or less have the team in mind, it will be similar to the one which played the other day (vs Ecuador), as long as there are no complications. We are happy with the performance and we all know what the altitude is like.
“Sometimes the substitutes can be more important and even the substitutes can be more important than the starters. We will wait until tomorrow, there may be some other modification but the base will be the same as always.”
If indeed he does take part in the match in La Paz, Tottenham fans will praying that Romero comes through unscathed so that he can feature in Spurs’ Premier League clash against Sheffield United on Saturday. Following the game against the Blades, Tottenham end September with showdowns against Arsenal and Liverpool on the agenda.
