International boss insists he is ‘calm’ about injured Spurs star’s fitness for World Cup 

Lionel Scaloni is relaxed about Giovani Lo Celso’s injury, admitting that he is waiting for further updates before making a decision on the midfielder’s selection.

Lo Celso has been a mainstay in Argentina’s set-up over the last few years and despite his indifferent form at club level, has continued to impress whenever he puts his national colours on.

However, the midfielder’s participation in the World Cup is now seemingly in doubt after he picked up a hamstring injury in Villarreal’s 1-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Argentine journalist Gaston Edul revealed this week that the Albicelestes have received some ‘worrying’ news about Lo Celso’s injury.

The journalist explained that the on-loan Tottenham man’s problem is worse than initially thought and the 26-year-old is now expected to have further tests on his hamstring problem.

Scaloni has now insisted that he will wait until ‘the last minute’ to make a decision on Lo Celso and the other injured players.

The Argentina boss told TyC Sports: “For now, I’m calm because the only thing we can do is wait for the medical results. These are things that could happen, we are assessing his situation as well as that of other players. We are waiting for news to see what decision we make.

“We still have time to make the list and we’ll see how the boys respond, but it’s still a complicated situation. In these conditions with several guys who are not fit to play, we decided to wait until the last minute.

“The first thing I told him and that I tell everyone is that the player’s health comes first. We are not going to take any risk that is not normal, we will not do anything unnecessary for his health.

“They are guys who have been with us since day one and that weighs on us and we feel it, but we will think about the good of the team.”

Spurs Web Opinion

This is one of the major issues with holding the World Cup mid-season, with such a short break between the final league game and the start of the tournament. It means that even a short to medium-term injury at this point in the season risks putting players out of the World Cup.

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