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A few days ago, we reported that Juan Foyth was very likely going to receive his first ever call-up to the senior Argentina national team. Now we can confirm it! Interim manager Lionel Scaloni called up Foyth as one of nine defenders in his latest squad for the next international break.
#SelecciónMayor El entrenador Lionel Scaloni dio a conocer la lista de convocados para los amistosos ante Irak y Brasil en Arabia Saudita. pic.twitter.com/VKORZRh3Wd
— Selección Argentina (@Argentina) September 28, 2018
We’ll just skim right by the fact that the Argentine Football Federation just referred to Foyth’s club as “Tottenham Hotspurs.”
If I’m honest, it’s a bit of a curious selection, as Foyth hasn’t played a single minute of competitive football this season for Spurs. He picked up an injury while training with the squad in USA before the first International Champions Cup match this summer, and only recently returned to full training. Normally you wouldn’t expect a young player to get a national team call-up under those circumstances, much less his first!
But who cares! This is a huge honor for Foyth, and probably represents as much his potential as anything else. Plus, the two upcoming matches are friendlies, so it gives Scaloni a chance to experiment and evaluate, something that Argentina probably needs to do after a pretty disappointing World Cup this past summer. No idea if Foyth will actually play or not — I hope so, as it’d be great to see him get his first cap along with his first call.
Argentina will host Iraq on Thurs. October 11 before playing at Brazil on October 16.