Another day, another casualty due to injury in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has sent Fiorentina forward Nicolás González back home after the 24-year-old suffered a muscle injury in training.
Nico González will miss the World Cup. He will be removed by Argentina list as he’s not in conditions to proceed. 🚨🇦🇷 #WorldCup2022
Ángel Correa will be his replacement, he will be at the World Cup. pic.twitter.com/Ca9VxW4qvF
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 17, 2022
Replaced by Atlético Madrid midfielder Ángel Correa, González has endured a tough second season in Serie A after his arrival in Tuscany from German outfit VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2021, with the Belén de Escobar native featuring on just ten occasions for La Viola this term for less than 400 minutes of combined action in all competitions.
González was an integral part of Argentina’s Copa America win in 2021 under Scaloni and was probably viewed as one of the only players in the camp that could be looked at as an out-and-out winger on the tactics board, as postulated by The Athletic’s Jack Collins.
This looks minor with the depth Argentina have wide, but Nico González was one of Argentina’s few out-and-out wingers and was very good in the Copa win, balancing the wings.
Think it’s a real blow. https://t.co/OqF5rvrjbP
— Jack Collins (@jackjcollins) November 17, 2022
The Argentine international is one of yet another key player that has missed a chance to represent his country in an already contentious Qatari World cup after it was earlier reported that Senegalese talisman Sadio Mané will also not be featuring this winter after he failed to make sufficient progress in recovering from an injury he picked up nine days ago in Bayern Munich’s 6-1 thrashing of SV Werder Bremen at the Allianz Arena.
France was hit once again by the injury bug last night when Christopher Nkunku suffered a knee injury in training after coming together with Real Marid starlet Eduardo Camavinga in a tackle, adding his name to Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kanté, and Presnel Kimbembe in a four-man list that boss Didier Deschamps will no doubt feel frustrated over losing.
Though González’s loss will perhaps not be as detrimentally felt as the likes of Mané and others, his untimely removal – during a season that has seen him struggle for fitness all year at Fiorentina – will continue to keep the winter World Cup in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
