Leandro Somoza and Gabriel Mercado were two surprise inclusions in Alejandro Sabella’s Argentina squad to face Perú and Uruguay, as the national team saw several players pull out through injury.
The Lanús midfielder and River full-back formed part of the call-up for locally-based footballers, after Fernando Gago and Cristian Ansaldi were forced to miss the last two World Cup qualifiers. The pair join Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Ricky Álvarez, Hugo Campagnaro and Gonzalo Higuaín on a lengthy casualty list.
With qualification to Brazil 2014 already assured, Sabella elected to make use of players based in Argentina in order to fill gaps in the squad. Agustín Orión (Boca), Maxi Rodríguez (Newell’s Old Boys), Sebastian Dominguez (Vélez Sarsfield) and Rodrigo Braña (Quilmes) also received the call from the ex-Estudiantes coach.
Argentina host Perú on Friday at 8pm, before travelling to Montevideo to take on Uruguay the following Tuesday at 8.30pm.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald