Cristian Romero named in Argentina squad | OneFootball

A couple of weeks ago, we aggregated how Spurs defender Cristian Romero had been named in Argentina's preliminary squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil later on this month. At the time, the defender had not played for the best part of three months, so the news came with some anger from the fanbase.

However, since then, Romero has started three games for Spurs - so the frustration has waned. As a result of the player proving his fitness in the last couple of weeks - he has been named in the final squad for these upcoming qualifiers.

Cristian Romero named in final Argentina squad for World Cup qualifiers

As mentioned above, Argentina are set to take on Uruguay - the side of Spurs midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur - and Brazil. They will take on Uruguay away from home on the 21st of March, at 23:30 GMT, before facing Brazil, at home on Wednesday the 26th of March, at 00:00 GMT.

Usually, playing in South America - often a 14+ hour flight away from the UK, in the latter stages of the international break is an issue, but due to the FA Cup quarter final weekend, Spurs aren't actually playing when club football returns in a couple of weeks time. Plus, the Premier League just doesn't matter much anymore - as inexcusable as it is.

As it stands, Argentina are top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying group, with 25 points from their 12 games - five points ahead of Uruguay - so they could be as many as eight points, or as little as two points ahead of them after their showdown on Friday night.

The last time Argentina won the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying group was for the 2014 edition, where hosts Brazil did not participate. The last time they won the qualifying group that Brazil took part in was all the way back in qualifying for the 2002 edition - so there is incentive to do so this time, even if they do not need to finish first to qualify.

During these games, Romero will not be joined by former Spurs midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, whom is not in the final squad. He will not be up against former Spurs forward Lucas Moura either, who was in Brazil's preliminary squad, but was left out of the final squad by manager Dorival. Still, he could play against Bentancur in the first game. Let's see.