He may have played only five minutes of competitive international football, but one of Manchester United’s brightest sparks appears to have already done enough to secure his seat on the plane to this summer’s big tournament.
While the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Christian Eriksen, Rasmus Hojlund, Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes look set to duke it out for European Championship glory, a handful of Manchester United team-mates will be jetting out to South America in the coming weeks.
True, there is no Casemiro in Brazil’s squad. The ageing midfielder was left out after seven years of nearly-unbroken call-ups.
But, while the 29-man squad Argentina announced on Monday is not their final Copa America roster – it will need to be cut down to 26 before the tournament begins – Alejandro Garnacho appears to have a very good chance of making the cut alongside Lisandro Martinez, provided the defender avoids a repeat of injury issues which have blighted his season.
Alejandro Garnacho rewarded for Manchester United seaosn
Garnacho, who was also eligible to represent Spain, only made his Argentina debut in June of last year. He’s played a grand total of five minutes of competitive football, meanwhile, five of his six appearances for the reigning World champions coming in friendlies.
Garnacho’s ‘electric’ 45-minute display during March’s 3-0 win over El Salvador appeared to dispel many of the doubts Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni may have previously been harbouring. The Albiceleste boss said after that most one-sided of victories had done his chances of a place in that Copa America squad no harm at all.
“Alejandro Garnacho played his best game for Argentina,” was ESPN’s verdict. “And showed that he is fit to be part of the squad that will compete in the Copa America (this summer).
“He was less restrained than on those occasions (against Australia and Indonesia in 2023) and was more encouraged to demonstrate his ability on the left wing.”
‘Electric’ on recent Argentina outing
Argentina face Ecuador and Guatemala in mid-June before kicking off the Copa campaign against tournament invitees Canada on the 21st. Impress again in those pre-Copa fixtures and Garnacho’s place in Scaloni’s chosen 26 will surely be assured.
TheEl Destape website believes that the three who may not miss the cut may be Leonardo Balerdi of Marseille, Brighton youngster Valentin Barco and Monza forward Valentin Carboni.
Garnacho, still only 19 lest we forget, is closing in on 40 successive starts for Manchester United, one of the first names on Erik ten Hag’s team sheet during a difficult campaign for the Red Devils. Find the net in Saturday’s FA Cup final rematch with Man City and Garnacho will hit double figures for goals for the first time in his senior career.
“I think you have always got a chance. You have got a puncher’s chances, so to speak, always in a final,” legendary United centre-back Rio Ferdinand tells talkSPORT (17 May). “The FA Cup is built on surprises.
“I think Manchester City are way above Manchester United in this present moment in time.
“And I am probably starting to feel more hopeful than anything else that Man United come out of the blocks and we get some sort of crazy performance in a moment in the game from a Bruno, a Garnacho, maybe a (Marcus) Rashford, who can actually turn a game on its head at any given time.”
