Diego Maradona, confirmed as Argentina coach here on Tuesday, has named his squad for his first game in charge, the Nov 19 friendly against Scotland.
And one notable absentee from his 20-player list was Lionel Messi. Maradona was required to leave out the influential playmaker to honor a deal struck between the Argentina Football Federation and Barcelona.
Under the agreement Barca freed up Messi to play for Argentina at the Beijing Olympics but in return would be allowed to hold on to him for domestic duty for international friendly fixtures such as the date with Scotland.
Figuring in Maradona's first squad though were Manchester United's Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero of Atletico Madrid, and Liverpool's Javier Mescherano.
Argentina squad
Goalkeepers: Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio/ITA), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar/NED)
Defenders: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan/ITA), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan/ITA), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich/GER), Daniel Daaz (Getafe/ESP) Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid/ESP), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle/ENG)
Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool/ENG), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Angel Di Maria (Benfica/POR), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid/ESP), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle/ENG), Luis Gonzalez (Porto/POR), Jose Sosa (Bayern Munich/GER)
Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United/ENG), Lisandro Lopez (Porto/POR), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli/ITA), German Denis (Napoli/ITA)
(China Daily November 6, 2008)