The Argentine National Team will face a new double FIFA date in the month of October against Venezuela and Bolivia, but in this case it will not be able to count on Dibu Martínez, who was sanctioned with two games for the gestures he made with the Copa América after the victory against Chile and for the blow to the camera after the defeat against Colombia in Barranquilla. Therefore, I know in detail the performance of his three possible replacements in the national team.
Since Dibu became a starter in the National Team, after that COVID situation that Franco Armani suffered, he has never missed two games in a row, and with 46 appearances he is the tenth with the most games played in the Scaloni cycle. The last time he was not in the game was in the friendly against Costa Rica, where Walter Benítez saved.
To find Argentina’s last performance without the player from Mar del Plata, taking out the one against the Central American team, we must go back to September 23, 2022, when just 2 months before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Gerónimo Rulli took charge of the Albiceleste goal in a friendly against Honduras.
Although Scaloni did not comment on the matter, Rulli’s presence on many lists throughout his entire cycle seems to indicate that he is one of those with the best chance of starting instead of Dibu. Of the 28 summonses from 2018 to now, 13 included the name of the current Olympique de Marseille player, including the one from the last Copa América – he is the only one of the three who was in the United States. In the debut for the world champion coach, the 32-year-old from La Plata was the one chosen by the coaching staff to save against Guatemala, although four games had to pass for him to see minutes again, in which the main designated player was Armani. Against Mexico, he played 59 minutes and was replaced by Pablo Gazzaniga.
Beyond being present against Honduras, to find the last title of the one that emerged in Estudiantes in which there were points at stake, you have to go until March 29, 2022, when the National Team tied 1 to 1 against Ecuador as a visitor. In addition to playing with the majors, he was called up to the Rio 2016 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Another point in favor for Rulli is that since he left Ajax and moved to France, he has regained regular minutes. Although he ended up making saves in the last 6 games for the biggest club in Holland, in August 2023 he was injured and had a hard time regaining his position. In Marseille, he started in the five games the team had since he arrived in June.
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