Problems for Scaloni: Romero, ‘Dibu’ Martínez in question for World Cup

The past few days have not been great for Argentina’s men’s national football team head coach Lionel Scaloni, as both starting defender Cristian “Cuti” Romero and goalkeeper Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez have been confirmed injured, with just 58 days to go for the 2026 World Cup. Romero’s situation is the most serious. While playing for club side Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, the 27-year-old defender left the pitch in tears after twisting his knee in a collision with Sunderland goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky. Media outlets later reported that Romero had suffered a grade 2 sprain of the collateral ligament in the right knee. The silver lining was that the confirmed injury ruled out the possibility of a torn ligament, which would’ve sidelined him for at least six months.  However, the injury will take a minimum of six weeks to heal, meaning he’s likely to arrive at the World Cup having barely played any football. The best-case scenario for Romero would be a return for Argentina’s World Cup warm-up matches on June 6 and 9 against Honduras and Iceland. Former national team defender and Scaloni assistant Roberto Ayala confirmed on Monday that there’s “thankfully nothing worse” with Romero’s knee. “Every night we pray that nothing happens to any of them and that the games end well,” Ayala said.  The former defender is speaking from experience, as he found himself in Romero’s position more than 20 years ago. He made it to the 2002 World Cup, having barely recovered from a torn muscle fiber in his left biceps femoris. He later suffered another injury during the opening game warmup and did not play in any of Argentina’s three games. “[Scaloni] told [the players], ‘Think about the national team,’” he highlighted. Martínez only taken out as a precaution Concerns were also raised over “Dibu” Martínez, as he was taken out of Aston Villa’s clash with Nottingham Forest during the pre-game warmup. However, the club later confirmed that he was only ruled out as a precaution.  “He was telling us, just in the warm-up, he was not feeling comfortable with his calf,” said Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery after the game, an issue Martínez has experienced before. The decision to withdraw the Argentine goalkeeper from the game makes sense, with the Birmingham side set to play the second leg of their UEFA Europa League quarterfinal against Italian side Bologna on Thursday.