Lisandro Martinez leaves Manchester United behind to link up with the Argentina squad on international duty for the next week.
The Red Devils centre-back has joined Lionel Messi and co to play two World Cup Qualification CONMEBOL matches against Venezuela and Bolivia.
Fellow Manchester United teammate Alejandro Garnacho is not travelling with Argentina due to injury, so it’s just Lisandro Martinez representing United for La Albiceleste.
But Garnacho may be glad he stayed back at Old Trafford – where for once, Manchester is facing better weather conditions than where Argentina have travelled.
- READ MORE: Who is Lisandro Martinez? Step inside the life of Manchester United’s tenacious Argentine
Hurricane Milton affects Argentina and Lisandro Martinez in Miami
Hurricane Milton has been absolutely terrorising parts of the US at the moment – and Martinez, who has struggled for United of late, and his Argentina side have been caught up in the thick of it.
Argentina have been training near Miami in order to prepare for their upcoming clash against Venezuela For travel reasons, coaches moved the preparation of the players from Buenos Aires to Inter Miami’s complex in Florida, due to the fact most have travelled from Europe.
However – this has seriously backfired for the World Cup champions, given the treacherous effects caused by Milton.
Described as the “storm of a century”, with sustained winds still registering at 160mph (257km/h), it’s safe to say that playing football in these conditions won’t be easy – as noted by Martinez’s national coach, Lionel Scaloni.
He said in his pre-match press conference: “The truth is that living it up close. No, I assure you, it’s not good. What about us? Well, it’s something new and different for us.
“We’re not used to it. So we’re alert, while we’re training, we’re involved in training, and then logically the news isn’t comforting, and we hope that it’s all temporary and that we don’t really have to worry about it.”
Will Argentina vs Venezuela go ahead?
Due to the horrendous storm – it is touch and go as to whether Argentina and Manchester United’s £47m man can even fly out to face Venezuela at the Estadio Monumental de Maturin on Thursday. Scaloni also addressed this.
He continued: “The match is important, but security is much more important. So, when you talk about winds, hurricanes, whether it happens near or far away, whether they close the airport and whatnot.
“Whether you want to or not, you worry, and in that sense, we are worried and waiting to see if it is true that we can leave tomorrow. They say that we will be able to leave in the afternoon.
“We are not sure. But well, that’s what we’re worried about. On the sporting and footballing side, we have been able to train.
“Yesterday, we had ten players who had played on Saturday or Friday, and only today we were we able to do something with those who had played on Sunday. We hope that tomorrow morning if the conditions allow us to train with the full team and do a definitive training session for the match.”
An unorthodox situation, but safety should take full priority. It remains to be seen whether Argentina vs Venezuela will go ahead.
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