Enzo Fernandez, the Chelsea and Argentina midfielder, has made himself unavailable for an international friendly against Angola on Friday, November 14, at the Estadio 11 De Novembro in Luanda. The 24-year-old
revealed that the fitness issue in regards to his knee has worsened and that’s why, following a chat with the Chelsea medical team, he decided to withdraw his name from the Argentina squad.
Notably, Enzo Fernandez played a key part in helping Chelsea secure a comfortable 3-0 win over bottom place club Wolves in the Premier League at the Stamford Bridge on November 8. He has been replaced by head coach Lionel Scaloni in the Argentina squad by Kevin Mac Allister, the older brother of Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, earning his first call up to the national team.
I was just talking to the medical team because I had a problem with my knee in the last four months: Enzo Fernandez
Speaking to the media after Chelsea’s win in the Premier League, Enzo Fernandez was quoted as saying about his fitness issue, “I will not be available with Argentina. I was just talking to the medical team because I had a problem with my knee in the last four months. I came with a bone edema that got worse in the last weeks and months because we played a lot of games. Me and coaching staff have decided to rest together because I don’t have time to rest because there are a lot of games.”
“I think the most important thing is coming to the end of the season and I think it’s good to make this decision together. Always respecting the doctors and everything. I think it was the best decision to rest these two weeks for my knee. In the last week I suffered a lot of pain and everyone here knows it. These two weeks I recovered as much as I could. I will recover as much as I can when I am 100% back to training and playing with my team,” said the Argentine player, who will be looking forward to making a return to the national team in 2026 ahead of the FIFA World Cup in the summer
Below is the Argentina squad for the friendly against Angola on November 14 in Luanda:
Goalkeepers: Geronimo Rulli, Walter Benitez
Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Juan Foyth, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Marcos Senesi, Nicolas Tagliafico, Valentín Barco
Midfielders: Alexis Mac Allister, Kevin Mac Allister, Rodrigo De Paul, Giovani Lo Celso, Thiago Almada, Maximo Perrone, Nicolas Paz
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Gonzalez, Giuliano Simeone, Jose Manuel Lopez, Gianluca Prestianni, Joaquín Panichelli
