Will Messi’s toughest opponent become his teammate in the national team? We are well aware of his Argentine citizenship, says Scaloni

A big surprise in the nomination of the current world champions is imminent. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has informed Spanish club Real Mallorca that it intends to call up right-back Pablo Maffeo for the next qualifying matches against Uruguay and Brazil. What is the fuss about this player? the 26-year-old was born in Spain and represented La Roja in the youth categories.

Pablo Maffeo was born on 12 July 1997 in Sant Joan Despí, near Barcelona. The talented player has represented Spain in youth categories, but most recently in the under-21 category, and has been waiting for an invitation ever since.

The traditionally well-informed Spanish Relevo has reported that the Spanish Football Association’s hesitation is to be exploited by coach Lionel Scaloni. Pablo’s mother is from Argentina. To make the whole situation even more confusing, his father is from Italy.

So Maffeo has all three citizenships and theoretically has a choice of all these national teams, as matches in the youth categories do not determine a player’s national team affiliation.

Argentina will miss Juan Foyth, who is nursing a muscle injury. Nahuel Molina of Atlético Madrid has been the first choice at right-back for a long time, but Los Albicelestes lack a similarly quality replacement.

Maffeo reportedly preferred the opportunity to represent the country of his birth, however, according to Spanish sources, he will give the nod to the offer to represent Argentina this time around. Coach Lionel Scaloni has been keeping a close eye on him since 2022.

Scaloni said at the time that he was well aware of the player and his mother’s citizenship.

Messi’s toughest opponent

Maffeo has been convincing of his qualities for a long time. Memorable is his duel with Lionel Messi from the 2017/2018 season, when the then young defender personally defended the Argentine superstar. Maffeo, who was then on loan from Manchester City at Catalan side Girona, literally breathed down the neck of Messi for the entire match, whom he managed to poison the game.

In that match, Barcelona won convincingly 0:3, but it was Girona’s players who “contributed” to the result by scoring two goals of their own. Lionel Messi was unable to make it through and later in an interview in 2020, he referred to Pablo as his toughest opponent, who defended him personally.

Critics would surely have expected rather more famous names. Yet Messi has rarely walked away as frustrated after winning a match as he did then.

So a recommendation from Argentina’s biggest personality and current Ballon d’Or winner should not be a problem. Will the former rivals be teammates at the next national team reunion?

Source: Relevo, AS, Marca, Twitter