Argentina preparations rocked by results, controversy and injury

MOSCOW: Lionel Messi’s Argentina must quickly refocus after finding themselves at the centre of an Israel-Palestinian spat over the cancellation of a World Cup warm-up match following an unconvincing qualifying campaign.

The game against Israel, planned for Saturday in Jerusalem, was called off on Tuesday after a campaign by the Palestinians following its relocation from the northern city of Haifa.

Palestinians were already angered by US President Donald Trump’s transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May, which sparked protests in Gaza in which dozens of Palestinians were killed.

Argentina’s preparations for Russia 2018 -- which could be 30-year-old Messi’s last World Cup -- have also been disrupted by a serious injury that has ruled out West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini.

Despite the troubled build-up, Argentina team official Omar Souto talked up the training base in Bronnitsy, 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Moscow, after their arrival on Saturday. Argentina suffered the crushing disappointment of losing to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil and had painful losses, both times to Chile, in back-to-back Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016.

Their troubled World Cup qualifying campaign resulted in the departure of coach Edgardo Bauza, with Jorge Sampaoli drafted in as an emergency replacement in May last year. Argentina, drawn against Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria in Group D, are short of recent match practice ahead of their opening match against Euro 2016 surprise package Iceland on Saturday.