Barcelona’s Lionel Messi heads a squad of 18 players named by Argentina for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Chile.
Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella named an entirely foreign-based squad, which is expected to be supplemented with local players prior to the matches.
Argentina hosts Uruguay on October 12 and is away at Chile on October 16. Argentina leads the South American qualifying group with 14 points, and is positioned strongly to claim a berth at Brazil 2014.
Squad: GOALKEEPERS: Sergio Romero (Sampdoria), Mariano Andujar (Catania).
DEFENDERS: Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Hugo Campagnaro (Napoli), Federico Fernandez (Napoli), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica), Marcos Rojo (Sporting Lisbon).
MIDFIELDERS: Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid), Enzo Perez (Benfica), Fernando Gago (Valencia), Jose Sosa (Metalist Kharkiv), Pablo Guinazu (Internacional).
FORWARDS: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Paris Saint Germain), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Hernan Barcos (Palmeiras), Lionel Messi (Barcelona).