Argentina today risked a club‑versus-country row by selecting injured Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero for next month’s World Cup qualifiers.
Aguero damaged his knee in the victory over Southampton last Sunday and City manager Roberto Mancini said the player would not be available until after the international break.
However, Argentina manager, Alejandro Sabella, has selected the 24-year-old for the matches against Paraguay on September 7 and Peru on September 11.
Mancini had pencilled in Aguero for his return at Stoke, four days after the World Cup qualifier in Lima.
Meanwhile, Mancini is worried that City may feel the backlash from Liverpool’s opening day defeat when they go to Anfield on Sunday.
Despite beating Hearts 1-0 in the first leg of a Europa League play-off last night, Mancini believes Liverpool are still rattled after a 3‑0 drubbing at West Brom, their worst loss on the first day of a season in 75 years. Mancini said: “I think that Liverpool are always dangerous at home and I think under Brendan Rodgers, they will do very well this year because he is a very good coach.
“They won away to Hearts but I expect them to perhaps be more dangerous because they lost their opening game at West Brom and will be eager to get that result out of their system. Anfield is always a very tough place to go and we drew there twice last season.”
