Argentina Legend Mario Kempes: “Painful Choice For Lionel Scaloni To Bench Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, But Substitutes Must Give The Team A Hand”

Legendary former Valencia, River Plate, and Argentine national team midfielder Mario Kempes feels that Inter striker Lautaro Martinez will still be important to Argentina even if he starts on the bench.

Speaking to Argentine broadcaster TyC Sports, via FCInterNews, the former midfielder noted that leaving Martinez out of the starting eleven won’t have been easy for Albiceleste coach Lionel Scaloni, but that a coach must make his choices, and that he needs the entire squad.

Martinez had not been expected to drop out of Argentina’s starting eleven at the World Cup in Qatar.

The 25-year-old has been a key player for the Albiceleste for the last several years, including in qualifying for the World Cup and at the Copa America in 2021 which the team won.

However, coach Scaloni decided to drop Martinez to the bench in favour of Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez in Argentina’s last few matches, due to his misfiring form early on at the tournament.

“As much as it hurts for the coach to put him on the bench,” Kempes noted of Martinez, “there’s one team, and Scaloni has to get the best out of all his players including substitutes.”