Miami, Oct 9 (IANS) Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said Tuesday that he was unsure when his team would be able to travel to Venezuela for their World Cup qualifier as Hurricane Milton approached Florida’s west coast.
The category five storm swept across the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday bound for Florida, where the reigning world champions have set up camp ahead of Thursday’s clash in the northeastern Venezuelan city of Maturin, reports Xinhua.
“The game is important but the safety issue is even more important,” Scaloni told reporters from Argentina’s training base in Fort Lauderdale.
“We are worried and we’re waiting to see if we can in fact travel tomorrow as planned.”
Fort Lauderdale is not expected to be heavily impacted by the hurricane but local authorities have issued tropical storm and flood alerts. Florida governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in more than 50 counties.
Hundreds of flights to and from Florida were canceled on Tuesday, according to tracking service FlightAware, and several airports closed ahead of the hurricane making landfall as soon as Wednesday night.
“It [the logistics] will be difficult for us,” Scaloni said, adding that the team had planned to travel on Tuesday but were prevented from doing so because of the severe weather.
“We will arrive just one day before the game. We have to make a stop because they are not allowing flights from United States soil directly to Venezuela.
“These are things that do not depend on us. We have had bad luck with this situation. But the most important thing is the safety and health for the players and the rest of us.”
Argentina, who will also meet Bolivia in Buenos Aires next Tuesday (Oct. 15), have been hit by injuries to Marcos Acuna and Alejandro Garnacho while goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is suspended.
Scaloni said that captain Lionel Messi is fully fit after missing the team’s September qualifiers against Chile and Colombia because of an ankle injury.
“Leo is fine. He played several games before joining us and that’s what he needed, to get minutes,” Scaloni said. “Before the last qualifiers, we agreed that he wouldn’t be called up because he needed to play. Now he’s fit, he’s fine and he’ll be part of the team.”
Argentina currently lead the 10-team South American zone standings with 18 points from eight games, two points ahead of second-placed Colombia.
–IANS
bc/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
