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Alejandro Garnacho is causing a stir by ‘liking’ a tweet saying he has not been called up to Argentina’s World Cup squad ‘because he is Spanish’… with the Madrid-born Man United star eligible to play for play in both countries
Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho has caused a stir after he ‘liked’ a tweet suggesting he was overlooked for Argentina’s World Cup squad because he was born in Spain.
Despite his excellent form for United in recent weeks, including an injury-time winner at Fulham in their last game, Garnacho was not called up by Argentina to replace the injured Nicolas Gonzalez and Joaquin Correa.
Instead, Angel Correa of Atletico Madrid and Thiago Almada of Atlanta United were handpicked by coach Lionel Scaloni.
Alejandro Garnacho was not called up to Argentina’s World Cup squad as a late injury replacement despite his excellent form for Manchester United
The 18-year-old was training alongside Lionel Messi when Argentina called him up in March
The Twitter account @cabifyyy replied to another post saying, “They didn’t call Garnacho because he’s Spanish.”
This comment was apparently liked – and later unliked again – by Garnacho’s official account, something that was caught on screen and shared on the platform by eagle-eyed fans.
Eagle-eyed fans on Twitter spotted Garnacho’s official account “liking” a comment saying Argentina had overlooked him “because he’s Spanish”
Garnacho, 18, was born in Madrid and came through the academy system at Atletico Madrid and represented Spain at Under-18 level.
But his mother is from Argentina, which means he has dual citizenship and can represent them as well.
In March this year, Garnacho was called up to the Argentina senior squad ahead of their two World Cup qualifiers that month and trained alongside Lionel Messi and co.
However, he did not play in either match, meaning he is not yet fully committed to Argentina as a result of playing for them in a competitive game and could still play for Spain.
He has since made five appearances for Argentina’s Under-20 side, including in the Maurice Revello Tournament in the South of France, scoring four goals in four games.
Garnacho celebrated United’s victory in the FA Youth Cup with the Argentine flag in May.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni (left) decided to call up Angel Correa (right) to his World Cup squad instead of Garnacho
Garnacho celebrated United’s FA Youth Cup triumph earlier this year, draped in the Argentine flag, hinting at where his international loyalties lie
Despite scoring his first senior goal for United in a Europa League match against Real Sociedad and then his first Premier League goal against Fulham, he was overlooked for Argentina’s World Cup squad.
Instead, he is expected to be part of the United side heading to Spain next month for a warm-weather training camp and two friendlies with Cadiz and Real Betis as the World Cup goes on.