Sampaoli: Why Dybala, Icardi may not play against Nigeria

Juventus attacking talisman Paulo Dybala and Inter captain Mauro Icardi are amongst the high-profile names who are set to miss the 2018 FIFA World Cup for Argentina.

Dybala and Icardi are amongst the most highly-rated forwards in European football at the moment and have both eased to the 20-goal mark for their respective club’s this season with a couple of months to spare.

However, their record at international level has left a lot to be desired with neither scoring a single goal in the 16 appearances between them.

Dybala, goalless in 12 caps and Icardi in four, are both likely to be omitted judging by recent comments made by head coach Jorge Sampaoli.

“It is complicated for Dybala to get used to our system,” Sampaoli told reporters on Thursday, as quoted by AS.

“We couldn’t improve his performances and we have to evaluate if the current players [in this squad] are better than Paulo or if we have to keep working with Paulo to improve his performance.

“Icardi’s situation is similar to Dybala’s. The transition of Icardi’s performance from Inter to Argentina weren’t the best.

“I considered it and felt that we have to work better, but we don’t have enough time. Maybe his adaptation time is not a short time,” the former Chile coach added.

“I don’t dismiss him, but, as Argentina’s coach I have to focus on performances in the field.”