Juan Sebastian Veron picked by Maradona

Argentina coach Diego Maradona has picked midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron amongst five other players called up to complete their squad for a friendly against France on February 11 in Marseille.

The Argentina football federation also named Veron’s Estudiantes La Plata teammate Marcos Angeleri, San Lorenzo’s Cristian Ledesma, Emiliano Papa of Velez Sarsfield and Independiente’s Daniel Montenegro, who knows the Velodrome stadium well having played for Marseille in the 1999/2000 season.

Maradona however overlooked experienced Boca Juniors playmaker Roman Riquelme.

Argentina squad

Keepers: Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio/ITA), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar/NED)

Defenders: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan/ITA), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich/GER), Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid/ESP), Daniel Diaz (Getafe/ESP), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan/ITA), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan/ITA), Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes de la Plata), Emiliano Papa (Velez Sarsfield)

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool/ENG), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid/ESP), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle/ENG), Luis Gonzalez (Porto/POR), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes de La Plata), Daniel Montenegro (Independiente), Cristian Ledesma (San Lorenzo)

Strikers: Lionel Messi (Barcelona/ESP), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United/ENG), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli/ITA), Lisandro Lopez (Porto/POR), German Denis (Napoli/ITA), Angel Di Maria (Benfica/POR)