“A hard blow” - Rodrigo De Paul understands Paulo Dybala snub, confirms only Lionel Messi’s spot is guaranteed

Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo De Paul has named Lionel Messi as the only player guaranteed a place in the Argentina squad for Copa America. He sympathized with AS Roma star Paulo Dybala, who was left out of the squad for the tournament.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni released his list of players for this summer's Copa America earlier this month, with the competition set to be held in the USA. La Albiceleste are looking to defend the title they won in Brazil three years ago, and not much has changed in terms of their squad make-up since.

Paulo Dybala has often struggled to make a name for himself with the national team due to a combination of injuries and his sharing a common position with Lionel Messi. The 30-year-old forward has appeared in only three major tournaments for La Albiceleste in his professional career.

Rodrigo De Paul has watched Dybala from close quarters and understands how he must be feeling about being left out of the squad. De Paul told journalist German Carrara that the manager has made them understand that only Lionel Messi is irreplaceable in the squad.

"Paulo not being here is a hard blow, because I care about him and he's my friend. He knows he's part of this, and if things go well, his name is there because we all contribute our grain of sand," De Paul said (via All About Argentina's X handle).

“Scaloni has always been very clear with us after becoming world champions: there is only one player who has a guaranteed spot here, and that’s the number 10 (Messi). The rest of us have to fight and do our best in our teams to be here.”

Dybala enjoyed an impressive season in Italy, scoring 16 goals and providing 10 assists in 39 appearances for the Giallorossi. He is set to watch from home as Messi leads the team in the USA, where they will face Canada, Peru, and Chile in Group A.

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Lautaro Martinez emulates Lionel Messi as Copa America nears

Argentina striker Lautaro Martinez has emulated captain Lionel Messi as preparations continue towards this summer's Copa America. The striker captained Inter Milan to Serie A glory, scoring 24 goals and providing six assists in 33 appearances for the Nerazzurri.

Martinez became the first Argentine player since Messi in 2020-21 to win the top scorer's award in any of Europe's top five leagues. Messi achieved this feat in his last season with Barcelona before leading Argentina to Copa America glory.

Lautaro Martinez heads into the Copa America in fine form and is expected to share minutes in attack with Julian Alvarez. The quality of attacking options at the disposal of manager Lionel Scaloni easily makes La Albiceleste firm favorites to defend their title.