Buenos Aires: New Argentinian national coach Gerardo Martino kept faith on Tuesday with the players who got Argentina to their first World Cup final since 1990 and lost 1-0 to Germany when he named his first squad for a friendly with the same opponents in Duesseldorf on September 3.
Martino, who stood down from the Barcelona job at the end of last season after they finished trophyless, was named as the new coach only last week and replaced Alejandro Sabella, who declined to extend his contract after the World Cup final.
Germany won the final 1-0 with a goal by Mario Goetze in extra-time.
Meanwhile, new Brazil coach Dunga announced the first squad of his second spell in charge of the Selecao on Tuesday, with only 10 of those who featured at the World Cup making the cut.
After the traumatic semi-final exit from the World Cup at the semi-final stage to Germany last month, Brazil parted company with Luiz Felipe Scolari and brought back Dunga, the coach of the team at the 2010 World Cup.
He named a squad of 22 players for the friendlies against Colombia in Miami on September 5 and Ecuador in New Jersey four days later.
Neymar, who suffered a fractured vertebrae in the World Cup quarter-final defeat of Colombia but made his comeback for Barcelona this week, is in the squad.
Only six of those who started the 7-1 mauling against Germany, David Luiz, Fernandinho, Hulk, Oscar, Luiz Gustavo and Maicon, feature. Chelsea duo Ramires and Willian and back-up goalkeeper Jefferson have also been retained, but Marcelo, Dani Alves and Paulinho are among those dropped.
Captain Thiago Silva is missing after suffering a hamstring injury while playing for Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.
Elsewhere, Stoke City defender Erik Pieters is among four players who missed out on the World Cup that were called up in a provisional 25-man squad for the Netherlands’ two internationals next month, the Dutch football association KNVB said on Wednesday.
Pieters, Rafael van der Vaart, Gregory van der Wiel and goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet were all named in the first squad for new coach Guus Hiddink, who has taken over from Louis van Gaal.
Hiddink would reduce the squad at the end of next week before the friendly against Italy in Bari on September 5 and the Euro 2016 qualifier against the Czech Republic in Prague four days later, the KNVB added.
Jonathan De Guzman and Terence Kongolo are dropped from the 23-man party that went to the World Cup in Brazil, where the Dutch finished third.
Earlier this month, Hiddink promised that he would not tinker with the core of the side Van Gaal had selected over the past two years.
