Jorge Sampaoli has named the Argentina squad for friendlies against Italy on March 23rd and Spain on March 27th.

Gonzalo Higuaín has returned to the squad after being overlooked for the last two international breaks, including the final round of World Cup qualifiers.

His performances for Juventus in Serie A have re-opened the door to the Albiceleste.

Paulo Dybala, Papu Gómez, and Mauro Icardi have, as expected, not been called up.

But the trio are on a a stand-by list in the event of injury along with Emanuel Mammana and Ángel Correa.

This list does not include players who play their club football in Argentina.

Sampaoli is expected to add Lautaro Martínez and Cristian Pavón, of Racing Club and Boca Juniors respectively.

By AS