Messi to lead Argentina in Kolkata friendly

Buenos Aires: Striker Carlos Tevez has been left out of the star-studded Argentina football squad led by Barcelona supertstar Lionel Messi for a friendly match against Venezuela, which would be held at the Salt Lake Stadium on September 2.

The Manchester City forward has also been ignored for another friendly match, against Nigeria, on September 6 in Bangladesh. Newly-appointed Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella included mostly players plying their trade in European leagues for the games against Venezuela and Nigeria.Tevez might have been overlooked but his Manchester City teammate Sergio Aguero has found a place in the 26-member side that also has players like Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain (both Real Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Martin Demichelis (Mallaga) and Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle United).The Squad: Lionel Messi (c), Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain, Javier Mascherano, Ever Banega, Eduardo Salvio, Mart?n Demichelis, Federico Fernandez, Ricardo Alvarez, Nicolas Burdisso, Mariano Andujar, Sergio Romero, Ezequiel Garay, Fabian Rinaudo, Nicolas Otamendi, Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Jonas Gutierrez, Javier Pastore, Luis Gonzalez, Lisandro Lopez, Cristian Ansaldi, Nicolas Pareja, Red Marcos Jose Sosa, Stephen Andrada. PTI