Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi was picked by Argentina coach Diego Maradona for their February 11 friendly against France in Marseille, the Argentine football federation said on Tuesday.The squad announced only concerned Europe-based players and should at some stage be completed with those playing in Argentina such as Juan Roman Riquelme of Boca Juniors and Juan Sebastian Veron of Estudiantes de La Plata.
Maradona also gave a recall to Inter Milan defender Walter Samuel who has not played for his country for three years.
SQUAD
Goalkeepers: 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)
Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool/ENG), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid/ESP), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle/ENG), Luis Gonzalez (Porto/POR)
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)
