Gerardo Martino: 'Carlos Tevez omission due to competition in attack'

Argentina manager Gerardo Martino has defended his choice not to include Juventus striker Carlos Tevez in his latest squad, claiming that he has a glut of strikers at his disposal and is not able to include them all.

The former Manchester United and Manchester City forward is on form for the Serie A club, scoring six goals in six games, but despite this has been overlooked for the Albiceleste ahead of their friendlies in Asia.

Martino is quoted as saying by Marca: "[Tevez] won't make the squad because the press call for it, he'll make it because I call him up. If he keeps playing as he is, he'll get a call-up next time or in March. It's just a matter of time.

"If I'd called up [Mauro] Icardi, Tevez, [Gonzalo] Higuain and [Sergio] Aguero, we'd have to field four centre-forwards. This time I picked Higuain and Aguero for that position."

Tevez scored 13 goals in 64 matches for Argentina between 2004 and 2011 before being frozen out by ex-manager Alejandro Sabella.