Rojo pulls out of Argentina duty with groin injury

Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo has been ruled out of Argentina’s upcoming international fixtures against Brazil and Uruguay because of a groin injury. Mystery originally surrounded the exact reason why Rojo withdrew from the Argentina squad on Sunday afternoon after he had appeared in United’s 3-1 Premier League win against Brighton earlier in the day.
The defender, who played in the 2014 World Cup final with the Albiceleste, came on as a 91st-minute substitute for Brandon Williams, who impressed on his first Premier League start.
However, just hours after the three points had been secured at Old Trafford, the Argentinian FA confirmed Rojo would no longer be a part of Lionel Scaloni’s squad for the two November games.
Roberto Pereyra was also ruled out and while the attacking midfielder’s problem was stated to be a right hamstring problem he sustained in Watford’s win over Norwich on Friday, no official reason was initially given for Rojo’s absence.
Argentina instantly drafted in Boca Juniors’ on-loan Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister to replace Pereyra but Scaloni seems to think he can do without calling up another left-sided defender.
Later reports from South America indicated Rojo was suffering from a groin strain although when exactly it occurred still seems to be in doubt.
The 29-year-old completed the full 90 minutes of United’s 3-0 midweek victory over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League and was clearly fit enough to be called on to the bench by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday.
United medics will hope the issue is nothing too serious as Rojo did suffer persistent groin problems earlier in his Red Devils career, missing much of the run-in during his first season at the club – 2014-15.
Solskjaer’s bigger concern will be the results of Monday’s scheduled scan of Scott McTominay’s ankle after the Scotland international was stretchered off just before the end of Sunday’s win.