DOHA: The  Spanish Football Federation has confirmed that Football Champion Barcelona's 19-year-old left-back Alejandro Balde has replaced Jose Luis Gaya in the Spain squad for the World Cup .

Gaya missed the World Cup because of an ankle injury, therefore Balde, who has only made 23 first-team games in his career and made his Under-21 debut in September, was promoted from the Under-21 team following a promising start to the season in which he has played both left and right back for Barca.

It was "the saddest day for having to tell Gaya that he had to leave the group, due to an injury that is not so serious, but with the games so close, it would have been a danger (to keep him)," Spain's coach Luis Enrique acknowledged.
Simeone and Pereyra are put on Argentina's World Cup standby list.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced on Friday that Gio Simeone of Napoli and Roberto Pereyra of Udinese have been added to Argentina's list of reserves for the FIFA World Cup.

The announcement comes a day after the Albiceleste's 26-man squad was reduced to 23 players owing to muscle problems, removing Valencia midfielder Nico Gonzalez and Inter Milan attacker Joaquin Correa. The injured pair's straight replacements, Angel Correa of Atletico Madrid and Thiago Almada of Atlanta United, joined Argentina's team on Friday.

Pereyra and Simeone's standby status fit manager Lionel Scaloni's desire to have at least one backup player for every position available. Argentina, a two-time champion, will begin their World Cup campaign on November 22 against Saudi Arabia before going up against Mexico and Poland in Group C.

After recovering from a leg muscle ailment, Brazil defender Marquinhos is expected to be totally healthy for his team's opening FIFA World Cup encounter against Serbia.

Although the 28-year-old had to miss practise earlier in the week, he appeared unfazed as he joined his colleagues for a full practise session on Friday at Brazil's pre-World Cup camp in Turin.

The Paris Saint-Germain player had called the ailment a "nuisance," adding that after a week of recuperation, he was progressively getting back to his best physical form.

On November 24, Brazil will face Serbia to open the tournament in Qatar, followed by matches against Switzerland and Cameroon in Group G. The South American team will attempt to win the most coveted award in international football for the sixth time.

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