When Franco Armani ended his highly successful spell at Atletico Nacional to join River Plate in January, he made it clear that he was doing so in an attempt to fulfil two dreams. Firstly, to play for a big club in his native Argentina. Secondly, to catch the eye of national team coach Jorge Sampaoli.
The 31-year-old won everything there was to win with Atletico Nacional, lifting nine major domestic honours in Colombia and the 2016 Copa Libertadores - South America’s Champions League. But those triumphs failed to provide him with a sufficiently high profile in Argentina to build a serious case for national team inclusion.
River Plate have provided him with that platform, and Armani has responded with a series of standout performances. His clean sheet in River’s 0-0 draw away to Colon on Monday was his seventh in his last eight matches in all competitions, while his regular highlight-reel-stealing saves have already become a major talking point.
At a press conference last week, Racing coach Eduardo Coudet jokingly implored staff to switch off the room’s television screen after watching Armani produce a typically excellent stop in River’s win away to Santa Fe. “Let me dream,” he pleaded, having himself been a victim of Armani’s brilliance in River’s 2-0 win over Racing in early April and before, when his Rosario Central side fell to Atletico Nacional in the last eight of the 2016 Libertadores.
With his supremely swift reactions, strong hands and ability to spread himself big and thus close off angles, Armani is the sort of goalkeeper that few coaches or forwards enjoy facing. He is the sort of custodian who somehow manages to consistently get something on the ball, be it his hands, his feet, his stomach or whatever, to divert it clear of goal.
Sampaoli has, understandably, taken note of Armani’s displays. The two met at the national team training centre in Ezeiza last month, and press reports afterwards suggested the meeting had been positive. The conversation was oiled by their shared heritage, as both hail from the small town of Casilda in Santa Fe province - an earlier stop on the same bus line out of Rosario that leads to Murphy, hometown of Mauricio Pochettino.
Indeed, in a neat quirk of history, it was Sampaoli who gave Armani’s elder brother Leandro, a striker, his senior debut with one of the town’s clubs, Aprendices Casildenses.
There is, however, no suggestion that Armani’s potential inclusion would be a simple favour from one Casildense to another. Sergio Romero will go into his third consecutive World Cup as Argentina’s number one, but Armani has certainly done enough to put himself in contention with Nahuel Guzman and Chelsea reserve Willy Caballero for one of the two remaining spots. The only real doubt against him is the strength of his ability with the ball at his feet.
In Colombia, there has long been a groundswell of public opinion that their national team would benefit from Armani’s presence. Earlier this year, a poll in a local newspaper saw 80% of respondents say that they would support him being called up. When selection by his home country still appeared unlikely, he had seemed open to the idea.
Now, however, he may be close to realising his true dream: to play for Argentina. Sampaoli will name his 35-man group of potential World Cup squad members next week, and it seems he will also use the occasion to separate out those who will be part of his final, 23-man squad from those who will act as reserves. It seemed improbable just a few months ago, but Armani’s name could now very well be on that first list.
River Plate play Estudiantes at 12.00am (BST) on Friday 11th May - Follow the game via our live match centre:
