Argentine national team coach Alfio Basile mentioned the fact that Martín Palermo was on his call-up list for the upcoming matches against Paraguay and Peru next week.
¨It hurt me to see what happened to (Martín). He is a great goalscorer. This was Martín´s time to come back to the national team. His injury is quite a shame to have happened at this moment,¨ said Basile. ¨He was going to be a great player to have on the field especially against Paraguay. He matches up well against them and would have been a viable threat against the Albirrojos. Palermo was one of Basile´s favorite players during his time at Boca, but El Titán was never called up for international duty after Basile took over the national team back in 2006.
Palermo was going to make his return after a nine-year absence. During that previous stint he scored three goals in seven caps. His scoring in the 1999 Copa América was overshadowed by the three penalty misses against Colombia, where he obtained a dubious distinction in the Guiness Book of World Records.
Palermo, 34, tore both his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee in an freak play against Lanús in the third week of the Argentine Apertura. This was the same injury that he suffered back in 1998 against Colón. The Boca Juniors striker was operated on Tuesday and the procedure came out successful, but the recovery time is expected to be anywhere between 6-8 months. Palermo will not be expected to run until February. The severity of this injury puts in jeopardy his career, although the Argentine media has tended to downplay it.