Esteban Cambiasso participant in 2006 FIFA World Cup
International career
Cambiasso first represented Argentina in the youth squads, along with national teammates Juan Román Riquelme, Pablo Aimar, Walter Samuel and others. He was in the squads for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, where he scored the first goal in the final even though he was the youngest player on the squad, and captained the team during the 1999 edition.
Cambiasso made his Argentina senior national debut in 2000. He participated in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup with his national side, a tournament in which Argentina reached the final. On 15 May 2006, he was named in the Argentina national team for the 2006 World Cup. On 16 June, he capped a 24-pass Argentine interplay with a finish to score the second goal in a 6–0 victory over Serbia and Montenegro. In the quarter-finals match against Germany on 30 June 2006, the match went into penalties, where Cambiasso had his penalty kick saved, resulting in Argentina losing 4–2 and Germany progressing to the semi-final. The following year, he represented his country at the 2007 Copa América, where Argentina reached the final, losing out to South American rivals Brazil.
Since Diego Maradona took over as Argentina coach, Cambiasso was only called-up once to the national team for a friendly game on 14 November 2009 against Spain, despite continuing to play a vital role for Inter in their treble-winning season, and re-affirming his status as one of Europe's best central midfielders. On 12 May 2010, Cambiasso and Inter teammate Javier Zanetti were controversially left out of the 30-man provisional 2010 World Cup squad for Argentina.On 20 August 2010, new Argentina coach Sergio Batista recalled Cambiasso to the national team for the friendly against newly crowned world champions Spain. Argentina handed Spain their first defeat since becoming world champions the month prior, earning a resounding 4–1 win in a friendly at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires. Cambiasso also played for Argentina in the 2011 Copa América on home soil, where they were eliminated by eventual champions Uruguay, on penalties, in the quarter-finals.
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