Paulo Dybala leaves Argentina camp with calf injury

Paulo Dybala will not be able to lend his tricky feet to Argentina's faltering World Cup 2018 qualification campaign, as he has been forced to exit his country's training camp with an injury.

The Juventus forward recently missed his club's Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich with a swollen soleus muscle, and his comeback against Torino four days later lasted just 32 minutes.

Now, national team boss Gerardo Martino has revealed Dybala is now sidelined for Thursday's vital trip to Chile and the visit from Bolivia five days later with the same issue.

"Dybala's withdrawal was not unexpected," Martino told reporters, with translation from FourFourTwo.

"Juventus were kind enough to allow him to fly down to Argentina, but he will not be ready for these two games. We will not call up a replacement for Dybala."

In his stead, Argentina can still boast a wealth of attacking talent, including Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria. Things haven't fared so well for La Albiceleste though, with just two goals scored and five points collected from its first four outings of World Cup qualification.

In Friday's opponent Chile, Argentina faces a team one place above it in the table, and also the side that defeated it on penalties at the 2015 Copa America. In a cruel twist, the match is also staged at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradonos, where Argentina was defeated in that dramatic final last July.