Argentina's Romero back in full training before World Cup knockout clash

He could be available for their World Cup Round-of-32 clash against Cape Verde

Argentina's Lionel Messi and Cristian Romero celebrate after the match. Reuters

Argentina defender Cristian Romero returned to full training on Monday and could be available for their World Cup Round-of-32 clash against Cape Verde on Friday after being sidelined in the reigning champions final Group J match with a knee injury.

• Romero was forced off in the 57th minute of Argentina's 2-0 win over Austria on Jun 22 after suffering a knee injury.

• The 28-year-old centre back did not feature in Saturday's 3-1 victory versus Jordan, with veteran Nicolas Otamendi stepping into the starting lineup.

• Coach Lionel Scaloni rotated his squad against Jordan after Argentina had already secured top spot in Group J.

• Scaloni said Romero was the only unavailable player for the Jordan game but was confident he would recover for the knockout stage.

• Argentina returned to training in Kansas City on Monday following a day off on Sunday, with Romero taking part in the session alongside the rest of the squad.

• Prior to the Jordan game, Romero had resumed on-field work but did not participate in the training session open to the media on Friday.