Carlos Tevez was dropped from the national team as a punishment for missing the previous friendly match, the president of the Argentine Football Association said Wednesday.
Tevez was not in the team to face Portugal in Switzerland on Wednesday.
New Argentina coach Sergio Batista was upset that the Manchester City striker had dropped out of the squad to play Brazil in November with an injury, Julio Grondona said in a radio interview.
''I think the absence of Tevez is because of the attitude he had when he didn't come to play for the national team against Brazil in Qatar, and then played for his Manchester City club,'' Grondona told Radio Pop. ''The coaching staff did not like this attitude.''
When Batista named the team two weeks ago he said was he was giving Tevez a rest.
Tevez's absence, and injuries to Diego Milito and Gonzalo Higuain, leave Argentina short on center forwards for the match.
