Santiago, Mar 18 (IANS): Juan Antonio Pizzi, the new coach of Chile's football team, is hopeful of a successful debut in next week's match against Argentina.

Pizzi on Thursday announced 18 of the total 25 players that will face Argentina on March 24 and Venezuela on March 29, reports Xinhua.

Forward Eduardo Vargas and midfielder Jorge Valdivia will not be part of the Chilean team this time. Both were penalised in the match against Uruguay last November.

Despite this, Pizzi is confident his team will be able to manage the challenges in the South American qualifying tournament for Russia 2018 World Cup.

So far, Chile has seven points as well as Brazil and Paraguay. With 12 points, Ecuador and Uruguay are currently leading the group.

Pizzi has his work cut out for him with Chile team after Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli resigned weeks ago along with the whole technical team.

"All the players we called upon this time can adapt better to our plan for the next two matches," said Pizzi.

Pizzi also said he included players who were not expected to be included in the teamlist but "I believe they can help to reach the goal."