Nicolas Otamendi has praised Manchester City teammate Martin Demichelis, who looks set to play his final game for Argentina.
Demichelis has said his participation in the game against Bolivia in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers could be his last international match.
The 35-year-old is set to take the place of Otamendi, who misses the game through suspension after picking up a yellow card in the 2-1 win in Chile on Thursday.
Demichelis endured a nightmare during his last performance for City in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United when he was substituted after 53 minutes following a number of individual errors.
However, Otamendi is confident that the former Bayern Munich and Malaga defender, who has 49 caps for Argentina, deserves his place in the starting lineup.
He said: "Sadly I got the yellow so I can't play in this match and that is difficult, but I will be watching from Manchester.
"If he is on the national team it is because he more than deserves it. If he gets to play [today] obviously he will do his best.
"As for me with Martin, I have played with him at City he performs always well in the central defender role and he is more than capable of playing well on Tuesday. I hope we have a great match and get the three points we need. That is part of our goal to get the six points in this round of qualifying.
"Regarding Martin, those are obviously personal decisions and if he has decided that this is his last match, well he will be playing in Cordoba and wearing the national team shirt. He has represented Argentina for many years and I hope he has a great performance."
Otamendi added that he is happy with his performances at City since moving to the Etihad in a £31.5 million deal from Valencia.
The 28-year-old, who missed the United defeat with a bruised thigh, added: "I am enjoying playing because of my performance. In City I am doing things well, having a good outcome and that is important.
"At Valencia I also played well and I try to play all my matches at the same performance level. And I am happy with my performance.
"Each time I play I try to perform my best and be focused for as long as I can and give my best performance and do what I have to do, which is defend."