Ahead of tonight’s friendly against Ecuador, Argentina manager Tata Martino has revealed that he is not willing to risk Lionel Messi by playing him.
Messi has been suffering from a sore foot and scans have shown his foot to be in good condition and he is not carrying any injury, but Martino is averse to playing his star player due to the fear of causing any damage.
The Barcelona stalwart was also rested for Argentina’s friendly against El Salvador last Saturday, which last year’s World Cup finalists won 2-0.
Messi has been in stellar form Barcelona this season, having scored 43 goals and assisted a further 25 in his 41 appearances in all competitions so far; his form has helped Luis Enrique’s side climb atop La Liga, four points ahead of closest rivals Real Madrid.
And Martino, who was at the helm of Barcelona last season, has said that he will keep a close eye on Messi’s fitness until kick-off to see if he can play tonight.
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“We’re not going to risk Messi", the Argentina coach was quoted as saying by AS.
“If it continued he will not play because we want to look after him.
“But while we have any kind of expectation that it might get better we will wait until the last minute [to decide].”
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