But Messi will not have the opportunity to face his friend and colleague in Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar, because the latter will miss the meeting due to “groin pain”, according to what the Brazilian Football Confederation reported on Monday..
“He is in good physical shape,” Argentina coach Scaloni said during a press conference held at a training camp in the south of the capital, Buenos Aires, on the eve of the expected match.“.
The Argentine press asserted that the current French star of Paris Saint-Germain and the former Spanish Barcelona, who entered the last quarter of an hour in the victory over Uruguay 1-0 in the previous round, will start the meeting against Brazil, which guarantees its qualification for the football wedding mainly.
Messi, the best player in the world six times, suffered a thigh and knee injury before the international window, so he missed the ranks of the Paris club in its last two matches, locally against Bordeaux and continentally against Leipzig in the Champions League..
And about Leandro Paredes, Messi’s colleague in Saint-Germain, who joined the national team with a limping, and Juventus striker Paulo Dybala, who suffered an injury against Uruguay, the Argentine coach said that they still had to be “evaluated” and that a decision would be taken “at the last minute.”“.
And Argentina, in the event of winning and losing other teams in the unified group for the continent’s qualifiers, can officially guarantee its qualification to the World Cup and join its historical opponent, Brazil, who booked its place in the World Cup after beating Colombia 1-0 in the previous round..
This confrontation, which brings together the only two teams that have not been defeated so far in the qualifiers, smells of revenge after the “Tango Dancers” beat Pele’s grandchildren at home in the Copa America final 1-0 at the legendary “Maracana” stadium in Rio de Janeiro..
The first leg match between the two teams in the qualifiers was stopped several minutes after the start of the whistle, against the background of the Brazilian health authorities entering the stadium in an attempt to remove some Argentine players due to their non-compliance with the quarantine and procedures followed to combat the Corona virus..
No decision has been made regarding the fate of this match yet.
Scaloni expected a “very difficult match” against a Brazilian team that plays in a “live” style, and said, “They recover the ball quickly and are ruthless. We must be careful.“.
Brazil leads the unified group with 34 points from 11 wins against a draw, 27 goals scored and 4 . netted.
Neymar is the top scorer in Seleção in these qualifiers with seven goals, while Messi, his colleague in Saint-Germain, scored 6 goals for Argentina, which achieved a series of 26 unbeaten matches, and is second with 28 points from 8 wins and 4 draws..
Neymar will not get the opportunity to increase his goals because, “After exercises this morning, Neymar complained of aches at the level of the adjoining left thigh … And because of the inability to conduct additional tests, the technical staff decided to rest the player, who will not go with the delegation to San Juan.“.
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