More history beckons for Messi ahead of Argentina’s World Cup qualifier, and Scaloni offered a promising injury date.
Lionel Messi will equal Brazil legend Cafu as the fifth most-capped player in South American football history by playing in Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Peru in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Former Argentina teammates Javier Zanetti (143) and Javier Mascherano (147) are next up on the list in fourth and third places, respectively. Paraguay’s Paulo da Silva (148) and Ecuador’s Ivan Hurtado (168) complete the top two.
More importantly for Lionel Scaloni, though, was Messi’s appearance against Paraguay last week. Despite concerns over an ankle injury, the Barcelona ace played the full 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw and had a second-half goal ruled out.
“On a performance level, Leo played a good game,” said Scaloni in his pre-match conference as quoted by beIN SPORTS.
“We were unlucky that they didn’t validate the goal because it had been a great play.”
Regarding Messi’s ankle problem, the Argentina boss added: “I saw him well and he has no problem, that’s the important thing.”
Scaloni also announced his line-up for the game in Lima and made two key changes. Nicolas Tagliafico’s return means Nico Gonzalez will instead replace Lucas Ocampos alongside Messi and Lautaro Martinez in the attack. Gio Lo Celso, meanwhile, will replace the injured Exequiel Palacios.
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