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Lionel Messi is training ALONE, just three days before the opening of the World Cup in Argentina – sparking fears he could miss their clash with Saudi Arabia through injury – but insiders’ claim it’s precautionary and are confident that he will be fit in time’
- Lionel Messi trained alone on Friday and casts doubts about his World Cup condition
- Argentina will kick off their tournament against Saudi Arabia in three days
- But sources within the club assure the 35-year-old will be fit to play.
- The PSG superstar suffered a ‘minor’ injury just two weeks ago while playing for PSG
Concerns have arisen over Lionel Messi’s fitness after the Argentina striker failed to train with his teammates four days before kicking off their World Cup campaign in La Seleccion.
Argentina will play in their opening game in Qatar against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and have already lost a string of players, with Joaquin Correa and Nicolas Gonzalez sent home with injury on Friday.
But it seems that Argentina’s national coach Lionel Scaloni is not taking any chances with the condition of his star striker Markathe 35-year-old arrived at the training field 10 minutes late on Friday and did not train with the rest of his teammates.
Lionel Messi trained alone on Friday, four days away from Argentina’s first World Cup match
Messi came on the field 10 minutes late, but Argentina says he will be fit to play against Saudi Arabia
Messi also reportedly did not train with a ball, but the news coming out of the Argentine camp is positive, with Marca reporting that Argentina are ‘assuring’ the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner will be fit to play on Tuesday.
The PSG superstar reportedly suffered an ‘Achilles’ injury while playing for his club two weeks ago, but according to journalist Gustavo Yarroch, Argentina is ‘managing its minutes’.
Yarroch, who was also confident he would return on Tuesday, wrote on Twitter: “Messi has a slight calf strain. He regulates his loads to arrive well on Tuesday for Argentina’s debut against Saudi Arabia. That’s why he was only on the field for four minutes in the fifteen minutes that the Selection opened its doors.’
Argentina seems to have their training load under control, with Messi having a problem with his calves
The problem appears to be a recurring one as Argentina’s number 10 has missed PSG’s Champions League match against Benfica and a league match against Stade Remis.
Despite the injury, the attacker is in flying form this season, scoring 12 goals and 14 assists in 19 appearances for the Parisians.
Four of those goals came in the Champions League, with Messi inspiring his side to the knockout stages of the tournament despite finishing second in their group.
And he has also found the net for his country this year, with a whopping 11 goals in just seven appearances for La Seleccion.
Messi has scored 11 goals in seven appearances for his national team this year alone
The attacker suffered a calf injury two weeks ago while playing for Paris Saint-Germain
Having racked up nearly every major honor in the game, Messi is set to complete his trophy cabinet and lead Scaloni’s side to World Cup glory and grab the trophy that has eluded him for most of his career.
Messi has previously said this will be his last World Cup, but Argentina will need him as the Blues are in a tight group with Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Poland.