“Messi did differentiated training in the first days. Yesterday he intensified a little more and, in principle, he is available”. With those words, Lionel Scaloni confirmed that the star of the Argentine National Team will be present in the Playoff game on Friday against Uruguay, although did not clear the question if it will do it from the start or it will be reserved to enter the second part.
“Messi is fine and, if he continues like this, he will play”, confirmed Scaloni, who made it clear that the predisposition of the coaching staff and of Messi himself is to play the game. “Living with Leo is easy, he always wants to play and I always want him to play. His attitude is a source of pride. This afternoon we will make the last decision”, explained the coach, who on the contrary ruled out Leandro Paredes, who has been suffering from a muscle injury since the previous game against Peru and during the last month he did not participate in any Paris Saint Germain match. “Paredes is out of the game for this game. We have alternatives that can do just as well as him.”, explained the DT. In that sense, Guido Rodríguez appears as the main candidate to replace the former Boca midfielder.
In any case, Scaloni clarified that if Messi does not arrive well to the meeting, the team will not have great problems because in the squad it has valid alternatives to replace him: “We have players who can play the role of Leo and whoever does it will do well”. With these doubts and certainties, Scaloni announced that the formation will be very similar to the last ones, with a base that has been consolidating since the Copa América won in Brazil: “The rest of the team will be practically the same as the last game, but I can’t confirm it yet”.
In this sense, the coach analyzed the possible development of the match, with the conviction that Argentina will seek to dominate the match so as not to suffer with the fearsome Uruguayan forwards, beyond the numerous absences that the team led by Oscar Washington Tabárez will have. “Our team is the protagonist with the ball and, when we do not have it, we suffer. We will see what is the game that Uruguay proposes, they have many casualties”, said the coach, who downplayed an eventual rough play by the Celestial, pressured by recent defeats and position in the standings. “Today there is no more ‘winning with the handsome’. The VAR was created, any strong infraction is red. Uruguay has footballers to play a good game, with first-rate strikers. “
With a game less played, Argentina has 25 units and is in the second position, very close to the points threshold that marks the qualification for the World Cup. Conversely, Uruguay is in fifth place, in the playoff zone, with 16 units, after losing the last two games against Argentina and Brazil.
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