Argentina captain Lionel Messi (AP)
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said captain Lionel Messi will start his World Cup qualifiers at home to Brazil.
- Reuters Buenos Aires
- Last Update:November 15, 2021, 22:18 IST
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Argentina captain Lionel Messi is fit again and will make his World Cup qualifier debut in Brazil on Tuesday, coach Lionel Scaloni told reporters on Monday.
Scoloni made similar remarks ahead of Argentina’s last game, a 1-0 win against Uruguay on Friday, although Messi appeared only for the final 14 minutes of the match.
Argentina are second in South America’s 10-team qualifying group, six points behind Brazil, the only team in the region to have secured their place in Qatar 2022 so far.
Scoloni reiterated that the 34-year-old Messi was fully recovered from knee and hamstring concerns that kept him out of Paris Saint-Germain’s last two games and prepared for one of the biggest matches in the South American calendar.
“He was physically fit the other day and in the end we decided it was the best thing for him to play a few minutes so that he realized it and was confirmed to play tomorrow,” Scoloni said of Tuesday’s match. San Juan.
“It’s going to be a very tough game,” Scoloni said. “Those are the teams that lead the qualifiers and they have already reached the finals.”
The top four teams in South American qualifying automatically progress to next year’s World Cup Finals and the fifth-placed team advances to an inter-regional playoff.
Argentina are unbeaten in 26 games, a run that includes a 1–0 win over Brazil in the Copa America final in Rio de Janeiro in July.
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