File photo of Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Lionel Messi will play for Argentina in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday when he faces Brazil in Neymar’s absence due to a left thigh pain. Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said on Monday that Messi, suffering a knee injury, will play a match in San Juan to help the team qualify for next year’s World Cup.
Hours later, the Brazilian Football Confederation said in a statement that Neymar had “reported to be unsafe” about a possible injury.
“Since there is not enough time to conduct more exams, the coaching staff decided to release the player, who will not travel with the team,” the statement read.
Neymar’s friend and rival Messi played only 15 minutes in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Uruguay on Friday. He also missed two matches of Paris Saint-Germain due to injury.
“A few days ago he was physically fit and in the end we decided that it would be best for him to play for a few minutes, so he starts to feel that good,” Scoloni said. “For tomorrow (Tuesday), it is certain that he will play. We hope he finds himself in a good place.
Argentina, second in the 10-team South American standings behind Brazil, could qualify with a win. Brazil already has one of four automatic qualifying spots in the region.
Brazil has not won in Argentina since 2009. Scoloni’s main concern is in the midfield. Leonardo Paredes is recovering from an injury and could be replaced by Guido Rodriguez once again.
Apart from Neymar, Brazil will miss the suspended Casemiro, who could be replaced by Fabinho. Coach Tite hopes to test other players as well, possibly using Matthias Cunha instead of Gabriel Jesus, after beating Colombia 1–0.
In September, the qualifiers between the teams were suspended after seven minutes because Argentina broke COVID-19 protocols. FIFA has yet to announce what it will do with that match.
“I’m sorry that the match didn’t happen,” Tite said on Monday before Neymar’s injury was announced. (Tuesday) is a World Cup match for us, just like the Colombia match was. Everything else will be secondary because of the greatness of this encounter.”
Tite said he would continue testing different players when World Cup qualifying resumes next year.
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