After a great return to the Argentina National Team, Lionel Messi picked up an injury that will force him to miss the next World Cup Qualifier.
Lionel Messi had a great return to the Argentina National Team scoring the only goal against Uruguay in a 1-0 win. With that win, Argentina topped their group in qualifying, but it did come with a price. The little magician picked up a groin injury that will cause him to miss the next qualifier against Venezuela on Tuesday. This news is coming from the Argentina boss Edgardo Bauza.
“He won’t be able to play,” Argentina manager Edgardo Bauza said, via BBC Sport. “We can’t take any risks. We must take care of him.” Bauza is absolutely right about this short statement. Messi is arguably the best player in the world, so whenever he gets hurt, it hurts both Barcelona and Argentina. His presence on the pitch makes other players focus on him and it helps other players get behind the defense. Messi can change an entire match by himself because he is world-class in every aspect of the game.
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Venezuela should be taken seriously by Argentina due to their nice showing at the Copa America Centenario. In fact, Venezuela’s run ended in the quarterfinals at the hands of La Celeste, a 4-1 defeat in East Rutherford, New Jersey. For Barca, Messi’s injury is also obviously bad news as he’s irreplaceable and the Catalan’s success comes mostly from him. The injury should leave him out for a short amount of time as the Bauza doesn’t want Argentina to risk further harm to his injury.
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Overall, it is tough to see Messi sit out these matches, but its the correct decision to do so. Messi has been hurt before recently. His knee injury in 2015 caused him to miss a little over 2 months of action with Barca. Thankfully, Barcelona is in good hands with Neymar returning and Luis Suárez’s goal scoring prowess. They should be able to fill the void in La Liga action should Messi miss anymore action.
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