Scaloni calls up Messi for the Qualifiers matches
The Argentina national team coach, Lionel Scaloni, has included Lionel Messi in the preliminary list for the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying matches against Venezuela and Ecuador, on September 4 and 9, respectively. The 31-player squad for the matches includes young talents like Franco Mastantuono from Real Madrid and Claudio Echeverri from Manchester City, as well as Julio Soler, defender for AFC Bournemouth, and José Manuel “Flaco” López, who plays for Palmeiras. This call-up marks the return of Marcos Acuña, while Alejandro Garnacho, from Manchester United, is not included this time. Enzo Fernández, Chelsea midfielder, who received a two-match suspension for his expulsion against Colombia in June, will miss the matches. In his place, Alan Varela, from FC Porto, was chosen. Last March, Argentina became the first South American team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. They currently lead the CONMEBOL standings. Argentina, which won its third World Cup title in Qatar in 2022, secured its place by defeating Brazil 4-1 in March, after Bolivia failed to beat Uruguay. The victory over Brazil also marked the first time Argentina has won both matches against Brazil in a World Cup qualifying tournament. The home victory was also Argentina’s first against the Brazilians since the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. The match against Venezuela will be played at home in the Monumental of Buenos Aires and the match against Ecuador will be played at sea level in Guayaquil. Meanwhile, Argentina captain Messi returned to action with Inter Miami on Saturday night after two weeks out with a right leg muscle injury. Against LA Galaxy, Messi scored a goal and then provided a sensational assist to Luis Suárez to propel his MLS club to a 3-1 victory. However, Miami coach Javier Mascherano has warned that Messi, who was seen clutching his hamstring several times, is not in full fitness.
“I repeat how important it was that the match ended. I was seeing him better as the minutes went by, but what we have to see is tomorrow how he feels, and go day by day.” Messi, 38 years old, has scored in his last four appearances coming off the bench for Inter Miami. The last time he played limited minutes with Argentina was in the 1-1 draw against Colombia and in the 1-0 victory over Chile last June. Before that match, he missed the March qualifying matches due to injury.“Clearly he wasn’t 100% comfortable,” Mascherano said after Saturday’s match. “Now, the reality is that as the minutes went by, he started to loosen up a bit more. We’ll have to see how he ended up in terms of fatigue. The injury had been something very, very small, and it was good that the three training sessions we had were good.
Javier Mascherano, Inter Miami coach
