[Sport] Scaloni: "Messi has an ankle pain but he's ready to play"

[FNX Magokiler]

Lionel Scaloni spoke this afternoon, just over 24 hours before the match against Paraguay for the third date of the South American Qualifiers and assured that it has been the most difficult call-up of all that he has had as coach of the Argentine National Team due to the large number of injured and logistical complications. Even so, the technical director assured that he will have Lionel Messi from the start, beyond the discomfort that he drags on the ankle.

"Leo with us trained normally. It is known that with his club he has played for a while because he had been dragging a discomfort in his ankle but that does not prevent him from playing, so for us he is suitable and available to play tomorrow. From what happens tomorrow we will see if something changes, but in principle it is to play, "said Scaloni at a press conference this afternoon.

Messi's was not the only complication suffered by the National Team in the run-up to another double knockout date: "The truth is that we have had quite a few problems, especially at the level of being able to count on the majority of players. We still don't have them all today. Martinez Quarta just arrived and we will see if he can train with the group in the afternoon, and the rest of those who trained differently for different reasons, we hope today to see how they are to define the team for tomorrow. Without a doubt it was a very atypical call. the most difficult that we have had since we are here, typical of what we are experiencing. The number of games that are being played, the rush that exists. We hope we can count on all of them, "said the DT.

In this sense, in addition to keeping calm with Messi's state, he also indicated that they hope to have Lautaro Martínez: "Today we will see how he responds, but in principle it is fine. If he does not get to be, we have other options. Lautaro is fine, Alario is fine, Joaquín (Correa) is fine, so we will see if it is true that Lautaro cannot play we will make a decision, but today we believe that he will be there and that leaves us calm. "

 

 

SCALONI AND THE RETURN OF DI MARÍA
After the absence at the start of the Qualifiers, Fideo is again with the National Team and the coach explained the reasons for the return of the PSG attacker: "In the previous call we had Nico González and Lo Celso, who after giving the list , both fell due to injury. At that time I would have been in favor of calling Di María, but with everything that was happening it did not seem fair and respectful to call him when the Ecuador party was not going to arrive and the Bolivian party was going to arrive very fair. In this call, Nico González came with very few minutes, Lo Celso had not yet caught a football rhythm and we thought that this time we were not going to make the mistake of not bringing him again. My relationship with him is perfect, we are happy to have it and is training very well. "

 

THE PARTICULAR SITUATION OF MARTÍNEZ QUARTA IN THE SELECTION
"I still haven't seen Chino and I couldn't speak. He arrived, took the test and I still couldn't talk to him. He had a long trip, but we evaluated the possibility of him playing, because honestly we are having some complications there and after training. Today we will have things much clearer. Everything is very up in the air, we remain confident because we know that whoever comes out is going to do very well, but giving names today seems rushed, "said Scaloni about the former River, who arrived this tomorrow after a long journey of almost 24 hours.