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Why 2016 Will Be the Year Lionel Messi Strikes Gold with Argentina
- Updated: May 30, 2016
If Argentina are to break their 23-year trophy drought with the Copa America Centenario crown, Lionel Messi will once again be vital to their chances.
But worrying scenes in San Juan, Argentina, showed the Albiceleste will also have to keep their captain and talisman wrapped in cotton wool to make sure La Pulga can explode stateside over the course of June.
It was a picture no Argentina fan could stomach. Messi was forced to limp off in Friday’s first and only Copa warm-up against Honduras after taking a nasty hit to the back on the way to a 1-0 win over the feisty Central Americans.
The Barcelona wizard was later cleared of serious damage and will almost certainly be fit to take the field against Chile for the nation’s opening match of the Copa on June 6. The fact that the incident caused such distress among the team itself, however, shows his importance to a successful campaign.
“We are worried about Messi. There is always a chance of this happening in the last friendly and it is a concern,” coach Gerardo Martino told reporters in a press conference after the win. “But we have to play these games, because it is the last one before the competition–and it could also occur in a training session.”
Martino’s concern is well-placed; after failing at the final hurdle in last year’s final to hosts Chile, a win would give the ex-Barcelona coach breathing space at the Albiceleste helm, and his fate would appear to be tightly bound to the fitness of his No. 10.
Thankfully, he appears to be on the mend. Argentina team doctor Daniel Martinez told La Nacion on Sunday, via Goal, that his patient was progressing well after the scare.
“Messi is better, he has less pain. His recovery is day-to-day, there are various treatments for this type of hit,” he explained.
The star will continue his convalescence in Rosario, Argentina, while his team-mates start preparations in the U.S., and once the pain has gone, he will start regular training in Santa Clara ahead of June 6’s Group D opener.
Before his …
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