Lionel Messi is absent from Argentina training just four days before the FIFA World Cup clash with Saudi Arabia in Qatar.
The South American country enters the competition with great optimism and a 36-match winning streak.
But as the 35-year-old failed to show up with his teammates for practice on Friday afternoon, the nation will be anxiously waiting for news on their hero.
When reporting from Argentina’s training session, Sky Sports raised questions as they stated: “We haven’t seen Lionel Messi yet.”
“He might be joining up later, he might be on a different programme to everyone else.”
“But so far we haven’t been able to spot him.”
The main aim of Messi in Qatar is to lead Argentina to World Cup victory in an effort to add the one trophy that has so far eluded him.
Recall that Messi lost in the 2014 World Cup Final, although he did assist them in defeating Brazil to win the Copa America the previous year.
With a 5-0 victory over the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday in Dubai, Argentina extended their unbeaten streak to 36 games. If they defeat Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opener, they would tie Italy’s unbeaten record (37 games).
But manager Lionel Scaloni admitted this week that several of his players are having trouble.
He said that Alejandro Gomez, Cristian Romero, Nicholas Gonzalez, Paulo Dybala, and all of them were injured.
And he made a suggestion that he might be thinking about changing something before the tournaments start the following week.
He stated: “We have days to decide.”
“There are some players who are physically troubled. The truth is that we are not sure that these 26 players are all in the squad, luckily, we have days to decide if we have to make any modifications.”
On Tuesday, Argentina’s World Cup campaign gets underway against Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday, November 30, they will play Mexico first, followed by their final Group C match against Poland.
Lionel Messi
Argentine professional footballer Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987) heads the Argentina national team in addition to playing forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi, who is recognized as one of the all-time best players, has a record seven Ballon d’Or victories, a record six European Golden Shoes, and in 2020, he was selected for the Ballon d’Or Dream Team.
He spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, retiring from the team in 2021 after winning a club-record 35 trophies there, including 10 La Liga championships, seven Copa del Rey championships, and four UEFA Champions Leagues.
The most goals in La Liga (474), the most goals in a La Liga and European league season (50), the most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and the most assists in La Liga (192), a La Liga season (21) and the Copa América (17) belong to the prolific goal scorer and talented playmaker Messi. Additionally, he holds the record for the most goals scored outside of South America by a male (91).
Messi has the most goals by a player for a single club with over 785 goals in his senior career for club and nation.
Messi at International level
Messi, an Argentine international, is the nation’s all-time best scorer and holds the record for appearances.
He won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship for youth players, taking home the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe awards as well as an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Games.
His diminutive, left-footed dribbling style of play drew comparisons to that of his countryman Diego Maradona, who referred to Messi as his successor.
After making his senior debut in August 2005, Messi went on to win the 2007 Copa América, where he was named the tournament’s young player, and become the youngest Argentine to play and score in a FIFA World Cup in 2006.
Since August 2011, when he became the team’s captain, he has guided Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2015 and 2016 Copa Américas, where he earned the Golden Ball in 2015, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball.
After declaring his international retirement in 2016, he then changed his mind and guided his nation to three victories: the 2021 Copa América victory and the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, the latter of which earned him the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards. With this accomplishment, he would be awarded a record-breaking seventh Ballon d’Or in 2021.
Lionel Messi’s total Argentina goals
| Competition | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| World Cup | 19 | 6 |
| Copa America | 34 | 13 |
| World Cup qualification | 60 | 28 |
| Finalissima | 1 | 0 |
| International friendlies | 51 | 44 |
| 165 | 91 |
