Argentina allay injury concerns over Lionel Messi ahead of World Cup finals… with South American insisting he was completing indoor recovery session after not turning up for squad training camp.
By Ed Carruthers for Mailonline
Published: 00:05, 16 December 2022 | Updated: 00:42, December 16, 2022
Injury concerns over Lionel Messi’s fitness have eased, after the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner did not join the rest of Argentina’s squad for training on Thursday.
The 35-year-old starred for the South American side to reach the 2022 World Cup finals in an emphatic 3-0 win over Croatia on Tuesday night, with the winger opening the scoring for score Argentina’s first goal from the penalty spot.
Concerns arose over his fitness as Messi was seen straining his hamstring in the latter stages of the match, but according to Argentinian news agency Clarín, the PSG superstar is untroubled and ready to play the final against France.
Concerns arose over Lionel Messi’s fitness after he appeared to clutch his thigh against Croatia
Messi was also not seen training with the Argentina national team on Thursday, raising concerns
Photographers flocked to snap shots of Lionel Scaloni’s side as they prepared for their mouth-watering World Cup final match against France on Sunday, but his number 10 was nowhere to be seen.
And according to Clarín, Messi was inside completing a recovery session, along with Papu Gómez, Lautaro Martínez and other players who started on Tuesday.
Messi has been a key figure for Argentina during the World Cup, picking up four man of the match awards in the six games he has played, while returning four goals and three assists to help his team reach at the end
But according to sources, the 35-year-old has no problem and was completing a recovery session
Lionel Scaloni’s team (right) will play against France in the 2022 World Cup final on Sunday.
He confirmed earlier this week that this will be his last World Cup, and the 35-year-old is backed by his team-mates to lead the game on Sunday night.
And while the injury news coming out of Messi’s Argentina camp is promising, doubts remain over Gomez’s fitness after he rolled his ankle during Argentina’s World Cup opener against Australia .
Doubts remain over the fitness of Angel di Maria, who has suffered a soft tissue injury which saw Scaloni decide not to use him during their semi-final.
Sergio Aguero was also spotted at the training ground, helping Argentina prepare for France
Retired star Sergio Aguero was also spotted at Qatar University’s training base today, helping his team prepare for their final and was seen drilling a wonder goal into the back of the net .
The former Manchester City star, now 34, has been on the pitch for much of the tournament, and was even seen in a heated confrontation after the quarter-final win against Holland.