The Argentina national team trained in Houston and Lionel Messi did part of the training.
Lionel Scaloni’s team landed in Houston on Monday and trained at Houston Dynamo’s stadium. According to Gastón Edul, Messi did part of the training and the other part was kinesiology to recover.
Wednesday would be when the they will decide if Messi starts Argentina’s quarter final match vs. Ecuador at the Copa America or if he will come on in the second half.
Guiliano simioni cslled up to olimpic squad
Hope Messi comes in as a Sub
DePaul and Mac Allister at center, Di Maria and Nico Gonzalez at wings. Scaloni planning a new 442. .!
Two of Lautaro, Alvarez, Messi…at front.
VAMOSSSSSS
Juan Sforza is great miss for olympic team.
Olympics team is announced. Rulli, Otamendi, Alvarez joins as the 3 overage players.
Given that many good players ( Garnacho,Barco,Soule,Varela,Enzo,Dibu ) couldnt join due to club disapprovals, overall it looks a decent squad with many players who have been a core part of Masche’s U23 journey.
Would have wished few tweaks like Aaron Quiros over Bruno Amione & Nardoni as DM+RB. But overall it is a balanced squad within the given limitations. France & Spain also have had to leave most of their talented U23 youngsters.
wanted Nardoni in….too bad he is not selected.
Messi should take rest. He should come as a sub. If we will not face brazil, Colombia or Uruguay before final. They why do we need to Messi before final? It’s time to our team. Messi will start in final.
It has been crazy this Copa. No penalty calls, wrong offside calls, and no yellow cards when expected. Only our national team has been protected (especially during Chile game)I’ve never seen our team so favored in a copa. They are even calling our national team “VARgentina!” lol
They say it’s rigged for Messi to win it all in Miami. After all those years of facing tough opponents 2006 WC group of death (then one of the best Mexico teams, then Germany round of 8), 2011 Copa (Uruguay) 2014 WC (Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Germany), 2018 WC (round of 16 – France) 2022 WC (Croatia, Netherlands, before France), now we paid the cost to be the boss and no ref want to feel hear the dreaded words, “bobo!”
We need LM10 in the bench. We know we have enough fire power to deal with Ecuador even without LM10. But u can not 100% sure about anything. So u have to be tactical.
As I said many times before, social media has given voice to the clueless, stupid and batshit conspiracy theorists. Both Chile and Brazil were given favorable draws when they hosted, Brazil blatantly CHEATED ARG when VAR told the REF. to look at both fouls inside the box and he refused OR when they said that communication between the REF and VAR was interrupted by their crocked former president secret’s service communications…..etc
Thankfully, that was ARG and Messi’s turning point, all of a sudden he started talking on and off the pitch and ARG took off and never looked back to win 3 trophies.
I’ll take whatever HELP available to win since ACCORDING TO “THEM”, FIFA rigged everything for Messi to win anyway.
@Dfox1942 Good point. That Copa was a big turning point and when Messi began to be vocal. Sometimes you have to lobby since the game has politics in it.
The way FOX announcers were talking during The BRZ/COL game, Messi will play Thursday night.
I need to send you a link to watch on Premier sports in Europe. Great commentating and analysis. A different world and experience all together
This time we are lucky, we are on are easier side of bracket, we will face a big team only in final.
Colombia played better and had more chances…Brazil is missing the midfield and not able to create any chances for Rodrygo or Vinicius…Endrick is too young and will have to wait..
Brazil needs a Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Juninho, Rivaldo, Adriano etc..and list goes on to win in style..Neymar alone is not enough..
Also – the referee have been so indifferent on yellow cards – De Paul always fall down on any touch..this ain’t going to work against physical teams and don’t expect any yellow cards..
The difference is Depaul quickly grabs the ball as he falls when lightly touched. The ref has no choice but to call a foul. Or will they call hand ball this copa? lol
There is nothing satisfying than watching your arch enemies eliminate each other out! Noway this Brazil team will beat Uruguay. They were extremely lucky to non concede 3 more goals. Their defenders were panicking every time Colombia attacked and their midfield was invisible while V.Junior and Rodrigo hardly did anything at all! Other than first 15mins and last 2 mins, it was fully dominated by Colombia .
Somehow i have a feeling, that Columbia will end up beating Uruguay in the semi’s as i predict Uruguay to beat Brazil, though i Could be wrong and we will see another match played between Colombia and Brazil anyhow still think Uruguay might suit ARG better as opponent, if ARG HOPEFULLY MAKE’s it to the final… than current Columbia, well i could be easily wrong, but in Uruguay’s last game one their players Maxi Araujo was injured badly as it looked quite serious head/ neck injury indeed and in previous game’s he seemed to have great chemistry with Nunez as i don’t know if he will be playing…, as Brazil will be missing Vini Jr. , as obviously both might be instrumental for their teams, but as said Brazil don’t seem to have neither great defence nor at any sort of middfield so basicly they are heavily relied on set pieces and maybe some individual skill’s…, but i don’t think, that will be enough for them against Uruguay and even if they would end up in the semi’s most propably against Colombia, well i think ARG will beat Brazil more easily, than Colombia as i think, that would be the most trickiest opponent for ARG to face right now HOPEFULLY FOR ARG IN THE FINAL, but with right tactics everything is allways possible in any game of football as every game itself is unpredictable and as said also the refereeing in this COPA has been, well i quess it will be fair to say at least questionable..? VAMOS ARGENTINA OUR BELOVED ALBICELESTE !
Colombia missed a lot of their chances yesterday and they created far more than Brazil. I won’t be surprised at all if we meet them in the final.
When fat little Endrick is your savior you are in trouble. This is the most laughable Brazil side I’ve ever seen. I’m glad though, they are so damn arrogant some humility will do them good. At this point they aren’t even a top 10 team in the world.
Can someone get Dorival Junior a new sweatshirt with 5 stars on it? Dude is managing the team with a 4 star jacket that looks like it was made by members only lol
As it stands it will be Uruguay vs Brazil
Yellow vs Yellow and 10 fouls in less than 7 mins already
Hope Messi recovers soon…VAMOSSSSS
If Ecuador scores first, then we’re in deep trouble.. So I’d start Messi and take full control of this game from the beginning. We can always take him off after we take the lead first.
I second the idea. We should start with Messi, press hard and then, if situation permits, substitute him with someone faster. But Ecuador is a rough team. They would definitely target Messi’s injured thigh. Refereeing has been below par in terms of safeguarding players from injuries. So this is a delicate decision that Scaloni needs to take.
I say we start without Messi. If need be, then we bring him in. Plus what a site it would be to see Messi being subbed in. A rarity in our lives.
Molina Romero licha Tagla
Depaul Paredes Enzo
Di maria Alvarez
Lauturo
I think this will be the case, though if MESSI is Fully fit, which i unfortunatly do not think so, though offcourse i hope so, but ARG will be facing fast Ecuadorian side eager to prove themselfs too and who would not as playing against defending COPA, FINALLISMA AND WC WINNERS/CHAMPIONS as ARGENTINA !
So if MESSI not Fully fit as obviously there are plenty of options for ARG as just forexample :
DIBU
MOLINA CUTI LICHA TAGLI
RDP-?-MAC
ADM-TORO-JULIAN
or
DIBU
MOLINA CUTI LICHA TAGLI
ADM-RDP-MAC-NICO or move NICO to the right and ADM to the left
JULIAN
TORO
Most likely SCALONI and COACHING will field another kind of starting 11 as i’m only and purely quessing..? And can’t wait til’ the game ! Though i’m quessing, still i will be sure of one very important thing needed as Special cooking like allways ! VAMOS ARGENTINA !
as allways !
Tomorrow will watch with family and they will be doing the cooking. Back to beef!
We need a fit Messi. Period. In a big game like the quarter-final, we still need him badly. We had not been playing that great this far in the tournament. Ecuador is going to be a very strong opponent. Lautaro is a scorer and not a game-maker.
I disagree. If Messi isn’t fit, he shouldn’t play. We have more than enough firepower and versatility to play without Messi. If he is mostly fit and he comes on as a substitute, that is even better.
I hope Messi keeps playing for Argentina until he retires from fútbol completely.
I wrote “We need a fit Messi”.
Please do not start messi if not any close to fitness – it is not worth it…
Goal Scoring have been challenging both in COPA and Euro..
I see France being very similar situation to Argentina – pre-Scaloni era…the dependence on Mbappe is too much…the team is unable to score inspite of the talent..
Portugal – It is better Ronaldo retires as soon as possible before becoming a complete liability..
England – On paper, they can have 3 different national teams but no where close to the expectations..
Germany – if they reach Semi – it is considered a successful campaign…
Spain – the only team which has some chance..
If Messi is not fully fit, Scaloni will not start him and might not even use him as a substitute if we are winning by a comfortable margin. Our core group of players have played a few times without Messi post world cup and they have looked quite comfortable without their leader. Ecuador is not an easy team by any means and they will either adopt an ultra defensive strategy or all out attack from the outset until they put one in the back of our net. Scaloni should still remember how they gave us the taste of our own medicine in the 2022 WCQ match that ended 1-1.
Many are calling to play Palacios over DePaul but Scaloni is not going to drop the piston of his midfield engine and will most likely start Paredes over Enzo who is still far from his top form following his hernia surgery. Our management has 3 former defenders as coaches and they hate to concede early and concede first, which is why they played Guido as a hybrid DM and a sweeper against Mexico and 3 CBs against Netherlands. Since there is no extra time after 90mins and considering the unpredictability of penalty shootouts, Scaloni should start with Nico and Dimaria on the flanks with Lautaro as their target man who is in a red hot form and it will be mistake to not capitalize his current form, especially with misfiring Julian and injured Messi on the sidelines.
This is the benefit of maintaining a system. Even with a huge variable like messi playing/not playing, it doesnt feel like we are in uncharted territory.
If he plays, everyone knows the system, if he doesnt, Di maria would probably replace him and it feels like we have seen this multiple times. A core group of players who know exactly what their roles are, including the main subs.
I dont know when was the last time we had such calmness in the team. Scaloni and co have done a tremendous job. Even though many ppl here would immediately start all new players together, scaloni’s approach is the best.
Also, I am thankful that atleast for the rest of this tournament the comment section would not only be about Garnacho.
Garnacho this and Garnacho that, as if he is the solution to all our problems. Look, I want the kid to succeed, but I trust scaloni and his timing on integrating players.
Hopefully he fully recovers before needed.