Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni held a press conference on Monday where he spoke about Lionel Messi and him possible starting against Peru in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifying match.

Lionel Messi was brought on as a substitute for Argentina in their 1-0 win vs. Paraguay and his inclusion in the starting eleven against Peru is not yet known. Scaloni spoke at a press conference on Monday about Messi. Here is what he had to say:

“Messi is fine, he has been training. We will make the decision tomorrow.”

The coach was also asked about what or who will determine if Messi plays:

“It is to speak with him and to ask him how he is. If he is well… It’s a question of minutes, of how much he can play. If he is well, you already know what I think. If he is well, he will play. There is nothing more to say.”

Scaloni was also asked if Messi can play with both Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez:

“They are match decisions. Today, we are fine the way we are and maybe we don’t need to break the balance but we are open to everything depending on the match. The idea is that two strikers always play but then they have different characteristics.”

He was asked about Lionel Messi and Inter Miami playing in Asia prior to the World Cup qualifying matches against Uruguay and Brazil in November:

“It’s not a problem (Messi’s tour of Asia), the opposite. Those who come from Europe also have a change of schedule, he will also play two matches and comes before or that weekend.”

The Argentina national team will be wearing the purple kit for their World Cup qualifying match vs. Peru.

Argentina will not be wearing their sky blue and white kit but instead the purple kit. According to Gastón Edul, Lionel Scaloni’s team will wear the purple kit for the first time in the World Cup qualifiers.

The last time they wore it was in the 2-0 win vs. Poland at the World Cup.

The Argentina national team trained on Sunday before the match vs. Peru on Tuesday.

Lionel Scaloni held a training session on Sunday and will hold another training session on Monday. According to TyC Sports, Scaloni did not try out a team during the training.

Scaloni will speak at a press conference on Monday prior to the team flying out to Peru on Monday evening. It remains to be seen if Messi will start the match or come on as a substitute as he did against Paraguay.

Lionel Messi trained with the Argentina national team.

Messi was brought on as a substitute for Argentina in their 1-0 win vs. Paraguay on Thursday and trained with the team on Saturday. According to TyC Sports, Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni will not be able to have Messi for the entire match against Peru on Tuesday but the goal is to try and see if he can play 60 minutes.

If Messi were to start, it would be in place of Julián Álvarez or Lautaro Martínez. Here is the rumored eleven:

Emiliano Martínez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Nicolás González; Julián Álvarez or Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martínez or Messi.