Messi is out of the Argentina team: he does not play against El Salvador and Costa Rica due to injury

Lionel Messi, captain of the world champion Argentine team, will not participate in the next matches that the Albiceleste will play next week in the United States, due to a muscle injury, as confirmed this Sunday by the MLS.

Messi, 36, was left out of the squad due to an illness generated in the last match he played with his team, Inter Miami, last week, against Nashville SC.

The Garzas club announced that the Argentine star had a “small injury to the hamstring of his right leg.”

The MLS, the United States soccer league, issued the list of players who will be affected by their respective teams in the coming days and Messi does not appear there, even though the AFA announcement is still pending.

For this reason, the captain of the champion team in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be out of the friendlies that the Albiceleste will play on Friday, March 22 and Tuesday, March 26 against El Salvador and Costa Rica in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, respectively, as part of the preparation for the Copa América.

Due to ailments in his right leg, Messi had already missed a match on Inter Miami’s tour in Hong Kong, and due to this new injury he was left out of the match that Inter Miami played on Saturday against DC United, in Washington.

Messi has played 11 games so far in 2024, which includes six friendly matches and five official matches, three for the MLS and the two matches against Nashville SC, for the round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup.

For the matches against El Salvador and Costa Rica, Argentina will also not have Paulo Dynala (AS Roma), out due to a muscle ailment, while it will have the return of defender Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United), recovered from an injury suffered earlier last February, and Nicolás Valentini, Boca Juniors defender.