Lionel Messi Makes Impactful Return as Argentina Defeats Paraguay in World Cup Qualifier
Argentina’s star player, Lionel Messi, made a triumphant return to the field during Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay in a World Cup qualifying match in Buenos Aires on Thursday night. Although Messi started the game on the bench as he continued to recover from a leg injury, his presence in the second half proved vital to Argentina’s success.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni opted to start Porto winger Nico Gonzalez, Manchester City’s Julián Álvarez, and Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez in the team’s forward line. This decision left Messi as a substitute, allowing him extra time to regain his fitness.
Despite starting without Messi, Argentina took an early lead with a stunning volley from Nicolas Otamendi. The lead remained unchanged as the first half concluded. Shortly after the break, Messi entered the pitch, much to the delight of the home crowd at Monumental.
During his time on the field, Messi displayed his trademark skill and creativity, directing play and creating numerous chances for his teammates while keeping Paraguay on the defensive. In stoppage time, Messi came close to extending Argentina’s lead but hit the post with a free-kick.
After the match, Messi expressed his happiness at being able to play again, stating, “It is always difficult to enter from the bench and even more so in such a tight game. The important thing is that we won, and we played well, especially in the first half. I come here after playing only a few minutes for my club [Inter Miami CF]. We talked and planned to see how I feel during the week. The idea is to add more training sessions in the following days ahead of our next game.”
However, the match was not without controversy. In the 85th minute, Paraguay forward Antonio Sanabria appeared to spit at Messi during a heated exchange. When asked about the incident, Messi replied, “Truthfully, I didn’t see it. My teammates told me in the locker room that he spat at me. I don’t know who this boy is, and I don’t want to make a big thing out of it.”
With this victory, Argentina, the defending World Cup champions, now have nine points from three matches. Their next challenge is an away match against Peru on October 17. As for Messi’s future involvement, Scaloni stated, “We will talk in the next few days to determine his condition. At this point, I’m not ruling out any option. He could play from the start, as a substitute, or not play at all. But today I think it was risky for him to get a lot of playing time. We talked about it and we agree on that, and I think it was prudent.”
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