Lionel Messi rests from World Cup qualifiers
The Argentine Football Association has decided to rest its star Lionel Messi, who has recently recovered from infection with the "Covid-19" virus, by excluding him from the lineup of his country's team invited to face Chile and Colombia in the South American qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Argentina will meet its host Chile in Santiago on January 27, before hosting Colombia on February 1.
The list of the Argentine national team, the guarantor of its qualification to the finals, was emptied of the name of Messi, who was infected with the “Covid-19” virus while he was in Rosario during the Christmas and New Year period.
And Paris Saint-Germain announced on January 5 that its star, who joined its ranks last summer in a free transfer deal from Barcelona, has returned to France after the result of a negative examination.
Messi, crowned with the Golden Ball for the best player in the world seven times, returned this week to his team's team training, after he missed his match against Van in the local cup competition and two league matches against Lyon (1-1) and Brest (2-zero).
Messi has played 10 league matches with Paris Saint-Germain since joining his ranks in August, and he will play his first match with him in 2022 against Rennes next Sunday in the twenty-second stage.
The list of coach Lionel Scaloni included Messi's teammate in the Parisian team Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes, and only two players from the local league and in the ranks of River Plate are veteran goalkeeper Franco Armani and striker Julian Alvares, who was named the best player in South America in 2021. Argentina qualified for the finals Last November, after its goalless draw against its traditional rivals, Brazil, the leaders and the first to qualify for South America.
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