Samuel confirmed that Messi does not play against Peru

Lionel Messi, captain of the Argentine National Team, was ruled out of this Saturday’s match against Peru for the Copa América, due to a muscle injury, Walter Samuel, one of the assistants to coach Lionel Scaloni.De according to NA, Samuel said: “He had a problem in the last game, Leo is not going to be there, we are going to go day by day waiting for his evolution.” The assistant replaced Scaloni in the press conference after the suspension imposed by Conmebol on the head coach. Messi suffered a muscle problem during the match against Chile, last Tuesday, although he was able to finish the match. In any case, and as a precaution, the coaching staff decided to preserve it thinking about the quarterfinals, given that the team is already qualified for the second round of the tournament that is played in the United States. We are going game by game, we are not planning to keep someone, we think about forming the best team to play very well against Peru and be able to win it,” added Samuel.Scaloni, meanwhile, could not be at the press conference and will not be able to lead the team tomorrow since he was suspended with one match for having delayed the re-entry of the National Team after halftime in the match against Chile. He’s a little bitter,” Samuel confided when referring to Scaloni, who will have to watch the match against the Peruvian team from the stands of the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.Beyond this setback and Messi’s absence, the Albiceleste team would line up with Emiliano Martinez; Gonzalo Montiel, Nicolás Otamendi, Germán Pezzella and Nicolás Tagliafico; Exequiel Palacios, Leandro Paredes, Valentín Carboni and Angel Di María; Lautaro Martínez and Alejandro Garnacho.

Original source in Spanish