Leo Messi is back for Argentina!
In fact, he never went away. After
going back on his
announcement post Copa
America that he would no longer
be turning out for his country,
the Barça striker was absolutely
outstanding in Mendoza on
Thursday night.
It had to be Messi who scored
the only goal of a 1-0 win against
Uruguay, a result that sends the
albiceleste to the top of the South
American World Cup qualifying
table. The home side fully
deserved the lead after 43
minutes, when Messi's strike was
helped in by a rebound.
Argentina went on to dominate
the second half, with Messi
wielding his magic left, right and
centre, but no further goals. "I'm
grateful to the fans" he told local
TV after the game. "I was not
fooling anyone when I said I was
giving up the national team. We
were very upset about what had
happened but I had a rethink
afterwards. I spoke to Patón
[new manager Edgardo Bauza]
and the people also showed
amazing support for me."
They did indeed. The Estadio
Malvinas Argentinas had
nothing but applause for their
national hero, with numerous
banners proclaiming such
messages as "we'd rather lose
with you than have to lose you."
Messi's presence in the game had
been in doubt due to injury, and
he admitted afterwards that "I
was feeling quite a lot of pain in
my pubis. But I had to be here
after all the fuss I'd caused."
Because of his fitness, he added
that he was unsure whether he'd
be able to play in Argentina's
second fixture this week, away
to Venezuela.
His club team-mate Javier
Mascherano, who also played
the full 90 minutes and described
Messi as his 'best friend in
football', added that "it would be
unfair on the people not to see
him playing for his country."
-fcbarcelona.com
No comments:
Post a Comment