(East Rutherford) Lionel Messi hopes the leg injury he suffered in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Chile at the Copa America is “minor”.
The day after turning 37e anniversary, the Argentine star player received treatment on his right thigh for almost two minutes, after receiving a kick from Chilean Gabriel Suazo in the 24e minute of play from the match presented on Tuesday evening.
Messi remained on the pitch, and the Argentines, the reigning champions of the competition, secured their place in the quarter-finals.
He told reporters after the meeting that there was “nothing serious.” Messi added: “It bothered me a bit, but I was able to finish the match. I had difficulty moving without constraint, especially when moving sideways. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow (Wednesday). »
Messi added that he had also been bothered by sore throat and fever for several days.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said during the post-match press conference that he had spoken with Messi and was not concerned about the injury.
Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez scored the only goal of the match in the 88th minute.e minute, following a corner kick from Messi.
Scaloni said he plans to give some starters a night off during Argentina’s final Group A match against Peru on Saturday in Florida.
Argentina will win its group unless it loses to Peru in Miami Gardens and Canada beats Chile in a duel that will be presented simultaneously in Orlando.
The Canadians could overtake Argentina on goal differential. Argentina is currently at plus-3, and Canada is at minus-1.