Argentina’s newly appointed coach Jorge Sampaoli who was the head coach of FC Sevilla has stated that currently there is only one player int he team who can start every game without any debate and he is none other than Lionel Messi. Argentina will play the most crucial game for them in this year at the 31st August which will be against Uruguay. Jorge Sampaoli knows that this is a must win game for them to take part at the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Russia and he believes that the 5 time Ballon d’Or winner will be the undisputed starter for the game.
Sampaoli said to the media in during a press conference which was held on Tuesday that, he is very much fortunate to have Lionel Messi in the when he was first appointed, because Messi’s International ban was just lifted at that time. He also said that, they have got the best player of the World in their team and the game is played centering him.
Argentina who have lifted the FIFA World Cup trophy for two instances on 1978 and 1986 respectively are currently at the 5th position of the South American zone points table for the World Cup qualifying round. Only the top four national teams will have the clearance to go to Russia next year for the World Cup and Argentina have not yet earned the license for the world cup.
Jorge Sampaoli said that Lionel Messi will be his trump card and all the games will be played centering him and he will hope to see Messi in his natural action. And another important task is to finding out the players who can help Messi to reach to his potential for the match vs Uruguay. The match will become tougher for Argentina because the game will be played at the Uruguayan ground. But, Sampaoli believes that if Messi can strike then there will be no obstruction for them to win the game.
He says that, leaving Messi alone at this point of the season will be a grave mistake. He said that, they have to help Messi with his surroundings and they have to seek for the players who have the ability to help him on the field. But he also made it clear that no player will get more privilege than each other except one, Lionel Messi.
he further added that, he will travel to Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Seville to talk to many Argentine players to make the team for the Aug 31 clash against Uruguay.
Sampaoli was asked about Javier Mashcherano and his future at Argentine team at the press conference. He praised Mashcherano that, he is such a player who has the experience to fight with the challenge the team is facing right now.
Messi was cleared to play against the matches against Uruguay, Venezuela and Peru which are very much crucial for his national side. This clearance came after FIFA’s Appeal Committee lifted his four game suspension ban at the international level. He was accused of abusing a match official during a qualifying game against Chile.
