2X FIFA Champion Mia Hamm reflects on the Messi Mania in the US
By Sports Seriously, USA TODAY. Lionel Messi has rejoined the Argentine national team for two more qualifying matches to help the defending champions reach the 2026 World Cup. Messi, who last played in a friendly with Inter Miami last Friday, is expected to play when Argentina hosts Uruguay on Thursday night.
The match begins at 7 p.m. ET inside Estadio La Bombonera, the Boca Juniors stadium, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Argentina and Uruguay sit atop the CONMEBOL standings, with the defending World Cup champions holding 12 points, while Uruguay is tied with Brazil and Venezuela with seven points. It will be Messi’s first match with Argentina since his dominant return from a leg injury last month, where he had two goals to beat Peru 2-0 on Oct. 17.
The match begins at 7:30 p.m. ET, and will be broadcast by Telemundo and livestreamed on FuboTV, DirecTV Stream, and ViX.
Ronald Araujo took a cross from his teammate, and his right boot deflected off Argentina goalie Emiliano Martínez in the 41st minute. Araujo’s shot hit the bottom left side of the net after a cross by Matías Viña to give Uruguay a 1-0 lead just before halftime.
It is the first time in this round of Argentina’s World Cup qualifying matches that Messi’s side has faced a deficit and allowed the opposition to score a goal. Messi’s free kick in the 23rd minute was deflected by a header from a Uruguayan player.
But the leadup to the free kick was interesting. Messi pushed Uruguay’s Sebastian Caceres, and was then pushed down by Uruguay’s Manuel Ugarte as he was attacking the penalty area. Messi got the benefit of the referee’s decision to set up a free kick, a call the Uruguay players were demonstratively upset about. Messi had an altercation with Uruguay’s Mathias Olivera during the match. Players from both Argentina and Uruguay participated in the brief altercation during the match as it appeared Messi was defending a teammate. No players were given yellow or red cards, and play resumed.
Messi had a shot saved by Uruguay’s goalie Sergio Rochet. Uruguay’s Darwin Nunez missed on his side’s first shot on goal in the match. Nunez tried to squeeze it into the far-left side of the net with a right boot, but his shot was wide. One minute later, Uruguay again charged toward Argentina’s net but was stopped by the goalie.
The action started early for Leo Messi, who was taken down by Darwin Nunez in the first minute of the match. Messi appeared to be in pain after the sequence, favoring his leg, but he got back to his feet. The play led to a free kick in the second minute, which Messi did not take despite lining up for it. Rodrigo De Paul kicked it into the box, and Uruguay quickly ended any chance with a good defense in the goal area.
Messi is likely to start, and play the entire match against Uruguay tonight. Messi is healthy again after a leg injury in Argentina’s World Cup qualifying match on Sept. 7.
The injury caused Messi to miss Argentina’s 3-0 win over Bolivia on Sept. 12 and six matches with Inter Miami in September. “Messi is fine, he is doing well,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said in a news conference on Thursday. “Beyond the fact that he played a game in the last 25 days, he has been training normally, he is in good condition and he is fine.”
Messi played the entire match in each of his last three appearances. Messi appeared quite rusty in Inter Miami’s friendly last Friday, his first match in nearly three weeks after the MLS regular season ended (Inter Miami did not qualify for the MLS playoffs). He missed all his shots as Inter Miami lost 2-1 to New York City FC, on a night where Messi presented his eighth Ballon d’Or award to Inter Miami fans. Messi had a goal negated because he was offsides, and a free kick was deflected off the crossbar in Inter Miami’s season finale loss to Charlotte FC 1-0 on Oct. 21. Messi shined brightly and appeared 100 percent healthy in his last match with Argentina, scoring in the 32nd and 42nd minutes in a 2-0 win over Peru on Oct. 17.
Watch the video here. Besides, Leo Messi and Luis Suarez, who will reportedly sign with Inter Miami the next season, met each other for a hug before tonight’s match between Argentina and Uruguay.
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