On the international day in January, Scaloni did not recall Messi to the national team. At a press conference before the game against Chile, Scaloni revealed the reason for this, "the new crown virus has a great impact on him."
During the Christmas holidays, Messi, who returned to Argentina for a holiday, contracted the coronavirus and returned to France on January 5, only to return to the game until the battle against Reims.
On the last international match day, Argentina scored 29 points after 13 rounds of matches and had already received World Cup tickets in advance. In this World Preliminary Tournament, Messi has scored 6 goals.
Scaloni revealed, "We had hoped Messi would come back, but he was infected with the worst strain. I decided not to recall him to the national team, he took a long break, I talked to him and he told me that the coronavirus had a big impact on him. It's important to get him fully recovered, so I think the best thing to do is to keep him at his club. ”
It is worth mentioning that although he did not return to the national team, Messi is still paying great attention to his teammates, and he even watched Scaloni's press conference through social networks and greeted everyone.
In addition to Messi, Joaquin Correa, Romero, Palacios, Domingos, Voith, Guido Rodriguez were either absent due to injury or infected with the new crown virus, and Pezzella was also suspended for accumulating yellow cards. In addition, Scaloni, who tested positive for the new crown virus, will not be able to travel to Chile, and Ayala and Samuel will lead the team.