The team later dispelled fears of a serious injury, saying on their Twitter account that Messi had “suffered bruising on the left of his lower back and ribs”.
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Argentina’s in-form Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal of the game in the match in San Juan.
The super striker had to leave the game at minute 64 when kneed in the back by Oliver Morazan after being spilled by Johnny Leveron.
Messi joins Argentina on the back of a grueling La Liga campaign that saw his team Barcelona recapture the Spanish league title and also win the Copa del Rey.
Messi was pulled off the field during the second half of Argentina’s 1-0 friendly defeat of Honduras on Friday with a bruised lower back. “His recovery is day to day, there are several treatments for this type of blow”, Martinez said. “He is being examined in a local hospital for a more thorough diagnosis”, the statement said.
He said: “I think the stakes are high because in our last two tournaments we have made two finals, so we’ve done something right”.
He missed a light training session on Saturday and was not in any case going to travel with the rest of the squad directly to Santa Clara in California where Argentina meet Chile in their Group D opener on June 6.
The five-time Ballon d’Or victor found the net once and provided three assists in his country’s march to the final of the competition a year ago and as their second highest goalscorer of all-time, the Albiceleste will hope he recovers in time for their opener against defending champions Chile on June 6.
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Higuain fired the Argentines ahead just after the half hour, and only a fine close-range save from Escober prevented Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo from making it 2-0 on 39 minutes, his shot from Erik Lamela’s pass parried away at the near post.
