Lionel Messi and the rest of the team will play in the Copa America quarterfinals Argentina v Venezuela on June 18, Saturday, 7:00PM E.T. He came on as a substitute in the group stage finale against Bolivia in Seattle on Tuesday.
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Lionel Messi will definitely play for Argentina in their quarterfinals bout against Venezuela.
But the crowd in Seattle, including many thousands of USA natives who turned up just to see the world’s best player, lapped it up all the same.
Argentina has yet to win a major global tournament during Messi’s career, but will be a heavy favorite heading into Tuesday night.
The Argentinean players huddling up before a match in the Copa America Centenario group stages.
Messi may return to the starting lineup for Argentina while Venezuela coach Dudamel has a fully fit squad to select from. Although Argentina’s ranking and tradition make them a heavy favourites, La Albiceleste have struggled to win major tournaments over the past two decades. There is a minuscule chance that the USMNT can actually beat Argentina, but hosting a semifinal against a prime Lionel Messi is never going to happen again in the United States.
Things have improved under Dudamel unsurprisingly but Venezuela being quite so impressive at this tournament was not expected.
The second quarterfinal game on Saturday night will see defending champion Chile taking on Mexico at Levi’s Stadium in California.
Messi, who plays for FC Barcelona in the Spanish league, also took over the Copa America scoring lead with his fourth goal of the tournament.
Nicolas Otamendi recently missed training, but the Manchester City defender should recover to face Venezuela. We have already been working together for a while and have got to know the coaching staff, and they us. La Vinotinto’s lone victory came during a World Cup Qualifying match in 2011. The five-time FIFA Player of the Year started the match after playing a total of 74 minutes in the three group-stage matches. While most fans expect Guillermo Ochoa to start, they will have to wait for the lineup announcement.
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With the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal, Claudio Bravo, Jean Beausejour and Eduardo Vargas, Chile can not be overlooked.
