This hindered his tournament debut in the opening match on Monday against Chile leaving him sitting on the bench watching his team play. Despite the advantage and a dominant showing by the Albiceleste, Argentina’s fortunes did not change until Messi made his way into the match.
Advertisement
Now ranked in third place of the Federation Internationale de Football Association rankings, Chile is expected to make short work of Bolivia, which is the lowest-ranked team coming into the tournament at no. 79. He scored his first goal with his famous left foot after an assist from Gonzalo Higuain in the 68th minute.
“Happy, happy to be back, to be able to play after resting for some time”, Messi said.
A left-footed chip past Penedo on the goaltender’s right side finished off Messi’s fourth global hat trick, joining friendlies against Switzerland and Brazil in 2012, and Guatemala in 2013.
Lionel Messi will return from injury for Argentina when they face Panama in the Copa America Centenario on Friday, coach Gerardo Martino has confirmed. “But with Messi you make one mistake, and you pay for it”. “He [Maradona] is saying that Messi is a good player, there’s no doubt about it, but he has no personality”. He is likely to come on in the second half to regain his fitness for the knockout rounds, since a victory against Panama will be enough to qualify Argentina for the quarterfinals. Chasing Argentina around with one less player got even more daunting when Messi trotted on the field in the second half.
In Friday’s other contest, 2015 Copa America winners Chile will look to put their title defence back on track after the opening loss to Argentina. “We know the Copa America is very tough and we have to continue to improve”. UC Davis’ Matt Wiesenfarth played alongside the FC Barcelona star to help fill out the Argentine lineup.
Advertisement
“But it would be a mistake to take Bolivia for granted because odd things can happen in the Copa America as has been demonstrated in this tournament already”.
