Lionel Messi will be rested for Argentina’s final group stage match. The eight-time Ballon D’Or winner will not start as Argentina take on Jordan at Dallas Stadium. With the reigning World champions guaranteed the top spot in group J, Lionel Scaloni is looking to rest his star player ahead of the knockout stages. Uruguay crashed out of the World Cup early and with Cape Verde awaiting in the round of 32, there are absolutely no tactical needs to start Messi in this game.
Chasing the golden boot
Fans across the globe were desperately hoping to see Messi take the pitch from the opening whistle against Jordan. With the Barcelona legend having a World Cup for the ages to date: five goals in two games, many hopes that the 39-year-old would continue his hot scoring form and smash multiple World Cup records and look to win the Golden boot. However, the ruthless and unforgiving nature of football tournament stages means that player loads take a much bigger precedence.
A pragmatic choice by Scaloni
Scaloni was asked a question by the 91-year-old legendary Argentine reporter, Enrique Macaya, about his captain’s role for Saturday’s game and he replied; "Leo will be on the bench. Leo will come on later".
Although he is quite vague about his entire lineup he is most definitely expecting to give massive minutes to a majority of the players on the pitch. Players such as Julian Alvarez and Nico Paz should be given many minutes to get a run in before the big games approach, so should some other tired players.
The next big one: Cape Verde
Uruguay’s dreams of reaching the next stage came to an untimely end following a loss to Spain, meaning Cape Verde were able to snatch the second qualification spot. The Round of 32 sees the current World Cup champions face an up and coming team with the pace to kill and are more than willing to run at you until you are tired.
Coming on for 20 minutes off the bench should do the job of getting Messi ready without using him to much. A fresh and well-rested Messi is what Argentina need to have a proper crack at retaining the World Cup trophy.
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