Argentina's five-time Ballon d'Or winner will not start in the country's opening match against Chile on Monday night in the Copa America tournament, and could likely miss seeing action in the game altogether as he continues to recover from a back injury.
Messi had to come off the field during the second half of Argentina's May 28 1-0 victory over Honduras, the Argentinian Football Association has subsequently described the 28-year-old forward as "recovering from a blow on the back and ribs." Last week, the AFA announced he was feeling less pain, and was performing his regular daily activities as he continued the rehabilitation process.
However, early Monday, Diario AS reported Messi was still feeling pain in his lower back and would not be participating in training with his teammates on Monday for the second day in a row.
Argentina manager Gerardo Martino said Sunday that Nicolas Gaitan would likely replace Messi in the team's starting lineup on Monday if he wasn't available. He also said he believes Messi should be available by the time their second match against Panama comes around on Friday.
“Gaitan doesn't have to play as well as Leo, that would be an extra responsibility,” Martino said. “He needs to play his game. His job is to replace Leo, but I don’t expect him to do anything like Leo.”
Messi is an invaluable piece of the Argentina squad — during the 2015 Copa America tournament, his efforts helped propel Argentina to the final, in which they were beaten by hosts Chile, on penalties following a 0-0 draw. The two nations also met in March during a World Cup qualifier that saw Argentina emerge victorious 2-1.
Since the 2015 Copa America Final, Gerardo Martino's Argentina have lost only once in nine games and won each of their last four. Chile, who are managed by Juan Antonio Pizzi, are in far less impressive form — the squad have won only once in their last six matches, four of them have been losses, including the last two.
