Lionel Messi won’t play matches against Iraq, Brazil in October: Coach

The Barcelona football star, Lionel Messi, will not join his national team in October as the team goes up against Iraq and Brazil, interim coach Lionel Scaloni recently stated.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Barcelona football star, Lionel Messi, will not join his national team in October as the team goes up against Iraq and Brazil, interim coach Lionel Scaloni recently stated.

Messi has not played for Argentina since the World Cup in Russia. His national team is scheduled to hold a friendly match against Iraq and Brazil in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 11 and Oct. 16, respectively.

“No, [Messi] won’t come,” Scaloni said during an interview with Fox Sports in London, quoted by Sport-English. “It’s obvious that I speak with him, everyone knows I have a great relationship with him. I spoke with him, and we still think the same: that for now, it’s best that he doesn’t come,”

“We’re in a different era, and the kids that are with the national team now have to keep playing, keep wearing the national team shirt and showing what they can offer. That’s the important thing.”

“Later, in the future, when the [new] manager comes, he will decide if these kids have the ability to keep playing for Argentina or if he will call up the players that have given us so much.”

The Barcelona star also did not play in the September friendly matches against Guatemala and Colombia in the US.

Messi is believed to return to international football for the 2019 Copa America, in which the matches would be held in Brazil between June 14 and July 17 next year.

Editing by Nadia Riva