Argentina super star Lionel Messi will most likely miss the friendly game against Nigeria on the insistence of his Spanish La-Liga club Barcelona despite the club granting him permission to play against Russia.
Messi will be in action against Russia but reports suggest he won’t be in the line up against Nigeria four days later in their second friendly game in Russia as the build up to the World Cup hots up.
Russian Football Union ( UFR) made sure the star man was included in the negotiation for the friendly game which will be use for the re-opening of the new improved Luzhniki Stadium, which will host the World Cup final in 2018.
The game against Nigeria didn’t have such agreement, and based on an agreement between Barcelona and Argentina, Messi won’t take part in friendly games with no much days between them in order to keep him fit for the club.
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Messi’s fitness suffered a lot three seasons ago, when he played too many games and two years ago an agreement was struck between Barcelona and Argentina on how to best use the 30 year old to keep him fit.
Although it’s not entirely certain he will miss the game, concerns in Argentina has it that he might fly back to Barcelona after the Russia game to rest properly before the resumption of games in the La-Liga and also in Europe.
Shedrack Obi
