Lionel Messi has been nursing an injury in recent weeks which has seen him miss game-time for new club Paris Saint Germain. However, despite the 34-year-old’s fitness issues, he has been called up by the Argentina national team for their upcoming fixtures in the CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifiers against arch-rivals Brazil and Uruguay. Lionel Messi Called Up for Argentina for FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Against Uruguay and Brazil Despite Knee Injury.

Argentina are unbeaten so far in their World Cup qualifiers but with two tough fixtures on the horizon, they have called up captain Lionel Messi, despite him struggling with fitness issues. And according to a recent report from RMC Sport, Albiceleste boss Lionel Scaloni is planning on counting the 34-year-old’s services. Lionel Messi Reveals That He Intends To Return to Barcelona at Some Stage in the Future.

As per the publication, Lionel Messi took part in Argentina’s training session and is expected to play against Uruguay this week. It is understood that Lionel Scaloni is not taking any risks with the 34-year-old and will use the match against La Celeste to get some game time under the PSG star’s belt and gauge his fitness ahead of the encounter against rivals Brazil.

Injuries have played a huge role in Lionel Messi’s season with PSG as he is yet to make an immediate impact with the Parisians, playing just five games for them in the league. The 34-year-old was substituted at half-time against Lille due to his hamstring issues and has missed the encounters against RB Leipzig and Boudreaux.

But despite his injury struggles, Lionel Messi is likely to play a part in Argentina’s world cup qualifiers. Lionel Scaloni wants his skipper to be ready to play the entire 90 minutes against Brazil and will give the 34-year-old some game time against Uruguay, be it a half or an appearance as a substitute.

Argentina are one of the two unbeaten teams in CONMEBOL qualifiers along with Brazil and positive results in the upcoming two fixtures could ease their path to World Cup qualification.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2021 12:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).