Lionel Messi made his return into the Argentina national football team ahead of his side's friendly clash against bitter rivals Brazil in Saudi Arabia. Messi, who was banned for three months by the South American Football Confederation for his verbal attack on the match officials during Copa America 2019, was pictured engaged in a training session with his national teammates. The Argentina skipper also posed for photographs alongside his teammates following the practise session. Argentina face Brazil, in a repeat clash of Copa America 2019 semi-finals, in a friendly at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The game will be played on November 15, 2019, at 10:30 pm on Friday night. Lionel Messi Scripts an Unusual Record Despite Barcelona’s Shocking Loss Against Levante at La Liga 2019-20 (Watch Video).

Brazil beat Argentina 2-0 in the Copa America semis earlier this year to advance to the finals before beating Peru 3-1 in the summit clash to lift the Copa America title. Messi later hit out at the match officials alleging that the referee and officials were biased towards Brazil. The 32-year-old even went on to claim that the CONMEBOL (South American Football Federation) was corrupt and were only puppets of Brazil. Smriti Mandhana Picks Cristiano Ronaldo Over Lionel Messi as Her Favourite Footballer, See Her Instagram Story.

Lionel Messi Shares Pictures From Argentina Training Session

 

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He was later sent-off in Argentina's 2-1 third-place play-off win over Chile before also receiving a three-month suspension over his comments against the federation. It has been over five months since Messi's last appearance for Argentina. “We have to pay a lot of attention to him," said Chelsea's Brazilian winger Willian talking on Messi’s threat.

Messi Meets Fans

"We must restrict his space. But we can't man-mark him, what we have to do is work together to close down the space he gets. Above all, we can't let him have time to think. He's a great player, the best in the world. But we have faced Argentina in the past and this time is not going to be any different."

But while Argentina have their talisman back in the squad and ready to feature, Brazil will miss their star forward Neymar, who had sustained a hamstring injury in an earlier international friendly and has been ruled out for a lengthy period.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 14, 2019 01:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).