Shillong, October 13: Lionel Messi allayed concerns about his fitness with an impressive second-half performance in Argentina’s 1-0 home victory over Paraguay in their World Cup qualifier.
As per IANS, Messi, who has been dealing with a muscle problem in recent weeks, made an immediate impact when he substituted Julian Alvarez in the 53rd minute at Estadio Monumental.
The 36-year-old Inter Miami forward injected more fluidity into the Albiceleste’s attack, and he struck the woodwork twice in the final 20 minutes, according to Xinhua reports.
“I felt good. I was able to add minutes, which is important after such a long time off,” said Messi, who missed four games for Inter Miami before making a 35-minute appearance in a 1-0 loss to Cincinnati last Saturday.
“I was unable to play for a long time, so it was difficult. But I will take a lot of positives out of tonight. I want to train as much as possible to continue feeling this way.”
With this result, Argentina now boasts three wins from three games in this qualifying campaign.
The reigning world champions will now shift their focus to their next qualifier against Peru in Lima on Tuesday.
