Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has announced that he has decided on his starting eleven and that Messi will start in the Albiceleste’s friendly match against Angola.
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni announced on Thursday after arriving in the Angolan city of Luanda that he has decided his starting XI to face the local side on Friday and confirmed that Lionel Messi will be in the starting line-up.
“Messi will play, I don’t know for how many minutes, but he will be in the starting line-up, for sure, and people will be able to see him,” Scaloni explained during a press conference shortly after landing in the African city, where there is great excitement about the possibility of seeing the ‘Albiceleste’ play, and especially the Inter Miami striker.
The coach highlighted the strength of the Angolan squad and emphasised the importance of Friday’s match: “The match may be called a friendly, but we have to play it. (…) They are a tough opponent, at home, with their fans behind them, which adds a special incentive. We will try to play our game and hope it turns out to be a good match.”
Referring to the high number of absences in the Argentine squad ahead of the match, he explained: “We replaced the absentees with players we had been monitoring, who were not on the initial list. It helped us to see them, to confirm what we thought, that they are valid players who can contribute to the team. The aim is to give playing time to those we have seen less of.”
For the match against Angola, the last match to be played by the reigning world champions in 2025, Scaloni called up several players who had not had any playing time with the national team, including Joaquin Panichelli, a striker who plays for Strasbourg in France, and Gianluca Prestianni, a forward for Benfica in Portugal who shone with the national team at the Under-20 World Cup held last month in Chile.
On the other hand, the coach referred to Real Madrid striker Franco Mastantuono and his presence with the national team at their training camp in the Spanish city of Alicante over the last few days.
“He wasn’t on the preliminary list, we were told about his pubic bone problem, he told us he would like to be with us, he’s welcome because he’s with us almost all the time, we’re open to these things, we like it when the lads want to be here. It wasn’t a long journey for him, it was very close by, he was able to come, we appreciate the gesture.”