{"id":2139,"date":"2026-05-27T15:44:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/?p=2139"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:44:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:44:37","slug":"initial-news-is-not-that-bad-scaloni-offers-upbeat-messi-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/initial-news-is-not-that-bad-scaloni-offers-upbeat-messi-update\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Initial news is not that bad&#8217; &#8211; Scaloni offers upbeat Messi update"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-39.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-39.png 1000w, https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-39-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-39-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni expressed cautious optimism on Tuesday regarding Lionel Messi&#8217;s fitness ahead of the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Ideally, we would have preferred him to remain unscathed. Now, we must monitor his progress and, crucially, await the results of further tests to confirm the extent of the issue,&#8221; Scaloni told the DSports channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Messi, 38, requested a withdrawal on Sunday during his final match in MLS &#8211; Liga USA before the World Cup, after appearing to pull up with a problem in his left thigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His club, Inter Miami, announced on Monday that Lionel Messi is suffering from &#8220;overload associated with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring&#8221; and that &#8220;a return to physical activity will depend on the evolution of his clinical and functional status.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inter Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos explained after Sunday&#8217;s fixture that Messi &#8220;was really tired (&#8230;) the pitch was heavy, and, when in doubt, the standard approach is always to ensure that no risks are taken.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We were watching the match here at our headquarters and saw that he asked to be replaced, which was actually a relief for us,&#8221; added Lionel Scaloni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The eight-time Ballon d&#8217;Or winner has had his workload meticulously managed since arriving in MLS with Inter Miami in 2023, with staff regularly resting him during particularly congested periods of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The veteran forward has spent time in the treatment room in recent years due to recurring hamstring issues, which also forced him to miss a portion of Miami&#8217;s pre-season preparations earlier in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is scheduled to run from June 11th to July 19th. The Argentina squad, drawn in Group J alongside Algeria, Jordan, and Austria, will launch their title defense on June 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If included in the final squad to be announced by Scaloni, Messi would participate in his sixth World Cup, a landmark achievement he would share with, among others, Portugal&#8217;s Cristiano Ronaldo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni expressed cautious  [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2141,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139\/revisions\/2141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}