“Treat him like Diego” – Former Uruguay striker explains how to stop Lionel Messi
Former Uruguay striker Sebastian Abreu has urged Oscar Tabarez's side to draw inspiration from how they stopped Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup to keep Argentina superstar Lionel Messi at bay on Friday.
Uruguay will lock horns with Argentina in their 13th World Cup qualifier group stage game on Friday. Lionel Scaloni's side will be looking to keep their unbeaten run in the competition intact. Meanwhile, Oscar Tabarez and co. will be keen to bounce back from their three-game winless run.
Argentina registered a 3-0 victory over Uruguay when the two sides clashed last month. PSG star Messi opened the scoring for the Copa America champions before Rodrigo de Paul and Lautaro Martinez added to their tally.
Lionel Messi and Alejandro Papu Gomez training with the Argentina national team. https://t.co/RmFmaB0j7A
As Uruguay gear up to face Argentina again, they will be concerned about stopping Messi. And former La Celeste star Abreu has suggested a way to keep the 34-year-old at bay on the night.
Abreu has urged Uruguay to draw inspiration from how they kept Maradona at bay in round 16 of the 1986 World Cup to stop Messi on Friday. The 45-year-old also insisted that Argentina were heavily dependent on the forward before Scaloni took charge. He told ESPN Argentina:
“You have to treat him like Diego in ’86. Before Scaloni, Argentina was only Messi: controlling him, you neutralized the game. Today there is a collective operation that strengthens individualities.”
Uruguay suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Argentina at the 1986 World Cup. However, they managed to keep Maradona silent for large parts of the game. La Celeste marked the Napoli legend tightly and made sure he did not get the time or space to weave his magic.
Abreu wants Uruguay to do the same against Messi on Friday.
Lionel Messi expected to feature against Uruguay despite being injured at PSG
Lionel Messi missed Paris Saint-Germain's last two games due to an injury. However, the forward is expected to feature for Argentina against Uruguay on Friday, having trained with the team this week.
Lionel Messi trained with the Argentina national team ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil.
Messi missed PSG’s last two games because of “knee and hamstring pains,” according to the club. https://t.co/7Wf16H8bi7
It remains to be seen if Scaloni will name Messi in his starting lineup to face Uruguay. The former Barcelona forward, though, is expected to be ready to start against Brazil next week.
There have been suggestions that PSG were not happy with Messi being called up for Argentina's squad this month. Mauricio Pochettino's side will now be hoping that the 34-year-old returns from international duty unscathed.