 Messi led Argentina to victory in the World Youth Cup last year |
Argentina's Lionel Messi has returned to training after a minor foot injury, but has been left out of the line-up to face Serbia & Montenegro on Friday. The 18-year-old hurt the instep on his left foot on Wednesday, and did not take part in ball work in training.
"He suffered a very small problem that has nothing to do with the prior injury," said coach Jose Pekerman.
Messi has recently recovered from the thigh injury which kept him out of action for three months.
"It was a knock and we decided he should not train on Wednesday," added Pekerman.
"On Thursday, he got up without feeling any pain. If all goes well he will be on the bench on Friday."
Messi was an unused substitute for Argentina's 2-1 win over Ivory Coast on Saturday.
Meanwhile, forward Carlos Tevez, also on the bench for the Ivory Coast match, missed Thursday's training session with an upset stomach.
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