Messi raises Argentina’s hopes against Venezuela ahead of Copa America

Madrid —  Barcelona star Lionel Messi returns to the Argentina national squad for the first time since the team tumbled out of the 2018 World Cup with a loss to eventual champion France nine months ago as the South American nation gears up for a friendly against Venezuela ahead of the 2019 Copa America.

The friendly was set to be played in Venezuela, but given the political instability in the South American country, Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium would instead host Messi’s national team return on Friday.

And he does so well-rested following a dazzling performance in Barcelona’s 5-1 win over Lyon in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 and the La Liga 4-1 triumph over Real Betis days later, scoring five goals in both matches.

The 31-year-old superstar hopes to lead his national team to the title in the upcoming Copa America, despite playing in and losing several finals over the past few years, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016.

After losing Argentina’s most recent Copa America final trip in 2016 against Chile, Messi announced he would retire from international soccer, but he came back to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, only to preside over yet another Argentina national loss.

Following Argentina’s 2018 World Cup defeat, Messi again stepped down.

Yet, with a new start under coach Lionel Scaloni, comes fresh hope.

Since replacing Jorge Sampaoli, Scaloni has led the team to four victories, one draw and a defeat, which prompted the Argentine soccer federation to confirm Scaloni as manager through the Copa America tourney - set to be played between June 14 and July 7, 2019.

Yet now that he has his star player back, Scaloni has to do what eight previous Argentina coaches have failed to do; that is, find a way of bringing the most out of the Barcelona star.

To that end, Scaloni has been working closely with Messi (and the rest of the 29-man Argentina team) this week in Madrid.

During the training sessions the national team has held at Valdebebas, Real Madrid’s sporting city, the coach has tried out a 4-2-3-1 formation as well as a 3-5-3 playing plan, both with Messi as a playmaker, accompanied by two wingers and a striker.

It is expected that Inter’s Lautaro Martinez will play as the striker in front of Messi. Meanwhile, Atlanta United’s winger Gonzalo ‘Pity’ Martinez seems to have a lock on left wing, while three players are fighting for the right wing starting position; Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Angel Correa (Atletico) and Roberto Pereyra (Watford).

On the other side of the field, Venezuela’s 25-man squad includes 24 players who play outside the South American country.

Yet, team pride is not lacking as the Venezuelans reportedly intend to put on a strong performance against the Argentinians who the Venezuelans consider to be one of the best teams in the world.

In the most recent games that pitted both teams - in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers - Venezuela and Argentina played in two 1-1 and 2-2 draws.

The expected lineups are as follows:

Argentina: Franco Armani; Renzo Saravia, German Pezzella, Walter Kannemann, Nicolas Tagliafico; Leandro Paredes, Giovani Lo Celso; Roberto Pereyra, Lionel Messi, Gonzalo ‘Pity’ Martinez; and Lautaro Martinez.

Venezuela: Wilker Fariñez; Roberto Rosales, Mikel Villanueva, Nahuel Ferraresi, Alex Gonzalez; Yangel Herrera, Tomas Rincon; Juanpi Añor, Yeferson Soteldo; Josef Martinez, and Salomon Rondon.