Final session in Texas: Scaloni picks XI for Honduras, Messi in, 3 doubts | OneFootball

The Argentina National Team completed its final training session in Texas ahead of this Saturday’s friendly at 9:00 p.m. against Honduras at Kyle Field, a practice that clarified Lionel Messi’s physical condition but left three questions unresolved in the starting lineup.

Messi’s condition and the injury report

The main development in the formal training session was the captain’s active participation. Lionel Messi stepped onto the field among the first players and completed the drills alongside his teammates, backing up Lionel Scaloni’s earlier remarks: “He’s doing well, he’s no longer fully training separately.”

By contrast, the rest of the players dealing with physical issues continued training separately. Nicolás Paz (pain in his left knee), Gonzalo Montiel, and Nahuel Molina (both with muscle tears) worked apart from the group. Meanwhile, Julián Álvarez (left ankle sprain) and Leandro Paredes (tear in his right hamstring) did not even do exercises on the grass.

For his part, Emiliano Martínez was back moving without gloves alongside the rest of the goalkeepers. Although the fracture in the ring finger of his right hand rules him out of these friendlies, his place as starter in the World Cup opener against Algeria is not in danger.

Scaloni’s three doubts as he finalizes the team

Despite having a settled core, the head coach still has three specific questions ahead of the match, which will be broadcast by TyC Sports:

The confirmed core and the probable starting eleven

The defensive structure and central midfield will remain unchanged. Nicolás Otamendi and Lisandro Martínez will form the center-back pairing, while Cristian Romero continues recovering from the ligament injury he suffered at Tottenham. The left flank will belong to Nicolás Tagliafico, while the holding duties will fall to the trio of Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, and Alexis Mac Allister.

In this way, Argentina’s probable lineup would be:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.