“I Told Messi Not To Play Against Nigeria” – Argentine Coach

Jorge Sampaoli, the Argentine national team coach, has revealed in a press conference that he advised Lionel Messi not to feature in the upcoming friendly match against Nigeria, according to a report in Spanish language website, TYC Sports.

According to the report, the Barcelona forward will not travel with his compatriots to Krasnodar after Saturday’s clash against Russia but will return to Spain instead.

“Leo, I see him very mature and we can start a dialogue from coach to player, if have the possibility of taking a match, at a time when he has some muscular fatigue, we will do it.”
“We have to prove absolutely nothing, we have to prove it to the environment and we are on that path, I’m the one who proposed he does not play against Nigeria.

“He has never proposed to stop playing because his happiness is in the game,” Sampaoli said at Friday’s press conference in Moscow.