Messi Set to Captain Argentina in Pre-World Cup Friendly Match Versus Zambia

Argentinas manager Lionel Scaloni announced that Messi who started from the bench during Fridays underwhelming 2-1 victory against Mauritania will lead a probably strongest lineup in the upcoming fixture against Zambia.

Messi will feature in the starting eleven tomorrow Scaloni confirmed.

At 38 years old Messi has yet to officially state his intention to participate in the World Cup though he contributed fully to Argentinas successful qualification efforts for the tournament.

Scaloni suggested he anticipates Messi joining his team for what could mark the eight-time Ballon dOr recipients sixth involvement in the World Cup.

The key aspect is for him to attend and savour the experience of a World Cup which in all likelihood represents his final one Scaloni remarked about Messi.

Our goal is for him to relish it since afterwards you truly long for competing in such major competitions.

Scaloni mentioned that on Tuesday Messi will be joined by the teams reliable main group which dominated South American qualifying and enters the World Cup as one of the top contenders for victory.

The majority of our well-known players will take the field. This match serves as the ultimate preparation Scaloni added.

Later we plan to introduce some adjustments to assess a few of the emerging talents but our primary aim is to deploy the most accustomed formation he explained while stressing that Fridays hard-fought success against Mauritania did not reflect their true capabilities.

I firmly believe the squads overall quality exceeds what was displayed previously Scaloni stated. If it appears the team is not fully prepared we will explore alternatives. Nevertheless they merit our trust.

Scaloni has already forwarded an initial roster of 55 players to the Argentina Football Association with the definitive 26-member squad due for announcement by late May.

I have largely finalised the selection but should standards fall short we will implement steps to assemble the finest possible group and aim for near flawless composition he noted.

The athletes who have been with us over time possess a marginal edge due to our familiarity with them yet they must sustain it and all are aware that the events from the previous match against Mauritania must not recur.