Lionel Messi will play for Argentina when they face Brazil on Tuesday in a World Cup qualifier missing Neymar because of left thigh pains. Messi, who has been bothered by a knee injury, will play in San Juan in a match that could earn the team a spot in next year’s World Cup, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said Monday.
Hours later, the Brazilian Football Confederation said in a statement that Neymar “reported being insecure” about the possible injury.
“Because there’s not enough time to perform more exams, the coaching staff decided to spare the player, who will not travel with the squad,” the statement said.
Neymar’s friend and rival, Messi, played only 15 minutes in Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Uruguay on Friday. He also missed two Paris Saint-Germain matches because of the injury.
“A few days ago he was physically fit and at the end we decided that the best would be for him to play for a few minutes so he starts getting that good feeling,” Scaloni said.
“For tomorrow (Tuesday), it is confirmed that he will play. We hope he finds himself in a good place.”
The Argentines, second in the 10-team South American standings behind Brazil, can qualify with a victory. Brazil already has one of the four automatic qualifying spots from the region.
Brazil has not won in Argentina since 2009. Scaloni’s main concern is in the midfield. Leonardo Paredes is recovering from an injury and could once again be replaced by Guido Rodríguez.
Beside Neymar, Brazil will be missing the suspended Casemiro, who could be replaced by Fabinho. Coach Tite also expects to test other players after beating Colombia 1-0, possibly using Matheus Cunha up front instead of Gabriel Jesus.
England routs San Marino
England hit double figures in goals in a competitive game for the first time to power into the World Cup.
Harry Kane enjoyed himself, in particular, in the embarrassingly one-sided 10-0 win over San Marino that secured England first place in Group I of European qualifying on Monday.
England’s captain scored four goals — all in the first half, with two of them being penalties — to move his international tally to 48, which is tied with Gary Lineker and only five off Wayne Rooney’s all-time record for the country. Kane finished 2021 with 16 goals for England, a national record for a calendar year, and it could have been more if he hadn’t been substituted just after an hour.
“If we left him on another half an hour, we would have had Wayne Rooney’s family on the phone,” England coach Gareth Southgate said.
Italy head to playoffs
Four years on from Italy’s darkest moment, it could be about to happen again for the Azzurri.
Italy was held to 0-0 at Northern Ireland in its final World Cup qualifier on Monday, while Switzerland beat Bulgaria 4-0 to clinch top spot in Group C and a place in next year’s tournament in Qatar.
For European champion Italy it’s the playoffs again. Italy lost a playoff to Sweden in 2017 — four years ago almost to the day — and failed to qualify for the last World Cup.
A revival had been seen under Roberto Mancini, who led the Azzurri to the Euro 2020 trophy in July, but they could miss out again on soccer’s premier tournament. But Mancini is adamant that won’t happen. “I am completely confident. We’ll get there in March and maybe we’ll win it too, who knows,” the Italy coach said. Scotland win over Denmark
John Souttar scored in his first international game for three years to give Scotland a 2-0 win over Denmark in World Cup qualifying and secure a home draw in the playoffs.
Denmark had already won Group F but Scotland spoiled the European Championship semifinalist’s perfect record as they aimed to win 10 games out of 10.
Scotland put pressure on Denmark from the start and won a succession of set-pieces. John McGinn swung Scotland’s eighth corner deep to the far post, where Liam Cooper nodded it back for Souttar to head in. He hadn’t played for Scotland since a red card against Israel in October 2018.
“I went through a lot in the last year and I was just looking forward to it and I didn’t expect anything like this to be honest and it was brilliant,” Souttar told broadcaster Sky Sports.
“It was a total blur. We worked on that corner during the week, and thankfully we scored from it, just delighted.”
Kenya wins final qualifier
Kenya won its final World Cup qualifying game to provide a moment of relief from the crisis engulfing its national soccer federation. Michael Olunga volleyed Kenya ahead in the third minute on the way to beating Rwanda 2-1. Richard Odada added the second from the penalty spot and Kenya was 2-0 up inside 15 minutes in Nairobi on Monday. Olivier Niyonzima met a free kick with a side-foot volley for Rwanda’s goal, just its second goal in six games in the group stage qualifiers.
