Defending champions Argentina will bow out without their talismanic captain Lionel Messi They face Jordan, who is making his first appearance in the tournament, in the starting lineup on Sunday in their final Group J game.With Argentina already clinched top spot in Group J, head coach Lionel Scaloni opted to wrap his crown jewel in cotton wool. On Saturday, just two days after Messi celebrated his 39th birthday, Scaloni confirmed that the newly crowned World Cup top scorer would start on the bench, although he strongly hinted that the maestro would eventually feature.“Messi will start the game on the bench but he will come on later,” Scaloni told reporters, keeping his tactical card close to his chest without revealing the exact timing of the substitutions or his starting lineup.This decision is part of well-thought-out load management. Messi has single-handedly carried Argentina’s offense in North America, scoring all five of the team’s goals so far. He equaled the men’s all-time goalscoring record with a classic hat-trick against Algeria, then surpassed Miroslav Klose and Marta’s absolute tournament goalscoring record with a clinical brace against Austria on Monday.Additionally, Messi is ready for the quadrennial competition after struggling with a hamstring injury during his domestic season at Inter Miami. Although there have been no obvious fitness problems since the start of the game, the Argentine team is fully aware of the upcoming physical marathon.Argentina’s quest for back-to-back world titles ends next Friday in South Florida. If La Albiceleste wants to reach the Grand Final on July 20, they will face a grueling and unforgiving schedule of five games in just 17 days.Given the high-intensity nature of modern knockout football, saving Messi’s legs against a woefully mismatched Jordanian side made perfect tactical sense. While fans inside the stadium are eager to catch a glimpse of the talent, Scaloni’s focus is firmly on ensuring his master strategist is 100 per cent effective when the ‘win or go home’ borderline arrives.
