Copa America: Lionel Messi has a scare with an injury as Argentina narrowly defeat Chile to advance to the quarter-finals.

Argentina secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Chile in their second game at the Copa America, but concerns were raised about the fitness of captain Lionel Messi. The Inter Miami forward received treatment for an injury during the first half at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Despite the worry, Messi hit the post in the opening 45 minutes.

Argentina faced a tough challenge from a compact Chilean side, who now need a win against Canada in their final Group A game to progress to the quarter-finals.

Speaking after the match, Messi expressed hope that his injury was not serious. He stated, “It’s bothering me a bit, but I was able to finish the match. I hope it’s nothing serious. It was hard for me to move freely. Tomorrow we’ll see how I feel. We knew it would be very physical. All the games are physical, and Chile are tough. They had a lot on the line.. but we achieved our objective, winning, and we’re into the quarter-finals.”

Messi’s strike partner for the game, Julian Alvarez, failed to make an impact before being replaced by Lautaro Martinez, who scored the winning goal in the 88th minute. Argentina’s coach, Lionel Scaloni, addressed the selection dilemma, saying, “Lautaro and Julian have played together. There’s always the need for balance. Lautaro is very happy today, and Julian is too. I will always choose the one that I think is best suited for that match. Today Julian played, but we have 11 players. We have to balance the game plan. Sometimes there might be a disruption of that balance for any reason, but usually, I like playing with a good structure. We will be making choices depending on the opponent throughout the tournament.”

As the defending champions, Argentina became the first team to secure a spot in the knockout stages. However, the battle for the second qualifying spot from Group A will be decided on matchday three. Canada’s 1-0 victory over Peru, courtesy of Jonathan David’s goal, puts them in second place with three points. This result followed their 2-0 defeat against Argentina and sets up an exciting final group stage match.