Messi is not at Argentina's camp yet, and two players are already out

Argentina's squad has been training at the Argentine Football Association's complex in Ezeiza, outside Buenos Aires, since Tuesday, and Lionel Messi is not with it. The federation's own account of the camp describes a half-hour gym session and then positional and tactical work with the whole squad under coach Lionel Scaloni. Página12 reported on Wednesday that the group is still waiting for its captain. 12

He is in Miami instead, for one more club match. Columbus Crew host Inter Miami on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m. ET, which is Monday, Sept. 28 at 07:00 in Shanghai, and the club's player page now lists him as available for it, after a stretch in which he has scored or assisted in each of his last eight MLS appearances. 3 He joins Argentina only for the last of its three friendlies, the farewell against Benin on Oct. 6, so he is not involved in the two before it. 4 He is expected in camp next week. 5

The AFA's schedule for the days in between has the squad training daily, mostly behind closed doors, with Scaloni's press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 14:15 in Argentina, which is Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 01:15 in Shanghai. Kickoff times for the three friendlies have still not been announced. 1

Thiago Almada and Juan Foyth have left the squad through injury, the first two withdrawals from the list Scaloni named for this window. 6

Almada, one of the six Argentine-league players Scaloni added to the list on Sept. 19, picked up a muscle injury after being taken off early in River Plate's league match, and first assessments pointed to several weeks out. Foyth, the Villarreal defender, had been managing muscle discomfort since late August that never cleared up, and the staff left him out of all three matches rather than risk him. 7

No replacements are coming. The list runs to 37 names, 28 plus the nine Scaloni added on Sept. 19, so the squad absorbs the two absences at 35. 7

Enzo Fernández arrived on Wednesday and used his first answer to ask for Scaloni's contract to be extended. "I hope Scaloni renews, he is very important for us. He already knows we support him," said Fernández, who has just joined Manchester City. On Messi: "The farewell hurts a lot. We are going to enjoy it with him, we know the legacy he leaves. He is an example." 89

Emiliano Martínez, Argentina's goalkeeper, answered the same question with a joke. "I thought he had already retired," he said. Then the earnest version: "Having the possibility of retiring here in Argentina is a dream for him. We will try to make it a nice day for him." He also said the World Cup final defeat by Spain "will stay as a thorn in my side for a long time." 10

The AFA moved the sale for the two matches at the Estadio Monumental, River Plate's ground in Buenos Aires — Burkina Faso on Oct. 3 and Benin on Oct. 6, the second of them the farewell — from Tuesday to Thursday, Sept. 24 at 18:00 in Argentina. That is Friday, Sept. 25 at 05:00 in Shanghai, and the federation did not give a reason for the change. 4

Two conditions matter before the window opens. Buyers have to be registered on Deportick, the AFA's ticketing platform, in advance, and then find the event once the sale begins; and each user can buy up to four general tickets. 4

Prices are the ones the AFA published on Sept. 19, from 90,000 Argentine pesos in the popular section to 480,000 for the middle seats in San Martín and Belgrano. Supporters with disabilities arrange admission during the general sale and collect the ticket beforehand; anybody who has not done that will be turned away at the ground. 4

Last week Lamine Yamal called the Ballon d'Or a two-horse race between himself and Kylian Mbappé. On Wednesday, in an interview with L'Équipe, Barcelona's forward opened it up again and put Messi's name first among the players he had dismissed. "They're all incredible players," Yamal said of the 29 other nominees. "It doesn't surprise me that these guys are in the running — they all have their own case to make. Messi is mentioned because he had a great World Cup, for example... If someone says, 'Messi deserves it' or 'Rodri deserves it,' that's totally respectable — they're not talking nonsense, right?" 11

Messi's own argument rests on the World Cup, where he scored eight goals and set up four as Argentina reached the final, and where the writers at Indy Sport had him as the player of the tournament in a losing side. It has not made him the favourite. The Independent's top 10, published on Sept. 17, puts Harry Kane first, Mbappé second, Yamal third, Rodri fourth and Messi fifth. 12 The winner is announced in London on Oct. 26. 12