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Messi to start against Panama

Xinhua, June 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi will be among the starting eleven on Friday against Panama in the 2016 Centennial Copa America held in the United States, confirmed the national team's coach, Gerardo Martino, on Thursday.

"Leo trained normally with the group, now there is no need for special work (with him). He is going to play," assured Martino during a news conference held in the U.S. city of Chicago.

The Barcelona star suffered a blow to his hip while playing for his national side in the friendly match against Honduras on May 27. This hindered his tournament debut in the opening match on Monday against Chile leaving him sitting on the bench watching his team play.

"The match against Chile was missing ball movements. there were four days between the Chile match and the Panama one. Since Wednesday, he (Messi) has trained with the group and the truth is that he has done so without pain and we can't see any reason why he would not play," added the Argentina coach.

Martino said that Messi "is very motivated by the performance of his teammates against Chile," where Argentina won 2-1 with goals from Agel Di Maria and Ever Banega.

Martino also admitted that defeating the Copa America defending champions without their team captain "is a very important handicap."

Argentina's second match in the tournament will be played in Chicago on Friday at 21:30 local time (1:30 GMT on Saturday) against Panama who defeated Bolivia 2-1 in their opening match.

Martino also said that he was grateful that midfielder for Paris Saint Germain's Javier Pastore and forward Ezequiel Lavezzi, who plays for China's Hebei Fortune, have also recovered from their injuries. Endit