Lionel Messi has returned to training with team-mates but his status for Argentina’s Copa America quarterfinal on Thursday remains uncertain.
Messi, 37, missed Argentina’s final game of the group stage — a 2-0 win over Peru on Saturday — after reporting discomfort with a thigh injury in his country’s previous outing, against Chile, on Tuesday.
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Stand-in coach Walter Samuel revealed ahead of Peru that the team’s star player was “day-to-day” with the issue and that he would continue to be monitored.
He has now returned to full training and took part in the full session with team-mates on Monday.
It remains to be seen whether he will be fit to go when the defending champions meet Ecuador in Houston on Thursday.
Messi missed six games of the Major League Soccer season with Inter Miami with muscle injuries while also sitting out a pair of friendlies as club and country continue to attempt to manage his minutes.
Argentina have a 100 per cent record so far, beating Canada, Peru and then Chile without conceding a goal.
Ecuador followed tournament surprise packages Venezuela out of Group B, with the draw with Mexico on Sunday enough for second place.
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Watching Messi (not) play for Argentina against Peru in Miami
(Carlos Sipán/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
