Argentina coach praises Messi's present playing level

Argentina football coach Edgardo Bauza, presently touring Europe, has praised the professional level his team's talisman Lionel Messi has reached in recent months.

After attending a training session of Atletico Madrid on Thursday, Bauza said Messi seems to be doing well as he led his club Fc Barcelona to reach the Cop del Rey final, and emphasised the player's steady development over the last two months, reports Efe.

Bauza's tour included a visit to Italy to see the Argentine players of Juventus, Lazio and Inter Milan, and then went to Barcelona where he watched the second leg of the Copa del Rey semis between Atletico and Barcelona.

The coach highlighted the great equality of both teams in the game, which ended 1-1, as well as Messi's assisting abilities that allowed Luis Suarez to score.

Regarding Messi's renewal with Barcelona, Bauza declined to comment and said it is a personal matter.

He added achieving good results in the coming two World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia is a must for Argentina.

Bauza explained that accomplishing a decent outcome in these two matches will open the door to the 2018 World Cup final in Russia.

Argentina is fifth in the South American group with 19 points after 12 rounds, one point behind third-placed Ecuador and fourth-placed Chile, which holds the last position to qualify to the 2018 World Cup.

Argentina will host the Chilean national team in Buenos Aires on March 23 and five days later will play against Bolivia, which occupies the penultimate place with seven points.

The Argentine coach added that the qualifiers are traditionally very competitive in South America, while there are still two important games, not only for Argentina but also for the other teams.

He will head to England from Spain to visit Manchester City, which has Argentine players Sergio Aguero, Nicolas Otamendi, Pablo Zabaleta and goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

--IANS

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