« Back to article

Print this article

Messi fights jet lag to attend practice session

Argentina captain and star forward Lionel Messi, who arrived in the wee hours of Wednesday, defied jet lag and fatigue to join his teammates for a full practice session under new coach Alejandro Sabella at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Wednesday.

During the team's first full practice session, the Albicelestes slugged it out on the artificial turf of the stadium for more than an hour.

Argentina are scheduled to play an international friendly against Venezuela in Kolkata on Friday.

Messi, who led Barcelona to a 5-0 rout of Villareal in Monday's La Liga clash, seemed relaxed while going through the grind along with the likes of Javier Mascherano, Gonzalzo Higuain and Sergio Aguero.

Goalkeepers sweat it out in practice

Coach Sabella, who earlier in the day, made it clear that he was looking for a good playmaker for Messi, divided the team into two batches for a round of practice.

Sporting a pair of green sneakers, Messi enthralled with his magical left-footer as his powerful shots kept flying into the net with total perfection.

But the highlight of the practice session was Sabella's main focus on team co-ordination and the last line of defence -- goalkeeping.

Throughout the session, he gave special attention to the three Argentine custodians -- Sergio Romero, Esteban Andrada and Mariano And jar.

Midfielders, forwards get good warm-up

Soon after the practice match, the Argentine midfielders and forwards tested their shooting skills in turn, even as Sabella urged his support staff to give the rest of the players some muscle relaxing exercises.

What followed was a brief team meeting where Sabella took stock of the players' fitness.

Although no spectator was allowed inside the stadium during the training session, many gathered to get a first glimpse of Messi.