Messi denies having a say in Argentina team selection
The Barcelona sensation has had a strong start to the current season with 12 Premier League goals, and played a blinder as Argentina defeated Ecuador to qualify automatically for the 2018 World Cup.
With reports in Italy and Argentina suggesting that Messi was against certain players, the Flea took to answering the allegations.
"When they talk about Messi's friends I laugh," he said. "They say that I put coaches or players in the Argentina side and it is a lie.
One of the players supposedly excluded is Mauro Icardi, who has barely played in the last few years despite being a star at Inter.
Messi also spoke of Argentina’s eventual qualification in fourth place:
"We could not miss the World Cup, but we did suffer. Each time I went back to Barcelona, I was always going over the numbers for what had to happen for us to qualify for the World Cup."