Javier Mascherano: 'We must deal with Lionel Messi absence'

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 05 October 2015

Javier Mascherano calls on his Argentina teammates to pull together in the absence of the injured Lionel Messi, who will miss their upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Javier Mascherano has called on his Argentina teammates to 'come together' in a bid to ease the blow of losing Lionel Messi for their upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay.

Messi is currently on the sidelines with damaged knee ligaments and has missed Barcelona's last two matches with the problem.

Mascherano, however, who also plays with Messi at club level, is confident that his country will manage without their leading marksman.

"We are going to need more than everyone, but we are missing the most important player that we have. We've lost him before and the team responded," Mascherano told reporters.

"It's always important to have Messi. We are not going to have him and it has to be an objective to take a step forward and not an excuse. These things happen, we must recover in the best way and pull forward. We will try to make sure Leo's absence is not an excuse."

Mascherano is expected to take the armband for Argentina in the absence of Messi, who has been pencilled in for a return to action in late November.