Football: Grondona Jr Spills Beans On Messi's Country Versus Club Row

The criticism of Argentina's performances at the World Cup riled Leo Messi. That is the reason why he was absent from their recent squad, according to Julito Grondona, the president of Arsenal de Sarandí, whose late father was the long-standing head of the Argentinian FA. "He intends to play for Argentina again", Grondona Jr stated on the radio. Barcelona's official line as to why Messi missed his country's friendly win over Germany on 3rd September was that he had suffered a muscle strain, but this has now been revealed to be a partial cover-up. Asked when the forward will play for Argentina again, Grondona Jr replied, "I asked him to come back in honour of my father's memory and he is going to do so. My mind is at ease: at some point he will come back. He watched the match the other day and was thrilled". "Leo intends to play for Argentina again; it's just a matter of time. Now he has to drop down a gear and play for Barcelona; when the big matches come around or when he feels the pull, he'll definitely come back", he went on. "It's understandable. Tournaments take a lot out of you. The rest is going to do him the world of good. We mustn't forget that Real Madrid won 'La Décima' last season and Barcelona finished empty-handed, so Barça will be counting on him a little more", he added. Grondona Jr also revealed that Messi was devastated by t Read more: Grondona Jr spills beans on Messi's international hiatus - MARCA.com