Argentina apologises for coach Bauza’s comment on Messi

The Argentine Football Association has apologised for Edgardo Bauza’s outburst over Lionel Messi’s injury, according to a Barcelona spokesman.

Argentina coach Bauza accused Bareclona of failing to take good care of Messi, who will miss the upcoming World Cup qualifiers because of a muscle injury sustained while playing for Barcelona in the Spanish league.

Barcelona spokesman Josep Vives said in a statement that the Argentine FA contacted the Spanish giants ‘to express its apology for the comments made by the manager’ regarding Messi’s injury.

Vives said the Argentine FA assured that Bauza had no ‘bad intention’ whatsoever in making ‘unfortunate’ comments.

He added that Argentina and Barcelona are keen to work together ‘so that Messi recovers as quickly as possible.’

The Ballon d’Or holder suffered a recurrence of a groin injury during the 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday and has since been ruled out for three weeks.

The setback has ruled the Barca star out of Argentina’s upcoming South American World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Paraguay.

Messi had suffered a similar problem during the last international break, and Bauza blames Barcelona for aggravating the problem by making him play through the pain barrier in recent weeks.