Intro:

Lionel Messi sat on the sidelines as his teammates prepared for a friendly international against El Salvador

Script:

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Gerardo Martino, Argentina manager:

(On if he can guarantee Messi will play on Saturday)

"Truthfully I can't guarantee because he has a small injury holding him back. And because of that we have to wait for training today to see if it's improving. It's not major, but it's something that's holding him back. But at least yesterday he was able to train normally. We're aware that people are here to see him. If he is OK, he will play. If it's getting better, surely we will see him from the start of the game, or for a while."

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Gerardo Martino, Argentina manager:

(On where Messi will play if he plays)

"If Leo is OK, I don't know if he will play from the start or the second half. But for sure he will play on the right side. We have to finish evaluating the position on the left side with Pocho, Maxi, Angel"