Argentina have already qualified for the knockout stage of Copa America but they won't have their coach for this match. Lionel Scaloni has been suspended due to his team coming out late after the half in their last game. This has long been an intimidation factor employed by Argentina to unsettle their opponents and it has even made its way to Inter Miami due to Lionel Messi and Tata Martino, but CONMEBOL has suspended Scaloni and fined the Argentina Football Association for it. Chile will also be without their manager Ricardo Gareca for similar reasons.
But Scaloni won't be the only Lionel missing from the match, at least from the beginning. Messi is nursing a hamstring injury in what was supposed to be a home match for him. He continued playing in the Chile match after suffering the injury, but is now listed as day-to-day. He was named to the bench to begin the game, however, so there is a chance he could play. If not, the expectation is for him to be good to go for the quarterfinals, as long as there are no setbacks.
"I felt some discomfort in my right hamstring at the beginning of the game. It was tight. It wasn't as loose as it should've been. But I was able to finish the game. We'll see how it goes," Messi said following the match. "In the first play, my adductor got hard. I didn't feel a puncture or a tear, but I did find it difficult to move freely."
Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and oddsDate: Saturday, June 29 | Time: 8 p.m. ETLocation: Hard Rock Stadium -- Miami Gardens, FloridaTV: FS1 | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)Odds: Argentina -201; Draw +300; Peru +650StorylinesArgentina: As Argentina have booked their place in the knockouts, Messi was likely going to be rested for this game anyway. It's a chance to give younger players a chance to shine. Two players who would be expected to start are Valentin Carboni and Alejandro Garnacho who haven't appeared in the tournament yet. Carboni has been hailed by Messi and is someone who may be looked at as a future creative force for Argentina, so this is a great chance for him to play. Messi's fitness will be a concern, but this is a tournament where Argentina can begin to learn to play without their talisman as the squad is supremely talented on its own.
Peru: Just looking for some sort of positive in Copa America, Peru have a chance at the knockouts if they can topple Argentina, but they also have yet to score a goal in tournament play so far. Miguel Araujo will miss the match after picking up a red card against Canada, so it rests on Gianluca Lapadula to be more clinical in front of net. The 34-year-old has gotten in good positions for Peru but has yet to find the net and they have to score a goal Saturday.
PredictionArgentina have far too much depth for Peru to cope with and it will shine as young players like Garnacho step up to push the team to victory Pick: Argentina 2, Peru 0
