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LIONEL MESSI has been ruled out of action for an indefinite period of time after sustaining an injury carrying Argentina to the World Cup finals in Russia next year, WWN has learned.

The injury, believed to be ligament damage on the spine, calls Messi’s participation in the current season into question, with Argentina already considering withdrawing from the 2018 tournament if he is unavailable.

“As many fans will note we play a unique ‘one formation’ so without Lionel, there is no team. It seems a waste of everyone’s time going to Russia without him,” Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli explained to WWN.

“We believe it’s his anterior longitudinal ligament, torn at some point during his hat-trick last night against Ecuador, but doctors tell me it could have gone at any point during qualifying. The weight of 10 other men can be crippling,” added Sampaoli.

Worrying footage from Messi’s last 10 appearances in an Argentina shirt repeatedly showed him wincing and clutching his back after tirelessly trying to create and score goals for his country, prompting many fans to question why Sampaoli didn’t think of putting an additional 10 people on the pitch alongside the Barcelona star.

Scoring his 59th, 60th and 61st international goals of his career last night, Messi failed to silence his critics on football message board SoccerKnowledge with many members of the forum confirming they have ‘yet to see evidence he’s the real deal’.