Football: Messi in injury setback

BARCELONA: Barcelona striker Lionel Messi suffered an injury during training and will not travel to play Hamburg. During training, the player suffered bruising to his right calf," announced the Catalan club. Messi had been due to be one of the main attractions for the game in the continued absence of Spain forward David Villa, still recovering from a broken leg that forced him to miss La Roja's successful defence of their European title. Barcelona are due to play five friendly matches in pre-season.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2012.