GELSENKIRCHEN, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Soccer legend Diego Maradonais calling on Argentina coach Jose Pekerman to play Lionel Messi as a starter for Friday's Group C match against Serbia and Montenegro at the ongoing World Cup.

    "He's not just good, he's special," said the former golden boy of Argentina. "Comparing to the rest, he's much faster."

    Messi, 18, has been cleared of a new injury worry on Thursday, though the Barcelona wonderkid was not included in Pekerman's starting list for the Argentina-SCG match.

    "We're not going to have our progress determined by public opinion or the press," said Peterman. "If it went badly, the only one to pay the price would be the boy. Because Messi is still only a boy."

    The talented teenage striker, who just recovered from a lengthy thigh injury, was injured again in Wednesday's training at the World Cup camp of Argentina.

    He picked up a slight injury in his left foot after a nasty fall and had to stop training.

    National team doctor Donato Villani revealed that Messi's injury was not as serious as imagined and the 18-year-old would befit for the match that could see Argentina book their passage into the knock-out phase of the tournament.

    Messi has been struggling for the past three months with a thigh injury and missed the national side's 2-1 victory at their first World Cup match with Cote d'Ivoire last Saturday. It seems he will again settle for a place on the bench in Friday's game. Enditem