Messi has seen a specialist over vomiting, says Martino

By Enis Koylu

Mar 7, 2014 2:56:00 PM

The Barcelona coach insists that his fellow Argentine's performances do not suffer as a result of being sick but admits that the 26-year-old's problem is peculiar

Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino has says that specialists have not been able to cure Lionel Messi's tendency to vomit during matches.

The Argentine admitted that he was sick on the pitch on Wednesday, during his country's 0-0 draw with Romania, but insisted that he was not worried about it.

His coach has confirmed that his compatriot has long been affected by the problem but doesn't think the 26-year-old's performances suffer.

"It’s something that’s not normal, but it doesn’t affect his performance. It happens to him regularly," he told reporters.

"He has even gone to see specialists at certain times; they haven’t solved the problem, but it isn’t a cause for concern. It doesn’t affect him at all in terms of doing his job."

Carles Puyol announced that he would be leaving Barcelona in the summer and Martino says his skipper will be hard to replace, but does not envision a coaching career for the 35-year-old.

"I think he’s a footballer who is irreplaceable. I’m probably not the best-placed person to comment on this, because I’ve only worked with him for seven or eight months, but that’s enough to say what I said.

"He's the type of player that a club has only once every so often. Life goes on at Barcelona, and the club will look for a replacement, but he’ll always be in everyone’s heads because he leaves an indelible mark.

"I thought that he has the potential to be a coach, but he said no."

And the former Newell's Old Boys boss accepted that Barca would dip into the market for a new centre-back this summer, but remained tight-lipped on a potential move for Juventus star Arturo Vidal.

"I haven’t spoken at all about next season. The only new development is that Puyol has confirmed he’s leaving. The club needs a central defender. As for other players, I haven’t spoken at all.

"I’ll say again that Vidal is an excellent player, but I haven’t spoken to the club about him or any other footballer." --------------- goal.com