Barcelona's injured star Lionel Messi sent a message to his fans on Friday, following Argentina's 2-0 loss to Ecuador in 2018 World Cup qualifying.
For the second day in a row, he posted to social media a picture of himself with his knee brace on. Friday's picture was posted on Instagram along with the message: "And here I am H....."
Y así estoy yo H.........������
A photo posted by Leo Messi (@leomessi) on
Messi injured his knee last month and is expected to be out seven to eight weeks and will also miss Argentina's second World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on Oct. 13.
Spanish newspaper AS speculated on Friday that the "H" in Messi's Instagram message was designated for Spain's tax revenue service, Hacienda, after it was announced on Thursday that Messi and his father will stand trial on three counts of tax fraud and could be sentenced to nearly two years in prison if found guilty
Messis Sr and Jr are each accused of defrauding Spain's tax office of €4.1 million ($4.5m) in unpaid taxes from 2007-09 with the state attorney demanding a 22-month prison sentence, according to court documents made public on Thursday.
Argentina player Carlos Tevez avoided using Messi's absence as an excuse for the Albiceleste's loss to Ecuador, but Lucas Biglia said: "Of course the team missed him."
Tevez, meanwhile, said: "The most important thing is the group but today we didn't get together at any moment."
He promised that Tuesday's match would be different and that he would start: "It is going to be nice because the team is going to play together."