BARCELONA, Spain -- New Argentina coach Diego Maradona met with Lionel Messi on Thursday as he continued a European tour to speak with players who will make up his national squad.
Messi went straight to Maradona's hotel after training with his club, Barcelona, to meet with Maradona and Argentina manager Carlos Bilardo.
Messi is not available for Maradona's first match in charge -- a friendly against Scotland on Nov. 19 -- due to a deal between the Argentine football federation and Barcelona that allowed the 21-year-old Messi to help lead his country to gold at the Beijing Olympics.
Maradona had hoped to meet with Barcelona president Joan Laporta but he is in Brussels, Belgium, and doesn't return until late Thursday.
Still, Laporta already sent out a warning to the 48-year-old former soccer great that Barcelona would not allow Argentina any extra leverage just because Maradona is now in charge.
"Barcelona, the Argentina national team and Maradona as coach, we have a great responsibility which is to look after Leo Messi, who is looking to achieve the same footballing successes that Maradona himself obtained," Laporta said from the European parliament, where he was taking part in an anti-racism function.
Laporta left the door open to further dialogue, however.
"It's great news for football and for Argentina," Laporta said of Maradona's appointment.
The 48-year-old Maradona, who took over for the departed Alfio Basile on Tuesday, dined with some of the Argentine players on Real Madrid following a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Juventus on Wednesday.
His first trip abroad on official team business was already causing a stir among squad members after Maradona said he would strip Javier Zanetti of the captain's armband in favour of Liverpool's Javier Mascherano. Mascherano said he was uncomfortable with the decision.
The former Boca Juniors and Napoli player next travels to England to meet Mascherano and Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez before continuing on to Munich, Germany.
Maradona's first competitive game in charge will be a South American World Cup qualifying match at Venezuela in March.
