In a bid to jack up the morale of the team in readiness for the upcoming match against Brazil in the current World Cup qualifiers, players on the Brazil national team have said that they have no fear of sensational Barca and Argentinian striker, Lionel Messi.

Brazil would be meeting Argentina for their World Cup qualifier match this Thursday, and Messi who recently returned from injury, will be featuring in the high profile game.

Lucas Pratto, an Argentinian striker, who also plays for AtleticoMineiro, a Brazilian club, has said that the hosts were scared out of their wits of Messi, who for no less than five times, have been crowned World player of the year.

"They know that Leo is very tough. They are a little scared. Or maybe more than a little."

Pratto's claim was denied at once be the captain of the Brazilian team, DaniAlves, who coincidentally, is a close friend of Messi, and a former teammate at Barcelona.

"There is no such thing as being scared in football. There is respect for Messi and for Argentina. And they feel the same about our players, our team," Alves had said after training on Tuesday in Belo Horizonte, at the Mineirao stadium.

Marquinhos, Brazil defender, however sounded a note of caution, saying that his team needed to be as perfect as possible, because, once a tiny mistake is made, Messi could dribble and score.

Renato Augusto, Brazilian midfielder also spoke on the subject, describing Messi as being extremely intelligent while also possessing a great finishing skill. Augusto is of the view that only double marking would work on Messi, and all Brazilian players, would have to be on the guard in order to quickly close all gaps and halt Messi's passing angle.

So far, Brazil leads the qualifiers with 21 points, and following closely behind is Uruguay with 20 points. Colombia and Ecuador both have 17 points each while Argentina and Colombia falls behind, each with 16 points.