UPDATE 3-Soccer-Argentina coach Scaloni out of hospital after bicycle accident - Argentine FA

Argentina's national soccer coach Lionel Scaloni has been released from hospital in Mallorca after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle, the Argentine football association said on Tuesday.

"The Argentina coach, Lionel Scaloni, suffered an accident today while cycling. He is now on his way home after being discharged from hospital," the team's Twitter account said. Spanish newspaper El Mundo said earlier on Tuesday that Scaloni, who was named Argentina's permanent coach in November, was taken to the Hospital Universitario Son Espases on the Spanish island with multiple injuries.

Scaloni later posted a picture of himself on his official Twitter account sporting tape above and below his bruised left eye and on his nose and forehead, with the words: "Many thanks for the messages, a few stitches and now I'm off back home." Scaloni will oversee the team's Copa America campaign this year, with Argentina bidding to win their first major trophy since 1993.

The 40-year-old made seven appearances for his country as a defender and had a long, varied career which began at Newell's Old Boys, in Rosario in central Argentina. His longest spell at one club came at Deportivo La Coruna, where he won the La Liga title in 2000, while he also played for Racing Santander and Mallorca in Spain plus West Ham United and Lazio and Atalanta, retiring from playing in 2015.

He became assistant to Jorge Sampaoli at La Liga outfit Sevilla in 2016 and followed him when he became coach of Argentina in 2017. Sampaoli was sacked in the wake of the side's disastrous 2018 World Cup campaign and their last-16 defeat to France, but Scaloni stayed on as caretaker coach before being handed the job on a permanent basis in November. (Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Hugh Lawson)

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