Messi's strict rule for swapping shirts — but rare exception made
Lionel Messi has been called up by Argentina despite being injured and Inter Miami surely will not be happy. The soccer legend has missed the club’s last four games, including the U.S. Open Cup Final, due to a frustrating muscle problem from when he last played for his country in September.
He was substituted after scoring a sensational free-kick against Ecuador on Sept. 8 and missed the following game against Bolivia. The 36-year-old then played just 37 minutes against Toronto FC on Sept. 20 before he left the pitch.
While Messi is still working his way back to full fitness, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni picked him in the squad for the next set of World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru. But with the sporting superstar still nursing an injury, Inter Miami will be left both surprised and somewhat frustrated by this.
The club wants their star fit and firing as the Eastern Conference team tries to make a late push for the playoffs. They are 13th in the table and are five points away from Montreal who occupy the final playoff spot.
After a lightning start to life in the MLS, the congested fixtures schedule may have caught up with Messi. He did not play for two months once the European club season came to an end in which he played 48 games and won the World Cup in Qatar with Argentina in November and December 2022.
After Miami’s 4-1 defeat to the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino confirmed that his captain’s fitness is being closely monitored. He explained: “He should be training, […] It could be today or tomorrow.
“The thing is tomorrow is a match day. Maybe he does the first part of training, the warm-up, but only because it’s a question of the quality of the training.” Fans are eagerly anticipating Messi’s return but Martino refused to say exactly when that may take place.
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“I would say ‘one month’ if I knew it was one month,” he added. “I make a huge mistake if I say something hastily. That’s why I avoid exact times. I understand your desire to have exact times, but if I had exact times I would share them. But I don’t have them either.”
Though he is not on the pitch at the moment, Messi is still having success as he has been nominated for Major League Soccer’s 2023 MVP Award, despite playing just four league games. With three starts and one appearance off the bench, he has made the 30-man shortlist for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP Award, as has teammate Sergio Busquets.
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