Will Lionel Messi play in Inter Miami games against Charlotte FC?
Lionel Messi’s first Inter Miami season began with a magical summer run to the Leagues Cup title, a dramatic penalty shootout loss in the U.S. Open Cup final, and 11 goals that electrified crowds both home and away.
It will end without a trip to the playoffs after a 1-0 loss to FC Cincinnati eliminated Miami from post-season contention; and it remains to be seen whether Messi will play for Miami again this season.
Messi and his Miami teammate Facundo Farias traveled to Buenos Aires on Sunday to join up with the Argentine national team as it prepares for a pair of upcoming World Cup qualifier games, the second of which is against Peru on Oct. 17, one day before Inter Miami plays Charlotte FC at home.
Assuming Messi plays in Peru, he will be unable to return in time to play at DRV PNK Stadium less than 24 hours later.
Inter Miami’s season finale is Oct. 21 on the road against Charlotte. Messi would be available to play that game, but his fitness at that point remains unknown. The 36-year-old is recovering from an upper leg injury, missed five of six Miami past games, and may not take a risk with November World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil on the horizon.
Messi and Farias are among 10 Inter Miami players who traveled for national team duty during this FIFA window. The others are Robert Taylor (Finland), Kamal Miller (Canada), Sergiy Kryvtsov (Ukraine), David Ruiz (Honduras), Josef Martinez (Venezuela), Diego Gomez (Paraguay), Edison Azcona (Dominican Republic), and Benjamin Cremaschi (U.S. Olympic team camp).
Seven of those players, including regular starters Messi, Farias, Cremaschi, Martinez, and Kryvtsov, have national team games on Oct. 17, which means they would not be available. Miller is playing a friendly in Japan on Oct. 13, so he should be back in time. Ruiz plays against Cuba in Honduras on Oct. 15, so would likely be back. And Azcona should be back from an Oct. 16 game against Barbados.
Miami coach Tata Martino said the focus for the two final games against Charlotte is on the future.
“Yes, we have two games left, but the work begins now for next season,” Martino said. “We made good roster moves and progress over the summer, and we have to be very precise over the next few months about how we will approach next season.”
He said the team’s fortunes began to turn during the previous FIFA window in early September, after Miami had beaten MLS power LAFC 3-1 on the road to cap a 12-game unbeaten streak. Messi aggravated a leg injury on Sept. 7 while with the Argentine national team, and the Miami team was not the same without him.
To make matters worse, left back Jordi Alba, Messi’s former FC Barcelona teammate who followed him to Miami, injured a hamstring later in September and has missed the past five games. Martino targeted Oct. 18 for his return, and said Brazilian midfielder Gregore, who has missed almost the entire season after foot surgery, could also be back for that game.
Inter Miami has played 19 games since Messi’s debut July 21, which means a game every four days. With the Leagues Cup, the U.S. Open Cup, and a desperate attempt to reach the playoff line, every game was pressure-filled. And that doesn’t count the national team games played by a large portion of the roster. It took a toll, physically and mentally.
“When we needed the team to be the healthiest is when we were the most injured and tired,” Martino said. “This is the reality, not an excuse.”
Goalkeeper Drake Callender said despite the late-season struggles, there is plenty for the team to be proud of.
“If you look at 2023 as a whole, we won Leagues Cup, we made it to the final of Open Cup, and unfortunately, we won’t be going any further in the league, but to make two finals and win one is a good sign we are headed the right direction,” Callender said. “But not making the playoffs hurts. We want to win it all. For the next two games, we will be playing for pride and setting the stage for next year.”
Defender DeAndre Yedlin sees it this way:
“If you were to say in June that we’re going to end the season with a trophy, you’d probably deem it a success. But after July, if you’re to say you’re going to end with only one trophy, you probably wouldn’t deem it a success. It’s how you look at it. As professionals, we want to win everything. So, for me, it’s not a success. We won the first trophy in club history, and that’s great, but we had could have won Open Cup and wanted more from the playoffs.”
