After missing more than two months due to an ankle injury, Lionel Messi is set to play for his club Inter Miami on Saturday, Miami coach Gerardo Martino announced on Friday.
On July 14, Lionel Messi suffered a right ankle injury while assisting Argentina in defeating Colombia in the Copa America final. He has since missed eight MLS games for his team as well as his country’s World Cup qualifying matches this month.
Before training on Friday, Martino stated, “Yes, he is fine.” “He trained (Thursday), he is in the plans for the game. After training, we will figure out the strategy for him, but he is available,” the Argentine continued.
“To get back the best player in the world to our team, which was already on a good run, we are all very happy with this situation,” said Martino.
The team had a boost since Lionel Messi’s return to training, according to Miami’s Finnish winger Robert Taylor.
Taylor told the Miami Herald, “We’re already confident, but he gives us even more confidence now that he’s back training and hopefully he’s ready to play soon.”
“Of course, two months is a long time for anyone, but he’s the best player there is. So, I don’t think we’ll see much of a different Messi than we’ve seen before,” Taylor added.
On Saturday, Inter Miami, who are leading both the Eastern Conference and the overall standings, will host the Philadelphia Union.
Inter has already guaranteed a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs, but how they finish the regular season—which ends on October 19—will determine their seeding. The following week marks the start of the playoffs, which end on December 7 with the MLS Cup.
After their international break, the Philadelphia Union will play Inter Miami to begin the season’s last stretch. Points will be essential for the Union to advance to the playoffs with just seven games remaining.
The Union are beginning to revert to their previous practices of playing strong defense and launching counterattacks after a difficult start to the season. Together with Daniel Gazdag up top, Tai Baribo and Mikael Uhre have produced good play, and the defense has been well organized since Andre Blake’s comeback to goal.
Following the international break, Tai Baribo’s injury for Israel and Blake’s groin injury with Jamaica created some injury concerns for Philadelphia. During his midweek press conference, head coach Jim Curtin stated that Baribo is ready to play while Blake will be determined at the start of the game. Jacques hasn’t practiced since returning from his duty with Haiti, but Curtin added that he should play.
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[…] before Messi is seen in an Argentina shirt again, Forbes said.After a protracted injury layoff, Messi triumphantly returned to the field on Saturday, scoring twice in Inter Miami’s 3-1 Major League Soccer victory over […]