The last time Lionel Messi played was in Inter Miami’s 4-0 Major League Soccer victory over Toronto FC last week.
Prior to Wednesday’s US Open Cup final match versus Houston Dynamo, Lionel Messi did not participate in Inter Miami’s training session. Messi is presently recovering from an injury, so it is still unclear whether he will be available for the summit match. While Messi’s participation is still up in the air, Houston Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen stated that he anticipates the former Barcelona player to make a comeback in the US Open Cup match that will take place at the DRV PNK Stadium in Florida.
“We’re pretty sure he’ll play. We’ll prepare for them in that way. They’ve got some options if that isn’t the case. But we’ll prepare for their best lineup unless we hear something more concrete. There’s been thousands of coaches that have tried to stop him and thousands of coaches have failed constantly, so I don’t have the magic bullet to stop Messi,” Olsen said while talking to the reporters ahead of the final match.
“No one has proven that they do have that. But of course, we’re all trying to do the same thing: limit his space and condense the areas. There’s all these little tricks that you can do to try to limit him. But they’ve also put together a very good supporting cast around him so now you dial in too much there and there’s a lot of other guys that can hurt you,” Olsen added.
Lionel Messi was last seen in action last week during Inter Miami’s 4-0 Major League Soccer (MLS) win over Toronto FC. Messi, however, came off the pitch due to injury in the first half of the game. The Argentine did not travel with the Inter Miami squad for the fixture against Orlando City SC.
There is still no clarity on Messi’s injury status. It is still not clear if the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is dealing with fatigue or whether he is suffering from some kind of an injury.
While talking about Messi’s availability, Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said, “In this case, we sit with him asking how he feels. Maybe other players, one makes a decision, but here we will make a decision we are in agreement over. Here, there are questions. The player, the [U.S. Open Cup] final, and what comes after. These three scenarios have to be evaluated; it is not just about the next game. Risk is always there, but we try to decrease the margin of risk.”
Inter Miami will win their second trophy of the year if they win the US Open Cup final. In this season, the Herons have already won the Leagues Cup. Inter Miami still has five games left in the Major League Soccer regular season after the match against Houston Dynamo. Messi and the other members of Inter Miami are still in the running for a playoff spot.
Inter Miami will begin their MLS season with a match against New York City FC, who are currently in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings and are competing for the final playoff position.
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