Argentina has provided more details regarding captain Lionel Messi, who has been dealing with a nagging injury he sustained with Inter Miami last week against Nashville SC.
Lionel Messi is set to miss out on Argentina’s two friendlies through injury, despite Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino suggesting the issue wasn’t serious.
During the match against Nashville SC in the Concacaf Champions Cup last week, Messi was substituted in the 50th minute. After securing a 3-1 victory, Inter Miami boss Tata Martino attempted to quell worries surrounding his star player, insisting Messi was taken off because of “a muscle overload in his right leg.”
Martino said: “We tried to make him continue but he told us he wasn’t feeling well, so he was substituted as a precaution.” The injury proved to be more severe than initially thought, however. Messi was sidelined for Miami’s 3-1 win over D.C United on Saturday, with Martino saying after the match that they’d play it safe.
Messi’s injury must be dealt with week by week, and we will evaluate it,” he said. “We’ll continuously evaluate what he’s doing. The objective is for him to arrive to be able to play in the quarterfinals of Concacaf Champions Cup. We don’t want to take a risk.”
