Lionel Messi reached his breaking point. At least for now. The Argentinian has been remarkably durable throughout his club and international career. However, at 36, 12 spellbinding games in two months for his new club – after a season with PSG sandwiched by the World Cup triumph where he played every single minute – has proved too much.
As such, Inter Miami were without their blockbuster acquisition for arguably the biggest game in the club’s history. In the US Open Cup final on Wednesday night a fatigued squad lost 2-1 to Houston Dynamo in Fort Lauderdale. Messi could only watch from the stands.
The absence wasn’t entirely unexpected. Messi hadn’t trained with his teammates on Tuesday and wasn’t on the team bus that arrived at the stadium. The hopes of a cameo began to fade and, 50 minutes before kick-off, the team sheet made it official – “10. L. Messi” wasn’t even among the subs. That put a dampener on the pre-game fireworks.
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But an energetic Houston side, the surprise package in the MLS Western Conference this season, were buoyed and overpowered Miami from the first whistle. The Texans raced into a 2-0 first-half lead and looked more likely to extend it before a 92nd-minute Josef Martinez consolation that give Miami hope their performance did not merit.
Inter had been cagey about their star’s fitness all week, with boss Tata Martino publicly pondering the risk, despite the suspected hamstring issue the coach described only as “dealing with his old scar tissue.” This suggested the problem was wear and not a new ailment.
Perhaps the south Florida club didn’t to risk empty seats at the final by officially ruling out the seven-times Ballon d’Or winner. After the defeat, Martino said there had never been a chance Messi would play. He did, however, state the player will return before the season’s end.
“Well, it wasn’t prudent for [Messi] to play. Not even to consider it for a few minutes,” he said in post-match comments, where he attributed his team’s subpar performance to fatigue. “Yes, he will play before the league is over. We will go match-by-match defining how things are coming along with the medical department to see whether he can play without any further risks.”
There is still little clarity about the injury itself but on this evidence, if prolonged any longer, Messi’s absence would entirely…