Inter Miami CF’s long wait for Lionel Messi appears to be over.
The legendary Argentine No. 10, who hasn’t played for the Herons since June 1, is officially “available” for Saturday’s Matchday 32 home game vs. the Philadelphia Union (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
“Yes, he’s fine now,” head coach Gerardo Martino told reporters Friday of Messi, who suffered an ankle injury in late July as Argentina won a second-straight Copa América title.
“Yesterday he returned to training, he’s under consideration for tomorrow’s game. We’ll define our strategy for him after today’s session, but he’s available.”
Straight into the starting XI?
Messi hit a slight setback in his return to full fitness this week after coming down with a sore throat. However, he only sat out Wednesday's session before re-joining his teammates the following day as the Herons look ahead to the final stretch of the season.
“Luckily, [the sore throat] lasted just one day. Yesterday he trained normally, let’s hope he keeps evolving today,” Tata said. “It’s about taking into consideration all that’s happened to define the strategy.”
According to Martino, that strategy could involve inserting Messi straight into the starting XI against the Union, given the amount of time the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has dedicated to his recovery.
“We probably would’ve taken that [amount of minutes] into consideration had he played in Chicago [4-1 win on Aug. 31]. But from Chicago to now, he’s trained well for 15 days," Martino said.
"The fact that he didn’t travel to Chicago had to do with the possibility of him getting minutes against Philadelphia, or even starting.”
Miami chasing history
Messi’s imminent return comes as Miami are riding a four-game winning streak, clinching an Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs spot in the process. With seven games remaining, they also have the Supporters’ Shield, MLS single-season points record and Eastern Conference No. 1 seed in their sights.
“When preparing the club in January to have a competitive team, we included this facet: not having to depend on him [Messi] in an emergency,” Tata said.
Miami boast arguably the deepest roster in MLS with established stars like Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Matías Rojas, as well as rising young contributors such as Diego Gómez, Federico Redondo and Benjamin Cremaschi.
Still, having Messi – whose 12g/13a in 12 matches helped him become the fastest player in MLS history to reach 25 goal contributions in a season – gives Miami that much more of an edge against the competition.
“To have the best player in the world back in a team that’s going through a positive spell,” Martino said. “We’re all happy about that.”
