Picture Credit: Twitter
On their return to Major League Soccer (MLS) in over a month, Inter Miami defeated New York Red Bulls by 2-0 at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on August 26, Saturday. But, afterwards, the head coach Tata Martino revealed that their star player Lionel Messi is going to miss at least three games for the club in September, due to international duty for Argentina.
The captain of the Albiceleste will be taking part in the World Cup qualifiers next month, starting with a match with Ecuador and Bolivia in September. He is also expected to play for Argentina in the next set of matches in the World Cup qualifiers in October against Paraguay and Peru.
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Notably, the first appearance for Lionel Messi in the MLS happened around the 60-minute mark, when Inter Miami were one goal to the good, thanks to a Diego Gomez strike in the 37th minute. Then, the Argentina World Cup winner got himself on the scoresheet in the 89th minute with a mesmerising goal, letting the ball bounce off his left foot to put it into the back of the net.
While speaking to the official website of the club after the 2-0 win, Tata Martino was quoted as saying, “We put a lot of value in this win because this [playing with a rotation] is something we need to get used to because Leo is going to join his national team. He'll miss at least three games this year and next year it will be the same, and we need to understand that when he's not here the team still needs to provide results.”
Moreover, the head coach of Inter Miami will still have Lionel Messi available to him when they host Nashville SC at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on August 30, Wednesday. He will be looking to pick up back-to-back wins in the MLS to help the club to stay clear of Toronto FC, who are in 15th and last place in the league points table.