Lionel Messi STARTS for Inter Miami in its final game of the MLS season as World Cup winner looks to spoil Charlotte’s playoff hopes
- A muscle problem had limited Messi to just two appearances since September 3
- The World Cup winner was named in Tata Martino’s starting XI opposite Charlotte
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Lionel Messi will return to Inter Miami’s starting lineup on Saturday night in the final match of the MLS regular season.
The World Cup winner was named in Tata Martino’s starting XI to face Charlotte FC after recovering from injury.
A muscle problem had limited the Argentine to just two appearances for the Herons since September 3, as the team saw their play-off hopes slip away.
A leg ailment had limited Messi, 36, to just two appearances β playing a total of 72 minutes β for Miami (9-17-7, 34 points) since Labor Day. And by the time he was able to contribute again, his stint as a second-half substitute ended in a 1β0 home loss to Cincinnati on October 7, eliminating the Herons from playoff contention.
But Messi followed that with two appearances for Argentina in World Cup qualifying, scoring twice and playing the whole 90 minutes in the latter, a 2-0 win over Peru on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi returned to the starting lineup for Inter Miami’s final match of the MLS season
Messi was spotted boarding a flight to Charlotte with his Inter Miami teammates on Friday
The 36-year-old Messi attended the Herons’ 2-2 home draw against Charlotte on Wednesday
He returned in time to watch the 2-2 draw between Miami and Charlotte in Florida from the sidelines on Wednesday, and had said after his performance at DRV PNK Stadium that he planned to play on Saturday.
βThe most important thing is the 90 minutes he played, where he felt good and played with confidence, without worrying about his injury,β Miami manager Tata Martino said after the game, according to an interpretation by the Charlotte Observer.
‘Sometimes your head plays tricks on you after injuries. … We’ll see if he’s ready to play on Saturday.”
The uncertainty puts Charlotte (11/9/13, 40 points) in a special position ahead of a must-win game to have any hope of clinching one of the Eastern Conference’s nine postseason spots.
The Crown enter the weekend as one of four teams tied for ninth spot, but with Chicago and New York City FC playing each other on Saturday, one of the two is guaranteed to move to 41 points or better.
Charlotte will rue having to give back two late leads in their 2-2 draw at Florida, but they should have top scorer Karol Swiderski available to start after he came off the bench on Wednesday having played for Poland a day earlier .