The alarms are on. It is impossible for it not to happen, this is not a footballer who can be replaced in the Argentine team. Therefore, when Lionel Messi had to leave the field in the duel between Inter Miami y Nashville, for the Concachampions, four minutes into the second half, the waters of the national team began to stir, since the captain had evident gestures of discomfort. In just eight days the light blue and white calendar will unfold with the friendlies against El Salvador and Costa Rica , on the last tour before the Copa América.
The man from Rosario felt discomfort in the first half, where he showed part of his repertoire with an assist and scoring the second goal. But there was nothing to suggest that the situation could be a little more complex; Messi came out to play the second period. However, he barely lasted five minutes in Inter Miami’s 3-1 victory, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the competition.
Messi’s face and gestures of annoyance reflected that it was not something temporary. Finally, he left the playing field early. After the match, it was reported that he has discomfort in the back of his right thigh. It is because of this illness that Gerardo Martino, the coach of the American team, has already announced that the Argentine captain will not be present next Saturday when Inter faces DC United in the MLS.
At the end of the match, Martino confirmed that Messi “has an overload in the right posterior” and explained: “We tried to see if he could hold on, but it was bothering him and we preferred him to leave.”. The Argentine coach was clear on several occasions that he is not going to expose the Argentine captain and that he will always prioritize his health.
Especially, because Messi is increasingly treated with more rudeness on the playing field, even a few days ago the images of Lukas MacNaughton’s strong cross went around the world, in the 2-2 draw with Nashville in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions.
Selection commitments
These are not easy days for Messi, because he had already not been present in Inter Miami’s defeat against Montreal in the MLS and now he had this overload that did not allow him to play the second half with Nashville, in the Concachampions. And these physical discomforts from Rosario are a headache for the Argentine team, which has a series of commitments and needs its captain.
Next week the Argentine team will train again and the team will meet directly in the United States, since two friendlies appear on the calendar of the world champions: against El Salvador (March 22 in Philadephia) and Costa Rica (March 26 March, in Los Angeles).
For the moment, from Inter only Martino spoke about Messi’s situation and explained: “It won’t be available (on Saturday), that’s the only thing I can say for what’s to come. They will surely take an image of it in the next few hours, we will see how it evolves.”.
Themes
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