When Argentina took the field in the high altitude of Bolivia, fans were searching for a familiar face. Lionel Messi was nowhere to be found. Not in the pitch, not on the dugout. Is Messi injured? Was Messi rested? The questions kept piling regarding the Inter Miami forward.
Lionel Scaloni answered the question in the post-match press conference. The Argentina coach explained that Messi ‘didn’t feel comfortable’ and the staff decided not to take a chance.
“He [Messi] wasn’t ready to play. Yesterday he tried to recover and he didn’t feel comfortable and we didn’t take the risk.”
“He wasn’t fit. Yesterday in training we wanted him to try and he didn’t even try,” the Argentina boss added.
Scaloni did not reveal the nature of Messi’s ‘unfitness’ but the revelation is sure to send chills down the spine of Inter Miami supporters.
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Inter Miami is in a tight spot in the qualifying race for the play-offs in Major League Soccer (MLS).
With eight games to go, the team is at 14th place. To qualify for the play-offs, Miami needs to better their standings by at least five places to qualify.
Naturally, the team would want the World Cup winner to feature in all their matches from here. Inter Miami is on a 12-match unbeaten run since Messi’s arrival.
The club doctors will likely assess him When he gets back to the US later this week. In fact, it’s possible that he deliberately chose not to play against Bolivia to give himself more time to heal and be ready to play on Saturday.
Inter Miami though has already found a way to win without their talismanic attacker though. They came from behind to win 3-2 against Sporting KC at DRV PNK Stadium in Florida.
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