After only recently making his return, Lionel Messi was forced to leave the game between Inter Miami and Toronto FC. It was due to what appeared to be an injury. Since the international break, the legendary forward was making his first start for the Herons in MLS.
For Inter Miami’s 3-2 victories over Kansas City and 5-2 losses to Atlanta United, Gerardo Martino decided to rest Lionel Messi. But when Messi pulled up with a problem in the 36th minute, there was cause for alarm. He soon began removing his captain’s armband and shinpads before stumbling off the pitch.
Injured Messi was replaced by Robert Taylor in the 37th minute of play with the score still 0-0. He gave DeAndre Yedlin the captain’s armband before he left, leaving him with a solemn expression.
Jordi Alba was injured early in the game and was also lost for the team. Despite the two hits, the team easily won 4-0 thanks to goals from Facundo Farias and Benjamin Cremaschi. Taylor, Messi’s replacement, scored twice.
The coach provide an important update later saying that Messi has been dealing with a “old injury”.
“The scans he had with the national team, they didn’t show any injury. We still saved him to be safe,” he added.
“We don’t think he has a muscular injury. That’s also from a conversation I just had with him. But we have to continue being careful. And we’ll look at it the next few days.”
It would be a huge setback to Inter Miami that the Argentine icon had to leave the game early due to what appeared to be muscle weariness. They are working to finish in the top four of the MLS Eastern Conference League. When they play Houston Dynamo on September 28, the Herons will also be competing in the US Open Cup final.
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