Lionel Messi will not play Saturday when Inter Miami visits Chicago, meaning he will have at least two more weeks to continue recovering from an ankle injury.
It’ll be the ninth consecutive Major League Soccer match and 15th league match overall this season that Messi has missed for Inter Miami, which has the top record in the league and has already clinched a playoff berth.
He hasn’t played for the club since June 1, missing time first while playing for Argentina in the Copa America tournament and then because of the ankle issue.
Messi has 12 goals and 13 assists in 12 MLS games with Inter Miami this season. He’s missed 14 of the club’s league matches, including each of the last eight either because he was playing for Argentina or recovering from the ankle injury.
Messi last played on July 14, leaving in the second half of Argentina’s win over Colombia in the Copa America final. He was dealing with leg issues throughout that tournament, plus left the field briefly in the first half of the final because of a left ankle issue — then got hurt again in the second half and had to leave for good.
By not playing Saturday, it means the earliest that Messi will participate in a match again is Sept. 14 when Inter Miami faces Philadelphia. He was not selected to play in Argentina’s World Cup qualifying matches in early September.
Messi was not selected by Argentina to play in World Cup qualifiers in early September.
“To see him on the field is great,” Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender said after the Wednesday workout. “I know he’s been getting treatment every single day, training every single day. He’s dealt with things before. He’s been there, done that and he’s still doing it at the highest level. To see him recoup from the kind of injury we saw at Copa America and be available for us this season, it goes to show the quality of care we have here.”
Inter Miami is the only team so far to have clinched a playoff berth and is currently four points clear — with a match in hand — over the LA Galaxy for the best overall record in MLS.
“To be able to get him back,” Callender said, “it’s going to be huge.”
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