Inter Miami will be without soccer superstar Lionel Messi for at least the next two games after suffering an ankle injury while playing for Argentina in Sunday’s Copa America final.
The MLS club announced on Tuesday that Messi injured ligaments in his right ankle and that his “availability will depend on regular evaluations and the progress of his recovery.”
Manager Tata Martino told reporters on the same day that Messi, 37, would miss Wednesday’s match against Toronto FC and Sunday’s game against Chicago Fire.
Martino suggested Messi had “sprained” his ankle and that the injury was “present.” The Associated Press reported..
The Inter Miami manager did not want to speculate on the severity of the injury.
“Tests will be carried out to determine the severity of the situation,” Martino said. “We are constantly informed through exercise physiologist Walter Insauralde, who is also the national team’s exercise physiologist.”
He said he is very cautious about making a final diagnosis before the results are available.
Messi, widely known as the “GOAT” of the sport, appeared to take an awkward step and fell to the ground, suffering an ankle injury, in the 64th minute of Argentina’s 1-0 win over Colombia.
He remained on the ground for several minutes before limping back to the bench, angrily throwing down one of his shoes, burying his face in his hands and crying.
Messi fell chasing the ball early in the game and hurt his right ankle after a hard tackle from Colombia’s Santiago Arias, but appeared to avoid injury.
The 37-year-old, who moved to MLS last summer, has released his first statement on the matter. Post to Instagram on monday.
In the post, he thanked fans who had reached out to him with well wishes for his recovery, before giving an optimistic outlook on the status of his injury.
“Thank God I am well and I hope to soon be on the pitch again and enjoying what I love most,” Messi wrote.
Messi did not travel to Buenos Aires with the rest of the Argentina team to celebrate their Copa America victory.
Inter Miami’s next two games are MLS regular season matches before MLS pauses its season next Wednesday for the All-Star Game, followed by the League Cup featuring all LIGA MX and MLS clubs.
Inter Miami are the defending League Cup champions and the tournament is seen as a key event for MLS and its broadcast partner Apple.
Messi helped boost viewership at last year’s tournament. World Soccer Talk reported.
Miami’s regular season resumes on Aug. 24.
Martino declined to comment on how Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has used Messi in the Copa America. According to the Miami Herald.
“We weren’t involved in the day-to-day operations and it’s not my place to talk about that,” Martino said.
