The coach of Inter Miami, Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martinosaid this Friday that he felt “optimistic” about the chances that Lionel Messi return to the eleven this Saturday in the MLS match that will face them with the D.C. United. “Yesterday he trained well, hopefully today too. We will decide (if he plays) after training, but we are optimistic about tomorrow’s game,” Martino said in statements to journalists.
Messi missed Wednesday’s match against Orlando City (0-0) after receiving a blow to the knee last Saturday playing in Montreal. “He had the blow, he couldn’t maneuver his leg well, it bothered him, the area still bothered him to the touch yesterday,” explained Martino, about the ex-Barça player’s discomfort. The coach assured that Messi is in good physical condition and that his participation this Saturday only depends on the discomfort caused by that blow.
Martino also referred to the imminent call-ups of the national teams for the Copa América that will be held in the United States from June 20 to July 14, with which Inter Miami will lose a large part of its figures for a good number of matches. Conmebol also recently announced that it was expanding the list of each team to compete in the Copa América from 23 to 26 players, so it could lose even more players than initially planned.
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“Let it stop like everyone else,” Martino demanded of the MLS, which will continue with its calendar despite the national team tournaments. “If not, the search is for lower quality players so that they are not taken on FIFA dates,” he lamented.
