Although he is in a country where superstars extend their careers such as LeBron James (39) and Tom Bradley, who shone until he was 45, Messi's case has become more complex due to injuries.
On March 13, the Argentine idol left the field due to an injury to the thigh of his right leg. He has not returned since then and on Monday, March 18, the Argentine Football Association reported that Messi was not called up for the albiceleste's preparation matches, against El Salvador, on March 22 in Philadelphia; and against Costa Rica, four days later in Los Angeles.
Very rarely, Messi does not respond to the call of his team. Now there is a new strategy. The priority is to take care of the star.
The MLS will not stop either for the FIFA date or for the Copa América, which will be played from June 20 to July 14 in the United States. Messi wants to play in that tournament, although his goal is to reach the 2026 World Cup.
From the internal media of the rosanegro club it emerged that Messi will play very few of the 15 games remaining for Inter Miami in the American League; Furthermore, he was not in Washington the previous Saturday, when the Surflorida squad beat DC United 3-1 with two goals from Luis Suárez.
Coach Gerardo “Tata” Marino stressed that the club's objective is to recover the best player in the world for the quarterfinal matches of the CONCA Champs Cup, against the Rayados de Monterrey, on April 3 in Fort Lauderdale and seven days later in Mexico.
Three more could be added to these two commitments if the Rosanegros reach the ConcaChamps final.
It is true that it is in Messi's interest to play as many games as possible because as a partner of Apple and Adidas he receives a cut from the sale of subscriptions to broadcasts through the application and from the sale of t-shirts.
Last Monday, The Wall Street Journala newspaper dedicated to the economy, published the article “What does Lionel Messi mean in America.”
Surprisingly, the article signed by Jason Gay did not address the financial impact of the star since he announced his arrival in the United States last June.
Quite the opposite. It was a human, social chronicle, in which he revealed his experience of having attended Chase Stadium with his daughter and son, around 10 years old each, to watch the clash in which Inter Miami beat Nashville 3-1 in the CONCA Champs Cup.
Gay said that he had never seen a full stadium in which almost all of the fans wore the shirt of a player, in this case Messi. Neither in the highest peaks of Stephen Curry, nor of any other, had anything similar happened.
And what he admired most is that Messi summons the family. Awaken the idolatry of children. That is what was seen that triumphant night in the stadium that perhaps was overshadowed when 50 minutes into the game the star had to leave the field injured.
He also commented that his children treated Messi like rock stars or current music stars. They asked the father if the Argentine star has pets and other personal details that fans want to know about his idol.
Basically, this is the model that Messi himself has built: disciplined, the priority is his family, he goes on vacation with his wife and children and also goes with them to restaurants in Miami like Prima Pasta, where he goes Since 12 years.
Likewise, on the field Messi exhibits the same discipline and love for what he does. Thanks to this, at 36 years old he is the most important character in Inter Miami, the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Since the previous season ended, Martino announced that in 2024 they were going to measure Messi's performances and there was one thing for sure: he was not going to play every game.
The clear objective of the rosanegros is to win the CONCA Champs Cup and qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, which will be held in 2025 in the United States and will debut a new format with 32 participants.
FIFA added a new spot for CONCACAF, but the process to win it has not yet been defined.
At Inter Miami they prefer the most expeditious path: five more games and glory for the rosanegro club, which already touched something when last August with Messi it won the Liga's Cup, a tournament between teams from the MLS and the Mexican League and which allowed for the surflorida club to be in the situation it is in now.
*Lionel Messi in numbers
Total Goals
For life 831
In clubs 725
At Barza 672
In Selection 106
*Messi is the second highest scorer in the history of football. Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer of all time with 872 goals in 1,205 games, with an average of 0.72.
