Messi is back! Argentine star returns to Inter Miami squad for FC Cincinnati game
The goat is back.
Lionel Messi returned to the Inter Miami squad Saturday night for a critical game against first-place FC Cincinnati after missing five of the previous six games due to an upper leg injury. He was not in the starting lineup but was listed on the game roster and is expected to come off the bench.
Hundreds of fans lined up along the parking lot barricades and screamed when the team bus pulled in, and Messi waved at excited fans as walked along the sideline from the parking lot to the locker room. The first “Messi! Messi” chants began in the 18th minute and got louder in the 30th minute, with the score knotted 0-0.
The team sorely needs him as it tries desperately to reach the playoffs. The Argentine star scored 11 goals and led Miami on a 12-game unbeaten streak upon his much-hyped arrival in mid-July, but the team has gone winless in the five games he sat out. Miami needs to win all three of its remaining games, plus get help from other teams, to have a realistic chance of advancing to the post-season.
Miami’s only win in more than a month was a 4-0 victory over last-place Toronto in which Messi played 37 minutes before asking to come off after aggravating the injury.
Messi was called up to Argentina’s national team for upcoming World Cup qualifying matches against Paraguay Oct. 12 and Peru Oct. 17. He is expected to travel on Sunday and begin training in Buenos Aires on Monday, along with Inter Miami teammate Facundo Farias, who also was called into the Argentine camp.
DRV PNK Stadium will be packed for Messi’s return, as only a few hundred tickets remained as of Saturday afternoon. The five diehard supporters’ groups known collectively as “La Familia” threatened to boycott or stage a protest during Saturday’s game as a result of the ticket price increases for the 2024 season but called it off after the club agreed to meet with them next week to discuss their concerns. Season ticket packages doubled for most of the price ranges.
The Miami starting lineup Saturday was: Josef Martinez, Facundo Farias, Benjamin Cremaschi, Sergio Busquets, David Ruiz, Noah Allen, Kamal Miller, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Tomas Aviles, DeAndre Yedlin, Drake Callender.
This story was originally published October 7, 2023 at 7:43 PM.