Messi, Suarez expected to play for Inter Miami vs. St. Louis on Saturday before Copa break
Lionel Messi will report to the Argentine national team early next week for Copa America; but first, he and his Inter Miami teammates aim to win their home game Saturday against St. Louis City and head into the FIFA break on a high note after a disappointing 3-1 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.
Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba are all available and expected to play against St. Louis, according to assistant coach Javi Morales.
Inter Miami has the best record in MLS through 17 games with 34 points on 10 wins, three losses and four ties, which matches the team’s season total in points from last year. Earning three points on Saturday and continuing to widen the gap atop the table is critical as Miami will lose Messi and other key players during Copa America and the Olympics.
“Everyone is fit to play Saturday, and they all want to play,” Morales said, when asked if Messi and Suarez were ready after a short turnaround after Wednesday’s game. “We will train Friday, there are no physical issues, and then we will talk to the players and make the plan. We want to put out the strongest team we can to try and finish with a win, three points at home, before the break.”
Morales added that there was no need to rest players because the players who needed rest (Messi, Suarez, Busquets) got it by not playing at Vancouver and there will be time to rest during the FIFA break next week.
In addition to Messi, other players already called up for national team duty are Matias Rojas (Paraguay) for pre-Copa America matches in June against Peru, Chile and Panama; Benjamin Cremaschi (USA) for a pre-Olympics camp and David Ruiz (Honduras) for games against Cuba on June 6 and Bermuda on June 9.
Suarez is on Uruguay’s provisional roster for Copa America, Rojas is expected to be on Paraguay’s roster for Copa America and Leo Campana might be called in for Ecuador’s Copa team. The final Copa America rosters will be released by June 12.
“I am waiting, working every day to be on the national team to play for my country,” Rojas said. “I have not heard about the list yet. To play for your country is something every kid dreams about from the time you’re 5 or 6 years old. I treasure every moment I get.”
In the meantime, his mind is on the inter Miami game Saturday.
“I feel rested; we know it is important with players leaving for national teams that we get as many points as possible, so for us this game is like a final,” Rojas said. “The loss to Atlanta was our first loss in a long stretch of games. We were not used to losing. Luckily, we have a game Saturday, and we want to remove that bad taste from our mouths from that loss.”
Morales agreed that the team is extra motivated to beat St. Louis after the poor midweek performance.
“The loss still stings, we weren’t used to losing after not having lost for the previous 10 games, and especially to lose at home in front of our fans was not good; but thankfully we have a quick turnaround and have another game [Saturday] before the break,” Morales said.
St. Louis City is 11th in the Western Conference standings with three wins, four losses and seven ties for 16 points. The team is coming off three consecutive losses, 2-1 to Seattle, 3-1 to Cincinnati and 2-0 to Los Angeles FC.
Miami has scored a league-high 39 goals this season and has a plus-15 goal differential. St. Louis has scored 20 goals and has a minus-two goal differential. Brazilians Joao Klauss (five goals) and Celio Pompeu (three goals) lead St. Louis.
Another St. Louis player to watch is defender Tomas Totland of Norway, who is the only right back with two goals in the league so far this season.
The teams have played only once in team history, in Tata Martino’s debut as Inter Miami coach last July, just hours after Miami officially announced Messi’s signing. St. Louis won 3-0, but Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Alba were not yet playing for Miami. In fact, 10 of this season’s regular starters were not yet on the Miami roster for that game.
How to Watch
Inter Miami vs. St. Louis City kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The game will be broadcast on Apple TV through MLS Season Pass and can be heard on WQAM-560.
Inter Miami games Messi will miss during Copa America, assuming Argentina makes knockout rounds:
On the road vs. Philadelphia June 15
At home vs. defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew June 19
On the road vs. Nashville June 29
On the road vs. Charlotte July 3
On the road vs. Cincinnati July 6
This story was originally published May 31, 2024 at 10:34 AM.