Messi rests, skips Inter Miami at Houston Dynamo game. No problem. Miami wins 4-1
Lionel Messi did not travel to Houston for Inter Miami’s game against the Dynamo on Sunday night, as coach Javier Mascherano chose to keep him home to let the 37-year-old Argentine captain rest ahead of a crowded schedule over the next few weeks.
Not to worry, Miami fans. Two of the team’s latest signings made up for Messi’s absence and with the help of Luis Suarez, Inter Miami left Shell Energy Stadium with a 4-1 victory.
Telasco Segovia, the 21-year-old Venezuelan midfielder, continued to impress with two first-half goals. His first came in the sixth minute to give Miami an early lead. Houston turned the ball over deep in its own territory, it was deflected by Benja Cremaschi, and then Suarez pounced on it and sent a perfect pass to Segovia, who finished.
His second was just before intermission, during added time. Yannick Bright got the ball into the area and Segovia helped force a turnover and then scored at the near post.
In between, in the 37th minute, Tadeo Allende, on loan from Spanish club Celta Vigo, blasted a left-footed cross-body shot from the far left side of the box to the top right corner. Suarez got that goal started, as well, with a long, perfectly-paced pass to Allende. Miami took a commanding 3-0 lead at halftime.
Then, at the 79-minute mark, Suarez showed that at age 38 he is still worthy of his “Pistolero” (Gunslinger) nickname. The Uruguyan forward put on a clinic, dribbling through and around Houston’s Obafemi Awodesu, Artur and Ethan Bartlow and then left footing a shot to the top left corner to make it 4-0.
Somewhere back in South Florida, Messi was surely smiling.
“What can I say about Luis?” Mascherano said. “All he has done in futbol. We are talking about possibly one of the best five center forwards in the world over the past 10 years. He has played in big clubs and has had a big influence in all of them, not only in Barcelona, but in Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. For me, it’s a privilege to coach this type of player.
“Obviously, Luis is in a stage of his career where we have to take advantage of him while we can because he also plays a big role defensively, understands the game, is very smart, and that is hard to find.”
Messi needed to take a break, Mascherano said, and according to a club source he is expected to play at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday for the Round of 16 Concacaf Champions Cup game against Jamaican team Cavalier SC.
Sunday’s game was Inter Miami’s fourth in 12 days and coming up are games Thursday at home in the Champions Cup, Mar. 8 at home against Charlotte FC, Thursday Mar. 13 against Cavalier SC in Jamaica, and Sunday Mar. 16 on the road against Atlanta United.
“We talked it over [with Messi] and there is no player in the world who knows his body better than Leo,” Mascherano said about the decision to rest him. “After three games in seven days, we thought it was best for him to rest, especially with a three-hour flight [to Houston].”
Mascherano told the media on Friday that Messi was fine, not injured and would train with the team, which he did. It was assumed Messi would play Sunday, but Mascherano said after the game: “I said he would train, which he did, you saw him. I never said he would travel or play. We make those decisions internally, privately.”
Obviously, the decision to have him skip Sunday’s league game disappointed an expected sellout crowd who bought tickets to see Messi, who has scored two goals and has two assists in three games this season and is always a big draw wherever he goes.
Messi’s absence prompted the Dynamo to send this message to its fans:
“Unfortunately, we have no control over who plays for our opponent. Fans who attend [Sunday] night’s match can claim a complimentary ticket to a future Dynamo match this season.”
Nicolas Lodeiro scored the lone Houston goal in the 85th minute, giving the home crowd something to cheer about for a few minutes.
The game ended on a sour note for Inter Miami as Leo Afonso, Cremaschi and Jordi Alba were slapped with yellow cards in stoppage time and Ian Fray was shown a red card after the final whistle, a decision that drew the ire of Mascherano.
Fray was walking past Houston defender Ian Bartlow to get to the locker room, Bartlow grabbed Fray’s shirt, and they exchanged words, which led to a brief altercation.
“I saw the video, Ian did nothing, absolutely nothing,” Mascherano said. “He wanted to go to the locker room and his opponent was impeding him by holding his shirt. It happened one, two, three times and the referee was standing next to him watching it. That worries me.
“When my players do nothing wrong, I will [fight] for them, whatever the cost. This can’t happen....we were winning 4-1, the game was almost over and two or three fouls that were not worthy of yellows. And then Ian did nothing. I am not going to stay quiet about this. We all saw with our eyes what happened, and that is not subjective. When something is wrong, it’s wrong.”
The Inter Miami starting XI included: Oscar Ustari, Gonzalo Lujan, Noah Allen, Alba, Fray, Sergio Busquets (captain), Bright, Cremaschi, Suarez, Allende and Segovia. Bright was returning from a thigh laceration that kept him out of a few games. Tomas Aviles was out serving a red card suspension.
Goalkeeper Drake Callender did not start, but was on the game roster for the first time this season after battling through an adductor injury he got while in January camp with the U.S. national team. The rest of the bench was Maxi Falcon, Julian Gressel, David Ruiz, Santi Morales, David Martinez, Fede Redondo, Afonso and Robert Taylor.
Second-half subs began in the 63rd minute. Redondo went in for Bright, who was on a yellow card, Ruiz replaced Segovia, Taylor replaced Allende, and in the 82nd minute Morales replaced Busquets and Afonso went in for Suarez. Falcon, Gressel, Martinez and Callender did not play.
“The recipe for having a successful team is everybody has to play their role and be held accountable,” Bright said. “We have good depth, and we know it.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2025 at 6:42 PM.