Messi to miss both Inter Miami home games this week due to ankle injury, Suarez returns

MIAMI — Lionel Messi, who injured his ankle during the Copa America final at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, will miss at least the next two Inter Miami games, coach Tata Martino confirmed on Tuesday morning.

Inter Miami plays a pair of home games Wednesday against Toronto FC and against Chicago Fire on Saturday.

“Leo’s ankle is ... well, you all saw the images,” Martino said of Messi’s swollen ankle. “He had a sprain. There will be further testing to determine the severity of the injury.”

Asked if he thought it was a serious, long-term injury, the coach said: “No, no ... I don’t want to speculate further, but he had a sprain. He has to have more tests and wait for the results. Walter [Insaurralde], our kinesiologist, is the same one used by the Argentine national team, he is always very cautious in his diagnoses until all the testing is done.”

Messi dropped to the field and exited Argentina’s 1-0 win over Colombia in the 64th minute, remained down for several minutes and then he took off his right boot and hobbled to the bench. He was shown on T.V. sobbing at his seat, face buried in his hands. He limped over to the trophy celebration after the game.

The 37-year-old Argentina captain was initially injured in the first half and held his right ankle after a strong challenge by Colombia’s Santiago Arias. Messi and Arias were chasing a ball that was headed out of bounds, Messi stepped awkwardly and stayed down for several minutes. He eventually got up and returned to the game.

Messi suffered a groin strain earlier in the tournament and missed the group stage game against Peru.

Martino was asked to evaluate how the Argentina coaches managed Messi’s injuries during the Copa, and whether he should have continued playing after spraining his ankle.

“One should not offer opinions on how their coaches managed things, just like (Argentina coach) Lionel Scaloni doesn’t give opinions on how we use Leo,” Martino said. “We were not there in the day to day, and it would be out of place for me to talk about that.”

He added: “Any player who injures an ankle in a final, especially Leo, would want to stay on the field. He went to the locker room, tried to keep playing and the point came where he couldn’t anymore. But when you talk about a final like Copa America, it’s very difficult to remove a player from the field because nobody wants to come out, especially in a game that was so close.”

Although Messi will not be available for the next two Miami games, forward Luis Suarez will be after playing for third-place Uruguay in the Copa America. Suarez returned to training on Monday.

Midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi is in France training with the U.S. national team for the Paris Olympics and will miss the next few Miami games. Midfielder Diego Gomez is traveling to the Olympics for Paraguay on Thursday, after the Toronto game. Sergio Busquets is suspended from Wednesday’s game for a pair of yellow cards against Cincinnati.

Inter Miami will be playing at home for the first time since June 19 after being on the road for the past three games against Nashville, Charlotte and FC Cincinnati. Miami won four games in a row in June without Messi and Suarez before getting routed 6-1 at Cincinnati on July 6. With that loss, Miami slipped to second place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Martino said that lopsided loss was unfortunate, and those losses happen from time to time, but he preferred to focus on the fact that the team had just four in a row without its leading scorers.

“We were able to gain a lot of points in the standings while we had big players missing for Copa America,” he said. “It was long road trip with three games, the team played very well against Nashville, Charlotte and the first half at Cincinnati, but we had a bad 15 minutes that cost us the game.”

The coach repeated that he feels conference rivals Cincinnati and Columbus Crew are more consistent than Miami and his team has work to do.

The MLS summer transfer window opens this week and Martino said the club’s top priority is to sign a center back to replace injured Nico Freire. According to media reports from Argentina, Miami is in talks with River Plate center back David Martinez for a loan deal.

New Dolphins-inspired jersey unveiled

Inter Miami and adidas unveiled on Tuesday a third shirt, an aqua retro jersey with orange trim which pays tribute to the Miami Dolphins and features Miami Vice-style writing. The collection includes a jersey, jacket, and Gazelle and Samba shoes.

The team will debut the shirt on Saturday for the match against Chicago Fire FC. Fans can buy them at Chase Stadium starting on Wednesday during the Toronto match or online at MLSstore.com.

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