FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A year after his storybook Inter Miami debut in the inaugural Leagues Cup, Lionel Messi was unable to play Saturday night as his teammates began defense of their trophy with a 2-0 home win against Mexican team Puebla in the 2024 tournament opener.

Messi, who injured an ankle ligament while playing for Argentina in the Copa America final two weeks ago, remained in a protective walking boot as of Friday and watched the match from a Chase Stadium suite. He had already missed 13 of Miami’s 25 league games this season.

The men in pink got off to a good start Saturday without their captain. Paraguayan midfielder Matias Rojas scored on a left-footed blast in the ninth minute to give Miami an early lead. The assist came from Robert Taylor, who signed a contract extension on Friday. Rookie Yannick Bright got the sequence started with an interception and a pinpoint pass from midfield.

Taylor, Luis Suarez and Julian Gressel had scoring chances in the first half, but failed to convert and Miami held on to a 1-0 lead at halftime. Suarez missed the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday night due to knee inflammation, but was in the starting lineup on Saturday.

Suarez doubled Miami’s lead at the 72-minute mark. He right-footed a shot from the center of the box off a cross from Jordi Alba. The play began with another interception by Bright at midfield, who passed to Julian Gressel, who sent a diagonal pass to Alba. It was Suarez’s team-leading 13th goal of the season.

Paraguayan center back David Martinez, who joined the team on loan this week from Argentine club River Plate, made his Inter Miami debut. He was signed to replace injured Nico Freire, who is out for the season after knee surgery in May, and the need for a center back increased on Saturday with the absence of starters Sergiy Kryvtsov and Tomas Aviles.

Kryvtsov missed the game with a knee injury. He is expected back next week. Aviles missed the game with a minor head injury. Coach Tata Martino said Aviles bumped his head in training Friday, was placed in concussion protocol, but was doing well and attended the game.

Starting goalkeeper Drake Callender was given a rest and CJ Dos Santos got the start. Dos Santos made a big play in the closing minutes of the first half, punching over a powerful shot from Alberto Herrera to maintain Miami’s lead just before intermission.

Martino said the coaching staff was looking for a way to give Dos Santos a chance to play and keep him motivated, and he felt this game was a good opportunity. He said it does not mean that Dos Santos will play the rest of the Cup, but he felt Dos Santos deserved playing time.

Asked if leaving Callender on the bench means the club doesn’t value the Leagues Cup as much as it did last summer, Martino said “Not at all. We didn’t feel we were putting the game at risk with CJ in there, on the contrary. We just felt he deserved a chance to play.”

Martino would not speculate about Messi’s potential return date. He said on Friday: “Leo has been exclusively working indoors with the kinesiologist, he’ll have some more days in the boot, and then we will see the timetable as to when he can return to training on the field. But his ankle is looking better every day. As for his mood, you can imagine how he feels knowing he can’t play. The days pass and each day he is more eager to play, but you have to respect time and he has to heal properly.”

Martino said he hoped to have his full roster back by the end of August, which would coincide with the resumption of the MLS schedule after a month-long break for Leagues Cup. Miami is in first place in the MLS standings with nine games remaining.

Cremaschi makes Olympic debut, Gomez has two assists

In other news, both Inter Miami players participating in the Olympics got playing time on Saturday.

Key Biscayne native Benja Cremaschi, at 19 the youngest player on Team USA, made his debut coming on as a 69th-minute substitute in a 4-1 victory over New Zealand. Cremaschi is the sixth-youngest to take the field for the United States since the Under-23 rule was introduced in 1992.

Paraguayan midfielder Diego Gomez provided two assists in a 4-2 win over Israel that was decided in the final minutes. A Gomez cross led to Fabian Balbueno’s go-ahead goal three minutes into stoppage time to give Paraguay a 3-2 lead. A headed Gomez pass led to Julio Enciso’s goal in the 69th minute.

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