Miami, FL
Lionel Messi missing at least next two Inter Miami games with ankle injury concern
Inter Miami will be without Lionel Messi for at least their next two matches after the soccer superstar suffered an ankle injury in the Copa America final on Sunday while playing with the Argentina national team.
The MLS club announced Tuesday that Messi had suffered a ligament injury in his right ankle and his “availability will be determined by periodic assessments and the progress of his recovery.”
Head coach Tata Martino told reporters earlier in the day that Messi, 37, would miss Inter Miami’s match against Toronto FC on Wednesday and their showdown with the Chicago Fire on Sunday.
Martino indicated that Messi had “twisted” the ankle and that an injury “is present,” the Associated Press reported.
The Inter Miami coach did not want to speculate about the severity of the injury.
“There will be tests done to determine the severity of the situation,” Martino said. “We are always informed through our kinesiologist Walter Insaurralde, who is also the kinesiologist of the national team.
He said he is very cautious at giving a final diagnosis before results are in.
Messi, widely referred to as “The GOAT” of the sport, suffered the ankle injury in the 64th minute of Argentina’s 1-0 win over Colombia when he appeared to plant his foot awkwardly and tumbled to the ground.
He remained down on the pitch for several minutes before limping to the bench, angrily throwing one of his shoes and then burying his face in his hands as he cried.
Messi looked as though he had escaped injury earlier in the game when he went down chasing a ball and ended up holding his right ankle after a strong challenge from Colombia’s Santiago Arias.
The 37-year-old, who made the move to MLS last summer, issued his first statement on the matter in a post on Instagram on Monday.
In the post, he thanked fans who reached out to wish him well, before offering an optimistic update on his injury.
“I’m fine, thank God, and I hope I can soon be on the field again enjoying what I like to do most,” Messi wrote.
Messi did not make the trip to Buenos Aires with the rest of the Argentine team to celebrate the Copa America title.
Inter Miami’s next two games are MLS regular season contests before MLS pauses the season for the All-Star Game next Wednesday and then the Leagues Cup, which includes all LIGA MX and MLS clubs.
Inter Miami is the defending Leagues Cup champion, and the tournament is viewed as an important event for MLS and its broadcast partner Apple.
Messi helped drive viewership numbers during last year’s tournament, World Soccer Talk reported.
The regular season will resume for Miami on Aug. 24.
Martino refused to comment on how Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni used Messi during Copa America, according to the Miami Herald.
“We were not there in the day-to-day, and it would be out of place for me to talk about that,” Martino said.
A group of Miami residents has filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and the state of Florida over a land giveaway for his proposed presidential library.
Almost three acres of prime waterfront land that once belonged to Miami Dade College (MDC) was illegally gifted to the US president by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, the lawsuit states.
It cites the domestic emoluments clause of the US constitution that prohibits a sitting president from receiving any personal gain, profit or advantage from their position.
The action was brought in US district court for the southern district of Florida by the Washington DC-based Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) on behalf of plaintiffs including an MDC student, a Miami non-profit, and residents, who state the land “is no longer available to serve MDC’s student community and downtown Miami”.
Instead, the filing states, “the land will house a Trump hotel that brings riches to the President”.
Plans for the “gaudy” project were unveiled in March, to be built next to Miami’s iconic Freedom Tower, the historical landmark and community art museum. A giant golden statue of the president will stand before a 50-story tower block that will feature the controversial $400m Boeing “flying palace” jumbo jet gifted to him by Qatar, but not yet in service, in its cavernous lobby.
At the time, Trump said the building was “most likely going to be a hotel”.
The land on which it will sit, the lawsuit said, is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Rather than prevent President Trump from using the gifted land for personal gain, Florida … required that the conveyed land include only ‘components of a Presidential library, museum, and/or center’, leaving the door open for the President to develop the property in any way he sees fit,” the CAC said in a statement.
The library has already been the subject of one lawsuit that claimed MDC trustees, most of them handpicked by DeSantis, erred by originally handing the land to the state in September during an unadvertised meeting with no public discussion.
The board held a do-over in December, and voted unanimously to proceed with the transfer.
The Guardian has contacted the Trump Presidential Library Foundation and DeSantis’s office for comment.
To no one’s surprise, FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami CF engaged in a scorefest May 13 at TQL Stadium.
A hat trick by one of the best goalscorers in the history of the game, Lionel Messi, sparked Miami to a 5-3 win. Miami scored three times from the 79th minute on to come from behind.
A sellout crowd of 25,513 witnessed the showdown, the club’s sixth home sellout of the season.
FC Cincinnati falls to 4-5-4, staying at 16 points, taking its first loss since April 4 at Red Bull New York. Miami improves to 7-2-4 for 25 points, improving to 7-1-1 on the road this season. Miami moved into second place in the Eastern Conference behind Nashville. Cincinnati started the night tied for fifth but could drop depending on games later on.
Second half highlights as FC Cincinnati squandered a late lead
Cincinnati took a 3-2 lead in the 64th minute.
Evander fired a rocket from the top of the 18 into the top left corner. Deneky passed ahead to him, then he maneuvered around two defenders, and no one stepped up to him. It is Evander’s seventh goal of the season.
Miami tied it in the 80th minute, 3-3.
After a Cincy turnover, Rodrigo De Paul quickly found Messi in transition, who delivered to Mateo Silvetti. Silvetti, playing his first game in a month, maneuvered in space and scored from the top of the box for his fourth of the season.
Miami took a 4-3 lead in the 83rd. A Messi free kick from 35 yds was saved by Cincy keeper Roman Celentano. He collided with Andrei Chirila, which knocked the ball out of his hands. Miami’s German Berterame pounced on the rebound to give Miami the lead, his fourth goal of the season.
Chirila landed hard after the collision and was taken out of the game.
Miami took a 5-3 lead when Messi made a sliding shot after a cross from Silvetti. The ball went off the post, then off Roman Celentano, who was on his stomach trying to get the ball, then in. Messi was credited with the goal and a hat trick.
FC Cincinnati took a 2-1 lead in the 49th minute.
Pavel Bucha scored from close range. He took a crossing pass from Bryan Ramirez after Denkey found him on the left side in transition.
It was Bucha’s second goal of the MLS season and the second assist for Ramirez. Bucha was hit in the head late in the first half and examined by trainers, but stayed in the game.
Moments later, Messi had a free kick from 30 yards saved by Celentano.
Messi scored again in the 56th minute to tie it, 2-2. He had a nice give-and-go with Rodrigo De Paul, who dribbled near the end line and crossed to him from the right side. Messi was unmarked and scored easily from near the penalty spot.
In the 62nd minute, Luis Suarez missed an open shot that Celentano saved, set up by a quick transition by Miami.
Miami ended with 17 shots to 10 for Cincinnati, six on target. After an even first half, Miami controlled the expected-goals mark, with 4 to 1.6 for the home team.
First half highlights
Messi scored from close range in the 24th off a turnover by Matt Miazga. Miazga tried to pass to a teammate on the side but the pass went straight to Messi.
He had a goal in the fifth minute waved off by offsides.
In the 32nd minute, Cincinnati won a corner kick, which Evander placed right in front of the goal line but the ball was cleared away.
In the 42nd minute, a Kevin Denkey penalty kick tied it up. Denkey drew the PK after collecting a good pass into the box by Pavel Bucha and being grabbed by Gonzalo Lujan. Denkey converted for his team-high eighth goal of the season.
The first half was tied 1-1 and virtually even on statistics. Both sides had seven shots, one on goal, and 1.1 expected goals. Neither keeper made a save.
What’s next for FC Cincinnati?
Cincinnati heads to the West Coast to play San Diego FC 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16. It is the first meeting between the teams. San Diego, 3-5-4 for 13 points, was set to play Austin later May 13. Cincinnati will leave for California on May 14.
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