Lionel Messi was not on Inter Miami’s roster for the U.S. Open Cup final against Houston on Wednesday night, marking the fourth match for club and country that he’s missed in recent weeks while dealing with some sort of leg issue.
in the team’s 1-1 draw at Orlando on Sunday. That was the third match he missed in its entirety — two for club, one for country — in the last two weeks, and missing a final on Wednesday suggests the problem could be worse than the team has suggested.
The 36-year-old Messi missed Argentina’s World Cup qualifying win at Bolivia on Sept. 12 and Inter Miami’s 5-2 loss at Atlanta United on Sept. 16. He returned for the Sept. 20 match, but didn’t even make it to halftime, then sat out Sunday. They might have seen the buses. They didn't see Messi, and it might have led to some expensive disappointment for some fans. Ticket prices on the secondary markets, with links to sales posted on the team's social media channels as recently as Tuesday, ranged from $145 to nearly $4,000 about an hour before the match.
Inter Miami is still very much alive in the race to make MLS' playoffs and has three matches looming in the coming days. The team plays host to New York City FC on Saturday, at Chicago on Oct. 4 and returns home to face Cincinnati on Oct. 7. It trails NYCFC by five points for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot entering Wednesday, with two matches in hand — but that still makes Saturday's game very important in the standings.
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