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Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino has confirmed that Lionel Messi will be fit to play in their upcoming friendly against Newell's Old Boys on Thursday, February 15.
The MLS side have been on a world tour in the build-up to the 2024 MLS season and their final pre-season match will be played at the DRV PNK Stadium on Thursday.
Messi had to miss out on facing Hong Kong XI, while playing a bit-part role in Saudi Arabia and Japan because of a hamstring injury he has been struggling with. However, there is some good news regarding their upcoming friendly against Newell's, as Inter Miami manager Gerardo Martino said (via GOAL):
"Leo (Messi) is fine and will start. He's a starter."
Inter Miami will take on Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, February 21, in their first MLS game of the 2024 season at their home stadium.
Lionel Messi's absence in Hong Kong leads to canceled Argentina matches vs AFCON finalists Nigeria and Ivory Coast
Messi's absence from Inter Miami's clash against Hong King XI has reportedly caused some problems with the Chinese authorities.
According to reports, the Beijing Football Association has canceled two international friendlies that Argentina was supposed to play in March against Nigeria and Ivory Coast. The two African sides clashed in the final of AFCON 2023 on Sunday, February 11, as the Elephants secured a 2-1 victory.
After backlash from unhappy fans and the government, Messi came out and explained that he was dealing with an injury, telling the press (via Eurosport):
"Unfortunately, in football, things can happen in any game, that we may have an injury. It happened to me. I couldn't play in the Hong Kong match, and it was a shame because I always wanted to participate. I wanted to be there, and even more so when it came to these games when we travelled so far and people were so excited to see our matches."
However, Lionel Messi's explanation about dealing with an injury was met with skepticism as he featured against Vissel Kobe in Japan just three days later. The Beijing Football Association told the BBC (via GOAL):
"Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organise the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate."
The Hangzhou sports bureau also added:
"Given the reasons that everyone knows, according to the competent authorities, the conditions for the event to take place are not met."
