Why is Lionel Messi not playing for Argentina in International Friendlies?

A Lionel Messi injury will hurt Argentina as the nation will enter their final international friendlies before the Copa America in June without Leo Messi who sustained an injury while playing for Inter Miami. 

Lionel Messi Injury: A turbulent start to the new MLS season

The boy from Rosario, Argentina may be aging, but he has continued to mesmerize crowds with antics unique to him. This season, he has already secured a quarter finals berth for Inter Miami in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, while Messi’s Miami leads the table in the Eastern Conference in the MLS. However, despite the strong start made by him and Miami, the season has been off to a turbulent start for the Argentinian personally. Since the start of the pre-season in January, Leo Messi has already missed six matches due to minor injuries and niggles.

The latest Lionel Messi injury came in Inter Miami’s resounding second-leg victory over Nashville in the Champions Cup last week. After setting the game on fire with a goal and an assist in the first half, Messi soon came off with a bit of discomfort in the 50th minute. Later it was confirmed that the forward was struggling with a minor injury to his hamstring and will miss Miami’s next league game against DC United before traveling to Argentina to play in the international break. However, now it seems that Leo’s injury was more severe than initially thought and the World Cup winner will not join the Argentina squad for the ties against El Salvador and Costa Rica.  

The Lionel Messi injury news will certainly be a blow to manager Lionel Scaloni as he looks to finalize the squad ahead of the Copa America in June. The March international friendlies are the last time Argentina were set to be in action before the summer tournament. 

Lionel Messi Injury: When will Leo return to the pitch?

Initially, Leo was expected to play for Argentina in the international break and return to Miami ahead of their Champions Cup tie against Monterrey. Inter Miami have continued to insist that  Leo’s injury is still minor and will not rule him out for too long. Leo will be closely monitored on the sidelines and his recovery will determine when the veteran will return to action. For the moment, it is expected that the Lionel Messi injury will only keep the Argentinian out two weeks and he will return in the first week of April. 

Also Read: Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami shirt is Adidas’ “number one jersey” across all sports