Inter Miami magic slows at Atlanta United: Messi absence or something more?

The fact that Muyumba’s goal had a whiff of controversy made all that even more frustrating. The ball caromed off the far post and was ruled by the on-field refereeing crew to have barely crossed the line before Drake Callender arrived to paw it away, with Video Review finding insufficient evidence to overturn the decision.

“I have my doubts about the equalizing goal, as to whether it went in or not,” Martino said. “They said there was no image that showed the ball didn’t go in, but I don’t think there is any image that shows that it did go in. But it was 1-1, and then we got a bit disorganized.”

As desperate as Miami are to make a late dash into the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, the odds of which took a hit from Saturday’s loss, they also host Houston Dynamo FC in the US Open Cup final on Sept. 27 – providing a chance for a second title after winning Leagues Cup in mid-August. And though his heroics often make him seem like an extraterrestrial, their Argentine talisman is still only human.

Messi was subbed out of La Albiceleste’s 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Ecuador on Sept. 7 – a crucial result delivered by one of his trademark free-kick golazos – after he “felt something,” in the words of Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, seemingly in a leg muscle, that led Scaloni to sit him out of their subsequent 3-0 win over Bolivia in La Paz.

“There is some risk of having worse consequences if they came to play this match,” said Martino of Messi and Alba, before batting aside the suggestion that the choice to rest them was influenced by MBS’s artificial turf playing surface.

“The field has nothing to do with it at all. This is the day-to-day life that we have ahead of us, because we have the quest to try to reach the playoffs. But we have the [Open Cup Final] on the 27th, so sometimes there are difficult decisions, because these are also decisive matches. But the reality is that there is a final set for the 27th. That’s just one game, for a title. The league is seven, eight more dates, and [even] if we win them all, it is not certain we get in. We started this run way behind. We won’t abandon our hopes, but our focus is on the 27th.”