Lionel Messi missing next two Inter Miami games with ankle injury

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.