Lionel Messi was in Inter Miami’s starting lineup for the final MLS regular season game against Charlotte.
The Argentina star was named captain for Saturday night’s game, which doesn’t matter for a team like Miami that has been eliminated from the playoffs. Instead, Charlotte spent the final day of the regular season fighting for qualification.
Charlotte took the lead multiple times at Miami on Wednesday before settling into a 2-2 tie. So they missed a chance to climb from 12th to eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The top nine teams in each conference advance to the playoffs. Charlotte is one of five teams vying for the final two spots in the Eastern Conference.
Messi did not play in Miami’s final home game of the season on Wednesday. The match came a day after the star scored two goals for Argentina in a World Cup qualifying match that Argentina won 2-0.
A few hours after returning from Lima, “Leo” appeared on the Inter Milan bench with his teammates.
Messi told reporters in the Peruvian capital that he hoped to play one more game for Inter Miami before making his MLS debut. That means the game is being played in Charlotte even though it’s being played on artificial turf.
Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi will also play for Inter Miami on November 5 and 8, when the club plays two friendlies in China. This will be the group’s first international tour.
Argentina must then play two more qualifiers on November 16th and 21st. Once those commitments are fulfilled, Messi will take an extended break before Inter Miami begins preparations for the 2024 season.
Messi scored 11 goals in 13 games for Inter Miami. When Messi plays, the team has a record of 8 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss. Seven of those games were part of the League Cup, a competition in which Miami won its first-ever title.
The Argentina national team’s number 10 also played in five MLS games, starting three of them and scoring one goal. He also played in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.
But a hamstring injury limited him to more activity and ended the team’s chances of advancing to the playoffs. Miami has a record of 1 win, 3 draws and 3 losses in seven games without Messi, who came on as a substitute against Cincinnati on Oct. 7 in a 1-0 win over Miami. .