An Inter Miami team missing the suspended Lionel Messi missed the chance to gain ground on Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati after being held to a 0-0 draw in Major League Soccer on Saturday.
Lionel Messi was left disappointed after he and his Inter Miami teammate Jordi Alba were suspended for skipping Major League Soccer’s (MLS) All-Star Game last Wednesday, and Inter Miami co-owner fears the decision may affect their efforts to keep the World Cup winner at the club beyond this year.
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber refused to be drawn on whether the league planned to sanction Lionel Messi after the Inter Miami and Argentina superstar was a late withdrawal from Wednesday's All-Star game.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami team-mate Jordi Alba could face a suspension after withdrawing from Major League Soccer's All-Star game, multiple US media reports said on Wednesday.
Messi increased his total goals in MLS games to 18 this season and has contributed on 27 scores.
Four days after he became the first player ever to score multiple goals in four straight MLS matches, Messi delivered his fifth brace in five MLS games.
The 38-year-old Argentine star has scored two goals in each of his last four MLS games to become the first MLS player to score multiple goals in four straight games.
Miami were playing their first MLS game in more than a month. They had advanced past the first phase of the Club World Cup but fell 4-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 last week.
The former France striker told reporters he believed MLS was "underrated" by the rest of the world.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are ready to push for an MLS Cup title after their pummeling of Orlando City Saturday.
The addition of Suarez gives Messi a third former Barca teammate on Miami's squad and a much-needed secondary goal-scoring option.
The World Cup winner joined Inter from Paris Saint Germain in mid-July, the biggest name ever to move to MLS and his signing caused a massive spurt in interest in American soccer.
Al Nassr crushed Inter Miami 6-0 as injury ruled Cristiano Ronaldo out of a much-hyped showdown with Lionel Messi, who was limited to a late substitute appearance in Thursday's friendly in Riyadh.
Lionel Messi's Inter Miami slumped to a 1-0 defeat against FC Dallas in a pre-season friendly on Monday before the team set off on a hectic international tour.
Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, a former Barcelona, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Ajax star, will join Inter Miami for the 2024 season, the MLS club announced on Friday.
Messi and Ronaldo, who have faced each other more than 30 times in their careers, have won 13 Ballon d'Or awards between them, with the Argentine leading that race eight to five.
"Lionel Messi had many options for the next chapter of his iconic soccer career. The magnitude of his decision to join MLS cannot be over-stated," Garber said.
Lionel Messi has been named Time magazine's "Athlete of the Year" for 2023 after a trailblazing season marked by an eighth Ballon d'Or award and his ground-breaking move to Major League Soccer's Inter Miami.
In a recent interview in his home country of Argentina pertaining to his availability for the 2026 World Cup, soccer superstar Lionel Messi called Major League Soccer -- his current home -- "a minor league."
