Photo: Logan Riely/Getty Images
By: EFE Posted 08 Sep 2023, 19:48 pm EDT
Inter Miami has experienced a fabulous resurrection since Leo Messi’s debut in mid-July, but this Saturday the Florida team will have to test their reaction in their first game without the Argentine star.
With Messi called up to the albiceleste team, Inter Miami will receive Sporting Kansas City in their field this Saturday in a reduced day of the MLS with only five games.
From the hand of Messi, Inter Miami has added ten wins in eleven games, has won its first title (the Leagues Cup) and has qualified for another final (the US Open Cup).
Now the challenge of reaching the MLS playoffs lies ahead, but the team led by the Argentine Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino still has work ahead: he has 25 points after 25 games while DC United, who currently score last seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, has 33 points after 27 games.
For the duel with Sporting Kansas City, not only will Messi be missing, but other internationals called up with their teams will not be able to play either, such as Josef Martinez (Venezuela), Benjamin Cremaschi and Drake Callender (United States), Robert Taylor (Finland), Diego Gómez (Paraguay), Sergii Kryvstov (Ukraine), etc.
Yes, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba will be available, already retired from the Spanish team and who, together with Messi, have been key in the recovery of Inter Miami.
At Sporting Kansas City the main figure is the Mexican striker Alan Pulido, who has returned to his best level and has scored 12 goals this season (the league’s top scorer is Hany Mukhtar, from Nashville, with 14 goals):
In the rest of the matches of the day, LLos Angeles FC (LAFC), current MLS champion, will try to straighten the course when visiting the Portland Timbers after having lost at home last Sunday against Inter Miami by 1-3.
The matches DC United-San Jose Earthquakes and Minnesota United-New England Patriots will be played on Saturday while the LA Galaxy-St. Louis City will be played on Sunday.
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