Lionel Messi is not ready to take a break yet.
Coach Gerardo Martino confirmed on Monday that Messi, after Inter Miami’s impressive run to win the League Cup this month, is set to start Wednesday in the semi-finals of the US Open Cup for the team.
Wednesday’s game against FC Cincinnati will be Miami’s sixth in the last 22 days.
“We said that at some point he will have to rest because of the many minutes he has played,” said Martino. via ESPN. “Obviously Wednesday won’t be that day. If he doesn’t tell me he wants to rest, he’ll keep playing.”
And while there is some concern that the workload could become an issue for the 36-year-old superstar, Miami have no plans to rest Messi until after Wednesday’s game at the earliest.
Messi has absolutely dominated since joining Inter Miami this summer. He scored his 10th goal in just seven games for the club in a win over Nashville on Saturday. Winning the League Cup was the first such title for Inter Miami and ended a huge transformation for the worst club in Major League Soccer.
“We didn’t think we would be able to compete in this tournament because our team was still under construction,” said Martino. via ESPN. “But, well, we ended up competing and winning, and that made us very happy and optimistic about what’s to come.”
FC Cincinnati will host Miami on Wednesday, and the winner of that match will face either Real Salt Lake or the Houston Dynamo in the championship next month.
After Wednesday’s match, Messi will make his Major League Soccer debut when Miami take on the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. The team will cap off the month with a rematch against Nashville next week.
Although Miami occupies the last place in the standings of the Eastern Division of the Major League Soccer, with only 18 points in 22 games, the club has the advantage. The second best odds of winning the MLS Cup With 12 games remaining in the regular season.
And while the Argentine superstar is sure to rest at some point in the near future, he looks perfectly fine so far in Miami. And if the club is going to make real progress, it has to be Messi in his position.