Messi and teammates Suarez and Busquets were not affected by injury and were completely healthy, but were still removed from Inter Miami’s roster by coach Tata Martino during their away trip to rival Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The reason is, they need to rest after playing too much and the MLS schedule ahead is too thick with 3 consecutive matches in just 8 days. This match Inter Miami won 2-1 with 2 goals scored by midfielder Robert Taylor and striker Leonardo Campana.

“We are really disappointed. The stadium was sold out very early, many people spent hundreds of dollars to buy tickets to enter the stadium. However, the hope of watching Messi play did not take place. But also no Can’t blame him, the trip from Miami to Vancouver is very far. Furthermore, the MLS organizers have arranged the match schedule too inadequately and closely, with an average of only 4 days/match, causing trouble not only for Inter Miami but also for many teams. Others have to calculate the rotation of players to meet professional issues”, Mr. Peter Czimmermann, Chairman of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC fans’ association, expressed in an interview with the US version of AS (Spanish) newspaper. .

“Even without Messi, the number of fans still packed the stadium. This shows that this is an opportunity for Vancouver Whitecaps FC to continue to grow their number of fans more and more at each home match, regardless of the number of fans. Regardless of whether or not the best player in the world plays”, Mr. Peter Czimmermann emphasized.

According to AS newspaper: “There are many Vancouver Whitecaps FC fans who have to spend more than 200 USD (about more than 5 million VND) to buy tickets to enter the stadium. While the average ticket price previously sold by this club was only 30 USD/ticket ( about 764,000 VND).

Although there was information that Messi, Suarez and Busquets did not come to Canada a few days before the match, Vancouver Whitecaps FC fans still rushed to buy tickets in the hope that the Argentine player would come to play at the last moment. This is the reason why the Vancouver Whitecaps FC leadership later had to apologize for Messi not being able to come, and decided to reduce food and drink prices by up to 50% and provide free meals for children. to show goodwill to the fans”.

Inter Miami Club in the match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC, despite missing Messi, Suarez and Busquets, but with the remaining team led by famous player Jordi Alba still won the match with a score of 2-1. Thereby, continuing to lead the MLS Eastern Region standings with 34 points after 16 matches and increasing the recent unbeaten streak to 10 matches (7 wins, 3 draws).

After this match, Inter Miami returns to their home field to prepare to meet Atlanta United (at 6:30 on May 30) and St. Louis City SC (6:30 a.m. June 2). Famous players Messi, Suarez and Busquets are all likely to return to play. From June 3, Messi also gathered for the Argentina team to prepare for the 2024 Copa America taking place in the United States from June 20 to July 14.