by The MLS Club Houston Dynamo excused fans after Lionel Messi was unveiled by various outlets not to be between the pages at the Inter Miami travel party for the game on Sunday evening. The Texas Club also promised free tickets for a future match for everyone present, since Messi’s absence.
In her statement, the dynamo indicated that they believed that Messi was fit to play the match, based on his name, which is not listed in Inter Miami’s play status report. The player status report published before the games is traditionally where teams list players who bear or are otherwise out of operation.
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“The recently used player status report for the game did not contain Forward Lionel Messi, but he was reported that he did not take the trip to Houston,” said the team statement. “Unfortunately we have no control over who plays for our opponent.”
The Miami Herald reported on Saturday that Messi was not injured, but was rather held out by Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano due to the overloaded timer Miami. The team has played in the past two weeks in the past two weeks thanks to their participation in the Concacaf Champions Cup every weekend. Miami defeated Sporting KC over two legs in the past two weeks and this week hosts of the Jamaican side Cavalier FC in the first leg of the 16th round.
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Messi was replaced by Miami’s second leg against Kansas City in the second half, but Mascherano said reporters on Friday that he was healthy and that day would normally train together with the rest of the team.
The apology and offer of the Dynamo continues a trend of the MLS teams, which negotiates with their own fans after the most famous player in the world is a NO show for visits to their city during his time in MLS. Last year Messi exercised an Inter Miami road trip to Vancouver, which the local white caps only discovered after Miami was already on the way. They apologized and offered a 50% discount on all food and drinks in the game in the record. Chicago Fire gave the fans vouchers for future games after Messi’s injury in the Copa América Finale missed the team at the Soldier Field in August.
The Shell Energy Stadium, the home of the Dynamo, holds about 22,000 people. Re -sale tickets for the match were the cheapest over 200 US dollars per ticket on Friday afternoon.
