Inter Miami assistant manager Javier Morales stated on May 31, Friday that he is expecting Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to be a part of the game against St Louis City at the Chase Stadium in the team’s Major League Soccer contest.
After this encounter, Messi will head to Copa America and join the Argentinian national team. During the press conference, Morales confirmed there are no physical problems among the players and everyone is fit to play.
Everyone is optimum to play. Today we will train, and the coaching staff will watch players but there is no physical problem. Afterwards we will talk to the players but most of all Gerardo Martino will feel the game, and what it needs. But we will play the strongest team to conclude this part of the season strongly before the international window…But everyone is fit and wants to play.
Morales said in the press conference.
“The plan was always to play the strongest side against St. Louis” – Javier Morales
Notably, both Messi and Suarez were part of the recent 1-3 defeat over Atlanta United, with the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star scoring the only goal in the game.
Despite the defeat, Miami is still topping the Eastern Conference standings. However, they are leading with only a point ahead of Cincinnati. After Messi’s departure, the Herons will aim to extend their lead until July 14 when Messi is likely to unite with the team.
Martino strongly feels that there are no concerns of fatigue within the squad. Interestingly, Inter Miami has struggled with midweek games, winning only one of the last six scheduled during the week. Nevertheless, Morales feels there will be few changes for the game against St Louis City.
We expect few rotations for the game against St. Louis, because we opted to rotate the squad for the game against the Vancouver Whitecaps last weekend. The plan was always to play the strongest side against St. Louis, the result on Wednesday did not modify that strategy. We always wanted to play the strongest side, as long as everyone is fit.
Morales went on to add
After the game against St Louis City, Messi will play alongside his World Cup-winning team-mates for friendlies against Ecuador and Guatemala. He will then be aiming to defend the Copa America title he won in 2021.
