Inter Miami will look to rebound from its most lopsided loss of the season when it hosts Toronto FC on Wednesday night, amid the news that injured superstar Lionel Messi won’t be returning as soon as the Herons had hoped.
Miami (14-4-5, 47 points) has had 11 days to stew over a 6-1 defeat at FC Cincinnati on July 6 that halted a four-match winning streak assembled despite Messi’s absence to compete for Argentina at Copa America.
A string of three Cincinnati goals inside the final 13 minutes of the first half doomed the Herons, who conceded twice more after the break to set a new club record for most goals allowed in a league match since joining MLS in 2020.
“I think for about 30 minutes or so we couldn’t contain them offensively,” Miami manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino said through an interpreter. “But we also created danger when we attacked ourselves. I believe those final 10-15 minutes in which they gained a larger lead were the ones that determined what happened in the second half.”
Messi will not be playing after suffering a right ankle injury and exiting Sunday’s Copa America final midway through the second half. The team announced Tuesday afternoon that he is out indefinitely.
“After a medical evaluation, it has been determined that Leo Messi has suffered a ligament injury in his right ankle,” the statement read. “The captain’s availability will be determined by periodic assessments and the progress of his recovery.”
Midfielder Sergio Busquets is also out, serving a red-card suspension following his second-half ejection in Cincinnati.
Luis Suarez — who is tied with Messi for the team lead with 12 goals — could return after scoring for Uruguay in the Copa America third-place match on Saturday.
Toronto (8-13-3, 27 points) faces a far quicker turnaround after rallying to a 2-1 home victory over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday to snap a six-match losing run.
The Reds rallied from behind via an own goal in the 74th minute and Deandre Kerr’s first goal of the season in the 78th.
Lorenzo Insigne entered as a halftime sub and provided the assist for Kerr’s winner after playing 90 minutes in Toronto’s 2-1 loss at Forge FC in the first leg of a Canadian Championship semifinal on July 10.
Midfielder Jonathan Osorio and fullback Richie Laryea should be available after completing duty for Canada at Copa America.
“We said this was a chance to start again,” said Toronto manager John Herdman, “and we said that we wanted to make sure that we were set up for success for Richie and Oso coming back. It was a different mentality.”
–Field Level Media
