Lionel Messi’s feature for an Inter Miami game has routinely been dubious this season. At the heart of this concern is that Messi has been prone to injuries lately. However, injuries now seem to be a past story for the Argentine as he started and scored goals in Miami’s last two games. Continuing the momentum, La Pulga will start for the Herons against the New England Revolution after Tata Martino’s green light. While sanctioning Messi’s feature, however, Martino has overlooked a huge injury risk.

The MLS expects the New England-Miami tie to have a sell-out crowd, exceeding 61,316 fans who watched the 2002 MLS Cup final between LA Galaxy and the Revolution. However, the Gillette Stadium that hosts the Herons on Saturday features artificial turf, posing an injury threat to Lionel Messi. Nonetheless, Tata Martino is least perturbed about the stadium’s surface. “Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez have no issues with playing on the synthetic field,” said the Inter Miami boss. Playing on artificial turfs is a concern for the likes of Messi because a lot of MLS stars and NFL stars have picked up leg injuries lately due to the surface they play on.

Martino added that Miami’s new signing Matias Rojas will travel to Massachusetts for Saturday’s game. He said he would unveil the formation and the final lineup for the New England tie a ‘little later.’ Furthermore, the Argentine coach added that Miami stars including Lionel Messi have previously played in an artificial turf and completed the game without picking any injury. “We previously played on artificial turf at Charlotte last year and had no problem,” said Martino. Now, let’s see what Messi had previously said about playing on an artificial surface.

Lionel Messi had long back quashed the worries of playing on turf

When Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami last July, fans and pundits wondered if he would risk playing on turfs. However, the 2022 World Champion said in an interview that he has significant experience playing on turf. “The truth is my youth was spent on artificial turf, my whole life was on that pitch,” said Messi. He added, “Truth is it’s been a while since I’ve played on artificial turf, but I have no problem adapting myself again.” 

Messi notably played for the whole 90 minutes on artificial turf during the Inter Miami-Charlotte FC tie last year. Hence, it won’t be a big surprise to see him do the same again. However, Suarez will perhaps be testing these risky waters for the first time. Only time will tell if he would come out of the Gillette Stadium without an injury. Meanwhile, Messi has only recently recovered from a hamstring problem. Therefore, playing on turf won’t perhaps be a walk in the park for the Argentine either.

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