28 September 2023 , 08:06
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Lionel Messi's disappointment was written all over his face after he watched his Inter Miami teammates slump to a devastating defeat in the US Open Cup final.
The Argentine superstar's ongoing fitness battle meant that he was unable to even make the bench for the showpiece versus Houston Dynamo. His misery was compounded as the Herons fell to a humbling 2-1 loss against their MLS rivals in his absence.
In truth, their opponents from Texas practically had the job done and dusted within 33 minutes after goals from Griffin Dorsey and Amine Bassey. This two-goal lead proved to be unassailable for Gerardo Martino's stunned side, who could only rally for a consolation strike through Josef Martinez.
The 36-year-old cut a withdrawn figure as he watched on from the stands alongside wife Antonela Roccuzzo and he looked visibly dejected at full-time. Although he was injured for the final, victory would have earned him the second winners' medal of his fledgling Vice City career.
As the camera panned to the World Cup winner as he agonisingly watched his teammates fall at the final hurdle, he appeared particularly downcast. The first major disappointment of his Miami spell so far, recent weeks have been fraught for the superstar amid his muscle fatigue problem.
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The former Barcelona hero missed three of the Herons' last four MLS games in the lead up to the crunch decider against Houston Dynamo. Struck down on international duty, he has only been able to play a total of 37 minutes since returning to the US.
Now, Miami head coach Martino has revealed that it was never going to be possible for his captain to feature even as a substitute in the final. Speaking after the game, he explained: "It wasn't prudent for him to play, not even to consider him for a few minutes. We will go match-by-match and see where the medical department can give us the okay."
Lionel Messi watched from the stands as Inter Miami faced Houston Dynamo in the U.S. Open Cup Final (Getty Images)Reacting to his team's listless display in their second major final of what has been a season of highs and lows, he added: "I saw a worn team, the consequence of so many matches. If this match went into extra time, the match Inter Miami has on Saturday would have to be played by the technical staff.
"At some point we were going to see the consequences of so many games. We began to feel them on the side of the injuries and on the performance side."
Houston boss Ben Olsen, on the other hand, waxed lyrical about his team's performance on the night, telling CBS Sports: "When things are clicking and we're moving the ball, we're dangerous. We showed two sides of us. For most of the second half, it was about resiliency, defending a little bit at times more than we wanted to but we saw it out."