Lionel Messi limped out of Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup match against Mexican club Necaxa after just 10 minutes on Saturday with an apparent leg injury.
Messi was sent tumbling to the turf four minutes earlier, when he was involved in a collision with Necaxa defender Alexis Pena at the top of the visitors’ penalty area at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The living legend, who celebrated his 38th birthday last month, tried to continue. Messi needed to be treated by Miami’s training staff on the pitch before walking slowly to the sideline and then to the Herons’ dressing room. He was replaced by fellow Argentine Federico Redondo.
Miami opened the scoring seconds after Messi exited, with Herons newcomer Rodrigo De Paul — Messi’s teammate on Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning squad — setting up Venezuelan attacker Talasco Segovia’s blast from outside the box. It was De Paul’s first assist for his new club.
The night soon took another wrong turn for the hosts, though, as Inter defender Maximiliano Falcon was shown a straight red card in the 17th minute. Necaxa would capitalize on their man advantage by equalizing before the first half was finished.
Miami, the 2023 Leagues Cup champion, won its 2025 opener 2-1 over Atlas last Wednesday. The Herons round out the first phase of the competition, which includes 18 MLS representatives and all 18 teams from Liga MX on Aug. 6 against UNAM Pumas.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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