Upon entering the field for his Inter Miami debut, Lionel Messi was immediately given the captain’s armband by its previous occupant, DeAndre Yedlin.
It appears that move will be a permanent one.
At a press conference on Monday, Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino confirmed that the Argentina superstar will be the club’s captain moving forward.
When asked if Messi would continue to captain Miami, Martino responded: “The other day he was (captain) too, when he entered. Yes, he will be.”
Messi came off the bench in the 54th minute of Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul on Friday, making his club debut alongside his longtime Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets.
With the match tied in stoppage time, Messi won a free kick in an ideal spot for a shot on goal. With a sold-out crowd full of anticipation, the 36-year-old stepped up and delivered.
LIONEL ANDRÉS MESSI IS NOT HUMAN. pic.twitter.com/2mBDI41mLy
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 22, 2023
Yedlin has been wearing the armband this season after Inter Miami’s usual captain Gregore went down in March with a season-ending foot injury.
After opening the Messi era with a 2-1 win over Cruz Azul, Inter Miami is back in Leagues Cup action on Tuesday night with a home game against Atlanta United.
Martino said that after Messi and Busquets played nearly a full half against Cruz Azul, the pair would be in line for more minutes against Atlanta and could even start the game.
“It is very likely that both Leo and Busi will play more time,” Martino said. “I even think that if they are going to play more (then) we will change the dynamic and they will go maybe from the beginning. But we all know that when Leo starts, that amount of time we would be talking about is 90 minutes.”
Martino added: “But everything will depend on how they feel, it is only the second game that they are going to play.”
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