Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Sergio Busquets all won’t make the trip to Vancouver for Inter Miami’s game against the Whitecaps on Saturday.
Instead of Inter Miami confirming the news themselves, the announcement was actually made on Thursday by the Whitecaps.
It was an unusual move, which Vancouver CEO Axel Schuster said was designed to get the message out to fans as soon as possible.
“While we haven’t received an official update on the availability of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Sergio Busquets for this weekend, we understand they will not make this trip. Unfortunately, we have no control over who plays for our opponent, and it was important for us to communicate to our fans as soon as possible,“ Schuster said in a club statement.
“We always want our best players going up against our opponent’s best players, and facing players of the highest pedigree was especially exciting for our team. We know that there will also be a lot of disappointed fans.
“We remain committed to making this a special experience for everyone. It is still going to be an incredible atmosphere and celebration of soccer for our city. We have amazing fans, we have a good team, and Saturday’s match is a very important home game for us.”
In an effort at damage control, the Whitecaps announced all in-stadium food and beverages for the match will be 50 percent off, while children 18 and under will be provided one free kids meal combo.
That will likely be cold comfort to fans, who seemed to have hit the jackpot when the 2024 schedule was released. Due to an unbalanced schedule, Vancouver is one of just three Western Conference cities that will host Inter Miami.
Messi played in the other two games — at the LA Galaxy on February 25 and at Sporting Kansas City on April 13 — but Vancouver has missed out on seeing the Argentine legend along with Suárez and Busquets.
None of the trio have a known injury. Instead, Miami seems to be sparing the veterans from one of the longest road trips in MLS, with Vancouver and Miami nearly 3,500 miles apart.
Inter Miami also has a short turnaround for a game that is more significant: Wednesday’s home match against conference rival Atlanta United.
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