Inter Miami\u2019s Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba have not been sanctioned for skipping Wednesday\u2019s MLS All-Star Game in Austin, Texas, their coach confirms.<\/p>\n
Both players were voted into the showcase by fans and the media, but neither featured in the MLS squad\u2019s 3-1 win against Mexico\u2019s Liga MX All-Stars.
\nLeague rules stipulate that players who choose to opt out of the All-Star Game without an approved medical reason can face a one-match suspension.<\/p>\n
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano pointed out on Friday that his team had \u201cplayed the most games so far this semester by far\u201d and Messi \u201cshowed normal fatigue from the number of games and minutes he\u2019s been playing\u201d, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, players always have discomfort, especially when they play every three days. But luckily, [Messi] is returning today,\u201d Mascherano said on Friday. \u201cLet\u2019s hope he can train alongside the group so we can count on both of them for tomorrow\u2019s game. We haven\u2019t received any [sanction].\u201d<\/p>\n
Inter Miami host FC Cincinnati on Saturday night at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n
Mascherano said Messi, 38, and Alba, 36, will be available for the match depending on their fitness levels.<\/p>\n
Messi shares the MLS top scorer honours with 18 goals and has 10 assists in 17 league matches this season. The Argentinian forward also made six starts in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and four in the FIFA Club World Cup.<\/p>\n
Alba has one goal and eight assists in 18 MLS matches. The Spanish defender made seven starts in the Champions Cup and one in the Club World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inter Miami\u2019s Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba have not been sanctioned for skipping Wednesday\u2019s MLS All-Star Game in Austin, Texas, their coach confirms. Both players were voted into the showcase by fans and the media, but neither featured in the MLS squad\u2019s 3-1 win against Mexico\u2019s Liga MX All-Stars. League rules stipulate that players who …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51931,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51929\/revisions\/51931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}