Is Lionel Messi giving his all in MLS? Inter Miami boss Tata Martino reacts to questions of Argentina international ‘saving himself’ for Copa America

The Argentina international was among the goals again in his latest outing for the Herons, but they suffered a surprising 3-1 defeat to Atlanta United on home soil. Messi was not at his mercurial best at Chase Stadium, despite registering his 11th effort of the 2024 campaign.

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It was put to Martino afterwards that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner may have at least one eye on the defence of a continental crown with his country – which gets underway on June 20. The Inter Miami boss reacted to those questions by saying: “No, I will not speculate if Messi is saving himself for Copa America because [that question has] no validity.”

While reluctant to de dragged into a debate regarding Messi’s priorities, Martino concedes that the Herons were a long way short of the required standard against Atlanta. He added: “There are no positives to take from this game. We were missing a step against Atlanta, we took a step backward from how we had been playing, and that was totally unexpected. I saw no signs of fatigue in training on Monday or Tuesday. I don’t have to do a deep analysis of what went wrong because everything went wrong.”

Inter Miami, who remain top of the Eastern Conference for now, do not have to wait long for an opportunity to get back to winning ways – with Messi and Co set to remain in South Florida for a clash with St Louis City on Saturday.