Lionel Messi to captain Inter Miami, says coach Tata Martino

MIAMI – World Cup winner Lionel Messi will be the new captain of Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer (MLS) side’s coach Tata Martino confirmed on Monday.

The Argentinian forward, who

signed for Miami earlier in July,

already wore the captain’s armband on his debut for the club in a Leagues Cup tie against Liga MX’s Cruz Azul last Friday, in which he scored a stoppage-time free kick.

The club’s previous skipper was Brazilian midfielder Gregore, who is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a foot injury.

Asked if Messi would continue to captain Miami, Martino said: “The other day he was (captain) too, when he entered. Yes, he will be.”

Miami close out the two-game group stage on Tuesday (Wednesday morning, Singapore time), when they host Atlanta United with hopes of advancing to the knockout stages of the Leagues Cup, which is a World Cup-style tournament featuring all teams from the United States’ MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.

Martino also said that Messi could make his first start for Miami after coming on as a 54th-minute substitute in the 2-1 win over Cruz Azul and making such a huge impact.

The coach opted to limit the minutes for Messi and Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets on Friday. But, with both players making such a strong impression, he admitted he is tempted to start the pair against Atlanta.

“Well, it is very likely that both Leo and Busi will play more time. 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,” he said.

“But everything will depend on how they feel, it is only the second game that they are going to play.”

MLS has paused play in its regular season until Aug 20, meaning Messi and company would have nearly a month without a scheduled game should they fail to progress.

Martino added that his players are still working on the changes they need to make to get the best out of their two new star teammates, who will soon be joined by Spanish former Barcelona fullback Jordi Alba.

“We had already started working on changing the way we play. But it is clear that with Busquets, Jordi and Leo, we will have to (further) modify the way that we play and we also have to work on raising the level in general,” he said.

The hype around Messi’s move to the US has only intensified after Friday’s premiere, but goalkeeper Drake Callender says the players have been trying to make the team dynamic as normal as possible for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, who has impressed them with his down-to-earth approach.

“I didn’t really know what to expect because I’ve never been around a player with that capacity before, but he’s a pretty humble guy. He’s chill,” he said.

“He’s still trying to get a feel of how everything functions over here. So I think for myself as well as some of the other players, we are just making him feel welcome, making him feel comfortable here.

“I try to chat with him to make him feel like he’s a part of the team. Again, just treat him like one of my teammates.”

While Messi inevitably grabbed the headlines, Busquets also looked instantly at ease with his new team.

Canadian central defender Kamal Miller said that having one of the finest passers of the ball in front of him requires a different approach to distribution from the back.

“Definitely with a player of that quality, we always want to look to go through him. He can thread the needle and find the killer pass at any time, so it’s something that we look for a lot,” he said.

“I think we’re all going to benefit from it and hopefully it continues to go like it did on Friday.”

REUTERS, AFP