Lionel Messi is healthy and will be available for selection Saturday's road game against Atlanta United FC, Inter Miami CF coach Gerardo «Tata» Martino said on Friday.
Messi uncharacteristically left Argentina's World Cup qualifying win last week over Ecuador before the final whistle, and while he did make Wednesday's trip to Bolívia, he was not named in coach Lionel Scaloni's 23-man squad for the 3-0 victory at La Paz's high altitude. — Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) «He is fine.
But we will wait until after training today to make a decision,» Martino said about how much Messi will feature against Atlanta. «We will be careful with him because we have a lot of important games in a short span.» Miami's schedule was packed before the international break, and they have a quick turnaround before Wednesday's home match with Toronto FC.
Messi will also have more World Cup qualifiers to navigate in October, with CONMEBOL qualifiers against Paraguay (Oct. 12) and Peru (Oct.