In his first season with the Major League Soccer franchise, Inter Miami star Edison Azcona has described what he and his teammates do to attempt to prevent hurting Lionel Messi during practise.
Inter Miami midfielder Edison Azcona has discussed the precautions he and his teammates take to prevent Lionel Messi from getting hurt when practising, even admitting that there are occasions when they don’t let him participate in practise games.
Messi moved to Miami in July as a free agent, and he has just finished his first season there. With 14 appearances for the team, the Argentine superstar ended the 2023 season in the United States with 11 goals.
Miami’s season came to an end on Sunday night as they lost 1-0 to Charlotte FC. Messi played the entire 90 minutes of the game at Bank of America Stadium, but he was unable to help his team score to prevent a loss in the season’s final match.
Miami missed the MLS Cup play-off berths by seven points as it placed 14th in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer. Now, Messi and company won’t make a comeback to the pitch for their club until preseason kicks off at the end of January or the beginning of February.
Aczona has now reflected on how he has found it to share a locker room with Messi now that the MLS season has concluded from Maimi’s perspective. The 19-year-old midfielder has described the precautions he and his Miami colleagues take to keep Messi healthy during practise.
“Everyone understands that we are not going to try to hurt him [Messi],” Azcona said to Infobae. “One attempts to protect, but they are a bit more cautious.
“We don’t let him participate in the games we play among ourselves; instead, we cautiously defend him. Nobody puts much effort on it.”
International from the Dominican Republic, Azcona has made 11 appearances for Miami since joining the team at the youth level in 2020, although he has yet to score. Additionally, he is yet to play on the same pitch as Messi and hasn’t appeared for Miami since the match against St. Louis City on July 26.
The teenage midfielder continued by confessing that playing beside Messi had always been a childhood goal of his. Azcona’s goal won’t come true until the 2024 MLS season, though.
“Actually, I gave it some thought, Azcona said. “Since I was a young child, I have always maintained that one of my childhood dreams was to play with Messi, and now I have the chance to do just that—share a dressing room, work out with him, and experience what it’s like to play for the same team. A dream has come true.”