Although the Argentine’s career has been nonstop for the past 20 years, it appears he may take a break over the winter.
It’s reasonable to say that Lionel Messi has played a lot of football since making his debut at Barcelona nearly 20 years ago. Being among the finest to ever do it has both advantages and disadvantages, with the biggest disadvantage being the countless kilometres your legs have to go over the years.
Messi has participated in 899 club-level games since 2003, not including preseason friendly. His 201 total matches for Argentina translate to an average of 55 games per year, or more than one game every week.
Messi must be wondering, “now what,” as he faces an MLS offseason unlike anything he has ever experienced. Inter Miami will now embark on a protracted hiatus from competitive play, one longer than any Messi has ever had, as a result of failing to make the playoffs. To keep healthy, the Argentine was rumoured to be moving back to Barcelona, but he won’t be returning to his old team.
Miami’s 2023 calendar isn’t nearly over, but they won’t get together again with the goal of winning until early January, and they won’t play another important game until February, so Messi and company will go at least three and a half months without a competitive encounter.
So how will Messi pass the time during the protracted offseason? GOAL investigates…
A difficult year
Messi has acted as a sort of iron man for both club and country throughout his career. But considering Messi is 36 years old, it’s impressive how many competitive games he’s played recently.
Before moving to Inter Miami, he made 41 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain in all competitions. During his first half-season with the club, he took part in 14 matches. He played 14 games in 2022 and six so far in 2023 for Argentina, leading the team to a historic World Cup victory.
Messi has played for teams on three different continents and five different countries, so it’s been demanding, to put it mildly. He’s not finished, either, as Miami still has one more set of games before officially ending the season.
Journey to China
Miami will travel to China for a two-friendly tour before everyone leaves for their winter breaks in an effort to capitalise on “Messi-mania’s” global allure. As part of a brief tour of Asia in an effort to strengthen its brand, the club will take on two Chinese teams, Qingdao Hainiu on November 5 and Chengdu Rongcheng on November 8.
Inter Miami’s chief commercial officer, Xavier Asensi, said, “We’re very excited to continue to expand our club’s global reach, bringing our team to play in front of incredible fans across the globe.” “This is a special opportunity to share the passion as we reach new audiences and put ourselves on display in new places, and we’re looking forward to beginning this adventure.”
However, Messi will use those contests to keep up his fitness as he prepares for international service, not only to promote the club’s name.
Major matches for Argentina
Messi and Argentina have won all four of their games while scoring seven goals and allowing none, giving them a flawless start in World Cup qualification thus far. However, their schedule becomes much tougher in November.
On November 16, Argentina will play host to Brazil, followed by matches against Uruguay and the other two dominant nations in the area. The two contests will be the reigning world champions’ toughest challenges since their victory over France in Qatar about 11 months ago.
Those two games in China are crucial because Messi will have gone nearly a month without a competitive match at that time. To be able to lead Argentina into these two important matches, he will need to maintain his fitness for nearly a month.
But after that, everything is off, and Messi can relax and take in the holiday season for the first time in his professional career.
Earned rest and relaxation
The holidays are typically a brief respite from a demanding schedule for football players. For someone like Messi, that was one of the few weeks during the year where he could just unwind. Aside from the Premier League, the most of Europe’s top leagues allow their players some form of break.
Nevertheless, there was always a new game waiting to be played. He won’t have that issue this year.
Messi recently stated, “I’ll be spending a lot of days here in December during the holidays in peace with my people for the first time in a while. “And I’ll be back in January. I’ll do a preseason from scratch and get as ready as I can, as usual.”
For Messi, it will undoubtedly be a pleasant break—both mentally and physically. He will have more time to spend with his three kids since a European campaign won’t be looming over them. For the first time perhaps ever, he can unwind and take time off for the holidays.
The fact that Messi is looking forward to some much-needed alone time after spending the last 20 years living so much of his life on the pitch doesn’t mean he won’t be ready when preseason kicks up in January.
Ballon d’Or on the way?
However, Messi’s itinerary can include one more excursion that happens even before the trip to China. Before all of that, Messi might only be required to pick up yet another coveted award on Monday in Paris.
Messi is currently considered to be the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or. By doing so, he would have won the Golden Ball eight times, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo for second place by three.
Because of this, Messi might only need to spend a short while in Europe before beginning his summer plans, but he won’t mind being recognised once more for another outstanding year.
Messi’s impact on the preseason
Messi will return to Inter Miami after the winter break to take charge of a squad that, based on current circumstances, will be one of the favourites to win the MLS Cup in 2024. Furthermore, it already appears that Messi’s participation will have a significant impact on how Miami’s preseason will go.
According to numerous reports, Messi’s former team, Newell’s Old Boys, will go to Miami for a preseason match. Even if there will be plenty of time for goodbye matches in the future, the game will act as a sort of testimonial for the Argentinian legend.
The rest of Miami’s preseason schedule is still up in the air, but there will be no shortage of teams vying for a chance to go on Messi and company in January or February. The club will undoubtedly build up something exceptional using Messi’s charm.
The wait will be longer than anything Messi has ever had to endure. He is, however, scheduled for a well-earned break because even GOATs occasionally need to take a break.