Messi’s scratchy MLS show raises questions ahead of World Cup

Dubai: Lionel Messi looked a shadow of his former imperious self as his Inter Miami side crashed to a 3-0 defeat to Los Angeles FC on the US league’s opening weekend.

At 38 years old, it is only fair to wonder if this could point to issues ahead of this summer’s World Cup. After all, Messi has yet to commit fully to playing with Argentina in the tournament and has been honest about his fitness being a factor.

“I would like to be there. To feel well and to be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there,” Messi said, back in October. “I am going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start preseason next year with Inter [Miami] and see if I can really be 100 per cent. I’m really eager because it’s the World Cup.”

But although Miami head coach Javier Mascherano confirmed on Friday that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was “training at the same level as the rest of the team all week,” Miami’s No. 10 looked off colour against LAFC.

Hamstring injury

During the first 10 minutes, Messi’s touch looked all over the place, as did the timing of his passes. The Argentine great repeatedly lost possession and his shooting was woeful as he was unable to hit the target even once during the course of the match.

Messi will need to improve but, to be fair to him, it was just his first match of the new season. Mascherano recently stated that the 38-year-old was healthy enough to return to full-team training, but the football genius was only recently recovering from a hamstring injury, so it’s no major shock that he was off the pace a bit.

It’s too premature to make any long-term judgements, but if the script doesn’t change in the next month or so then questions will start to be asked about his readiness for the World Cup.

“He will decide, and we will support whatever he decides,” Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said in December about whether Messi will be at the World Cup or not. “In principle, everything is going well, but six months is a long time. There is still time.”

With another four months to go, the clock is already ticking for the Argentine superstar.