{"id":1926,"date":"2026-02-12T12:58:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T04:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/?p=1926"},"modified":"2026-02-12T12:58:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T04:58:45","slug":"messi-out-with-hamstring-strain-as-puerto-rico-match-delayed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/12\/messi-out-with-hamstring-strain-as-puerto-rico-match-delayed\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi out with hamstring strain as Puerto Rico match delayed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1927\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-5.png 1000w, https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-5-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-5-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Lionel Messi missed practice for Inter Miami on Wednesday with a nagging left hamstring strain that pushed the squad to delay a match in Puerto Rico, the MLS club announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Argentine star and Inter Miami captain suffered the injury in a 2-2 draw with Barcelona de Guayaquil in Ecuador last Saturday. Messi underwent further testing that determined the extent of the strain. &#8220;Unfortunately, I felt some muscle tightness in the last match,&#8221; Messi said in a team statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Exactly when Messi might return is uncertain, the club saying his gradual return to training &#8220;will depend on his clinical and functional progress in the coming days.&#8221; The defending champion Herons open the 2026 MLS campaign at Los Angeles FC on February 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inter Miami was supposed to face Ecuadoran side Independiente del Valle on Friday in Puerto Rico but the team announced the match has been delayed to February 26 &#8211; three days before they are set to play at MLS rival Orlando.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We were really looking forward to seeing you,&#8221; Messi told Puerto Rico fans in the statement. &#8220;So together with the club we worked on finding an alternative date to be able to travel and play in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We know the excitement and the desire you have to watch an Inter Miami match, and it will be very special to make it happen soon.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi missed practice for Inter Miami on Wednesd [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1926"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1928,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926\/revisions\/1928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}