Lionel Messi in Hong Kong: experts divided over whether Argentinian’s injury was serious enough to stop him playing
- Sports injury specialist at an English Premier League club says nothing strange over Inter Miami star missing Hong Kong game
- But leading health academic says severity should not have stopped Inter Miami star playing.
A leading sports injury specialist has said there was nothing strange about Lionel Messi being able to play in Japan just 72 hours after injury ruled him out of an exhibition game in Hong Kong.
But a leading academic in the city said the inflammation the Argentinian experienced appeared to be a minor problem, and questioned whether it would have been bad enough to prevent him playing any part in the match last weekend.
Messi’s absence, because of what his club, Inter Miami, said was an injury effecting the thigh and groin, had fans in the city crying foul and demanding refunds.
And club officials left the door open for the fevered speculation by naming Messi on the substitutes bench for the match against a Hong Kong XI, and not addressing the severity of the problem, which first occurred during the preseason friendly against Al Hilal on January 29.
In a pre-match press conference on February 2, Miami coach Gerardo Martino even assured Hong Kong fans that the 36-year-old they all bought tickets to see would “play as much as possible”, and did not hint at any problems.
A medical official with one English Premier League club, who asked not to be named because of his position, said it was always difficult to have an opinion with “assessing someone and speaking with them”.
