Lionel Messi expected to play in US Open Cup final, confirms Houston coach Ben Olsen

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami are set to play in the US Open Cup 2023 final against Houston Dynamo. The Argentine led his new club to the Leagues Cup 2023 title but has injury concerns for the upcoming match.

Messi was taken off against Toronto FC in the first half of the MLS tie. He missed Inter Miami's last match and it was reported that the World Cup winner has also missed the training sessions ahead of the big game. Messi was injured during the international break and missed a couple of matches for his side.

Despite all this news, the Houston Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen believes that Messi is going to play against his team. In a pre-match interview, Olsen said:

“We're pretty sure he'll play. We'll prepare for them in that way. They've got some options if that isn't the case. But we'll prepare for their best lineup unless we hear something more concrete."

He added, "There's been thousands of coaches that have tried to stop him and thousands of coaches have failed constantly, so I don't have the magic bullet to stop Messi. No one has proven that they do have that. But of course, we're all trying to do the same thing: limit his space and condense the areas. There's all these little tricks that you can do to try to limit him."

"But they've also put together a very good supporting cast around him so now you dial in too much there and there's a lot of other guys that can hurt you."

Lionel Messi at Inter Miami

Lionel Messi has played 12 games for Inter Miami in all competitions. He has scored 11 times and created five goals. With more than one goal contribution per game and 11 coming in the Leagues Cup triumph, Messi is surely a key factor in this match.

The addition of Busquets and Alba has also added a bit of confidence but the full-back is also injured and set to miss this match.