:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/GW32O23CNFFKBN5KUTJYHJOESY.jpeg)
The Martino era at Inter Miami began this Saturday with a defeat (3-0) against a solid St. Louis City team, which remains at the top of the Western Conference in MLS. Thus, Lionel Messi's new team remains at the bottom of the standings in the Eastern zone, with five wins, three draws, and 14 losses, for a total of 18 points in 22 matches.
After the defeat, 'Tata' Martino shared his impressions about the match, especially about Lionel Messi's arrival to the team, highlighting that they wanted to get a victory as a gift for the Argentine star in his debut.
"We are happy that today the contract has been officially signed and that tomorrow he will have his presentation. We would have liked to give him a victory in that presentation, but we couldn't achieve it," Martino explained at the press conference.
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/OQQOEPGIYFFGJM3CJ5XTS3H4NE.jpeg)
In addition, the Argentine coach talked about the excitement of having Messi for the upcoming matches, but emphasized that they will handle his arrival calmly to ensure that he is in the best possible shape and can play at the most appropriate moment, leaving his possible debut in suspense (it was expected to be on Friday, July 21 against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup).
"We look to the future with the excitement of having the best player in the world on our team, but also with the necessary patience for him to recover and play at the right moment," he responded at the same press conference.
There is a possibility that the Argentinean will have some minutes in the start of the Leagues Cup against Cruz Azul, since the team owner, Jorge Mas, previously mentioned that this match could mark Messi's debut. However, the final decision will be in the hands of Tata Martino's coaching staff and Messi himself.