{"id":264229,"date":"2026-05-09T01:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T01:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/264229\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T01:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T01:29:15","slug":"messi-inter-miami-vs-toronto-fc-preview-tv-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/264229\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi, Inter Miami vs. Toronto FC preview, TV, injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"

As is so often the case when Lionel Messi and his traveling Inter Miami show hit the road, a record crowd is expected at BMO Field Saturday afternoon for the game against Toronto FC.<\/p>\n

The stadium normally seats just over 28,000 fans, but the capacity was expanded to 45,736 seats for the upcoming World Cup. Temporary stands were added on each end, and they will be open for the first time on Saturday in anticipation of Messi\u2019s fan appeal.<\/p>\n

Both teams are highly motivated to win after surrendering bunches of unanswered goals in home losses in their previous games.<\/p>\n

Toronto coach Robin Fraser, a Miami Palmetto High grad and former FIU soccer star, said his team should be \u201cembarrassed\u201d after giving up a late hat trick in a 3-1 loss to visiting Atletico Ottawa on Tuesday in the first round of the Canadian Championship.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Messi and his teammates gave up four goals in a row after leading 3-0 in a humiliating 4-3 home loss to archrival Orlando City last weekend.<\/p>\n

Inter Miami dropped from second place to third in the Eastern Conference, and interim coach Giullermo Hoyos and his players are eager to flip the page and get back to winning.<\/p>\n

Hoyos met with the media Friday morning and said the team put in a good week of work and was ready to face Toronto.<\/p>\n

Asked what went wrong against Orlando, why Miami conceded four unanswered goals after appearing to have the game in hand, he said: \u201cI always see the good side, not the bad. From a positive standpoint, we played an extraordinary first half, and we can be fueled by that. Yes, maybe in the second half we had a drop because of various situations, not just one, from a football and physical standpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is focused on the negative. But it\u2019s not a drama, and that\u2019s the message I want to deliver. Obviously, it\u2019s the derby [against Orlando], but the losses help us grow and learn\u2026 One loss doesn\u2019t erase everything the team did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoyos also addressed his decision to walk out of Saturday\u2019s postgame press conference after one question and the fact that none of the team leaders were available for interviews after such an important loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are moments when you have to maintain your silence and internalize what you lived,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about being prudent and respectful, making sure you don\u2019t say things you shouldn\u2019t say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inter Miami should have a nearly full roster available for the game on Saturday (1 p.m., Apple TV). Ian Fray, who left the game with leg cramps, has been undergoing treatment for leg discomfort and did not train Friday. His status for the game is questionable.<\/p>\n

Toronto is on a six-game winless streak and as eager to turn things around as Miami. Fraser was asked about the challenge of facing Messi, the two-time MLS MVP, who has eight goals and two assists in 10 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the best who\u2019s ever played the game; It\u2019s a big task and, in some ways, a big motivator for teams that play against them,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about the old Michael Jordan expression: you can\u2019t stop him; we can only hope to contain him. I think that the same could be said [about Messi]. It\u2019s been many, many years that I have felt he\u2019s the best in the world. Certainly, you have to pay attention to him and know where he is and defend him really well, and you need a little luck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser was asked if he is surprised Messi is still playing at such a high level at age 38?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not at all, the great players are the great players,\u201d said Fraser, bringing up his former teammate Thierry Henry as an example. \u201cWhile you\u2019re not as dynamic at that age as you were 15 years ago, there\u2019s genius in them and they know how to find it at the right moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toronto\u2019s veteran center back Walker Zimmerman, a two-time MLS Defender of the Year, played Messi several times while with Nashville SC and will be tasked with trying to contain him again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no denying [Messi\u2019s] talent; his ability to change the game at any given point in time,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cHe just raises awareness of all the people that play against him because anytime you\u2019re in an individual moment, you\u2019re like, \u2018I\u2019m gonna stop him.\u2019 And that can be good or bad. I\u2019ve seen it go both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Inter Inter Miami’s Argentine forward, #10 Lionel Messi, vies for the ball against Orlando City’s Swedish defender #6 Robin Jansson during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and Orlando City SC at NU Stadium in Miami, on May 2, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio Viera \/ AFP via Getty Images) GIORGIO VIERA AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

As for how to keep Messi in check, Zimmerman said the key is keeping the ball away from him as much as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou obviously know that his quality in front of goal is special, and so [you try] to limit the amount of times that he has a free lane to shoot or make a final pass,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cThat\u2019s easier said than done, but I think [if] you can limit the shots on goal, then you\u2019re limiting the chances he has to score.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, there are going to be times where he\u2019s going to make great plays. He\u2019s a great player. There are going to be moments that we\u2019re going to have to defend and scramble a little bit to make a big play, because he\u2019s going to create some chances, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

As dangerous as Messi is, Zimmerman cautioned against focusing only on him. Inter Miami has the most expensive roster in MLS and features other attackers such as Luis Suarez, German Berterame, Telasco Segovia, Mateo Silvetti and Tadeo Allende. Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who has taken some time to adapt to his new team, will be eager to step up as he is on the Canadian national team and vying for a starting role in the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the way that we manage [Messi] is to try and stay as a collective; just focused on the task at hand, which is a team sport,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cIt\u2019s Toronto against Miami. It\u2019s not Toronto against Messi. It\u2019s not me against Messi. \u2026 Obviously, they have other pieces as well that are dangerous, so you can\u2019t just then put too much focus on one player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Miami Herald<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Michelle Kaufman<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NBA Playoffs, Super Bowls and has been the soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years. She was born in Frederick, Md., and grew up in Miami.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As is so often the case when Lionel Messi and his traveling Inter Miami show hit the road,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-264229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}