Inter Miami Begins Preseason Tour with Friendly Against El Salvador National Team

Ahead of a long and arduous 2024 campaign, Inter Miami and their star player Lionel Messi kick off their preseason tour with a friendly match against the El Salvador national team. This friendly match will be the first of a series of seven matches that the MLS club will play during their preseason journey, covering 23,000 miles to visit various countries including Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Dallas, Texas.

Tata Martino, the head coach of Inter Miami, has had ample time during the offseason to plan the team’s preparation and workload management, considering the squad is composed of aging stars such as Lionel Messi (36), Sergio Busquets (35), Jordi Alba (34), and new signing Luis Suarez (36). The conversation about managing their playing time will remain a talking point throughout the season, especially after last year’s playoff miss partially attributed to an injury suffered by Messi.

The 2024 preseason starts with the friendly match against the El Salvador national team, which will be streamed exclusively on MLSsoccer.com globally. The match will take place at Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador with a kickoff time of 7 p.m. local time.

It is uncertain how many minutes Messi will play in this match after a previous season where his playing time was closely monitored. Given the team’s focus on gradually building match fitness, it is unlikely that Messi and other aging players like Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suarez will play for more than 45 minutes. Inter Miami has most of its squad available for the match, with a few exceptions including starting goalkeeper Drake Callender, who is currently with the USMNT January camp and may feature in the friendly against Slovenia on Saturday. Midfielder Jean Mota is also absent, while Ian Fray and Franco Negri are recovering from long-term injuries.

The lineup for Inter Miami is expected to be a 3-5-3 formation with Dos Santos in goal, Gressel, Yedlin, Aviles, and Allen in defense, Alba as a wing-back, Busquets, Gregore, and Cremaschi in midfield, and Messi and Suarez up front.

The El Salvador national team, led by head coach David Doniga, will be missing regular players Alex Roldan and Eric Zavaleta, as they have chosen to begin their preseason preparations with their respective MLS clubs. El Salvador’s lineup is likely to be a 3-5-2 formation with M. Gonzalez in goal, Tamacas, Clavel, Sibrian, and J. Cruz in defense, Flores as a wing-back, Ceren, Cartagena, and C. Martinez in midfield, and Bonilla and Ferman up front.