{"id":1152,"date":"2026-08-13T05:34:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/?p=1152"},"modified":"2026-08-13T05:34:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:34:55","slug":"lionel-messi-returns-to-field-four-days-after-fathers-death-but-couldnt-prevent-inter-miami-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/?p=1152","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi returns to field four days after father’s death but couldn’t prevent Inter Miami exit"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Lionel<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) (AP Photo)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lionel Messi<\/a> returned to football just four days after the death of his father, Jorge Messi, making an emotional appearance for Inter Miami in their crucial Leagues Cup clash against Club Le\u00f3n on Wednesday, August 12.Messi\u2019s return came as a surprise given how recently he had travelled to his hometown of Rosario for his father\u2019s funeral. Jorge Messi died on August 8 at the age of 68 after a prolonged illness. He had played a central role in his son\u2019s career, serving as his agent and managing his business affairs from the early stages of Messi\u2019s rise.Messi was named among the substitutes for the match and came on at the start of the second half. He was given a loud ovation by the fans at Miami\u2019s Nu Stadium as he stepped on to the field for his first appearance since his father\u2019s death.The return was particularly poignant because of the uncertainty Messi himself had expressed about his future in football in a tribute to his father earlier on Wednesday.“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you. I don’t know how to carry on. I only played football, and now I have quite a few doubts about whether I’m going to keep doing it for much longer,” Messi wrote.The 39-year-old also reflected on the unique relationship he shared with Jorge, who was far more than just his father and had remained closely involved in his professional journey.“You were my dad, my friend and my representative,” Messi wrote, recalling how Jorge would take him to training sessions and make sure he was present for his matches.Jorge Messi\u2019s importance to his son\u2019s career extended from Messi\u2019s childhood in Rosario to his emergence as one of football\u2019s greatest players. He remained a trusted adviser and handled his son\u2019s affairs throughout his career.Before his return, Messi had taken time away from Inter Miami following his father\u2019s death. He had travelled to Argentina over the weekend and missed Miami\u2019s 2-1 defeat to Monterrey on Saturday.Despite Messi\u2019s comeback, Inter Miami were unable to secure progression in the Leagues Cup. Club Le\u00f3n produced a second-half turnaround to win 3-2 and advance to the knockout stage.D\u00e1niel Pint\u00e9r had put Inter Miami ahead in the 42nd minute, with Ian Fray providing the assist. Le\u00f3n responded through Daniel Arcila, who scored twice, including the decisive goal in the 83rd minute, while Juan Pablo Dom\u00ednguez also found the net. Yannick Bright scored Inter Miami\u2019s second goal.Arcila\u2019s first came in the 50th minute when he finished from the centre of the box. He then struck again in the 83rd minute to put Le\u00f3n ahead, completing the turnaround after Miami had led at half-time.Messi came on for D\u00e1niel Pint\u00e9r at the beginning of the second half and played the entire half, but could not prevent Miami from suffering another defeat after surrendering a lead.The result ended Inter Miami\u2019s hopes of another deep run in the Leagues Cup. The Herons had won the tournament in 2023 and reached the final last year.Their hopes of progressing this time were already slim after they entered the match 12th in the MLS standings following the loss to Monterrey. Under the competition\u2019s format, only the top four teams from the MLS standings and the top four from Liga MX advance to the quarterfinals.Le\u00f3n, meanwhile, moved to the top of the Liga MX standings after winning its opening two matches of the tournament.<\/div>\n


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Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) (AP Photo) Lionel Messi returned to football just four days after the death of his father, Jorge Messi, making an emotional appearance for Inter Miami in their crucial Leagues Cup clash against Club León on Wednesday, August 12.Messi’s return came as a surprise given how recently he had travelled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-16"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chetana.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}