Lionel Messi was incensed with Major League Soccer officials after a recent rule change required him to wait two minutes to return to the field.
After a shoddy challenge by Montreal defender George Campbell, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had a serious injury scare and thought the policy was punishing him even more.
When Campbell lunged in to tackle Messi, his studs struck the 36-year-old’s knee, causing him to stay down in a potentially dangerous moment for Miami.
Fans held their breath as Messi gripped his knee, but the striker eventually stood up and was helped to the side of the field by medical personnel.
In an effort to advance the league, MLS has changed several of the rules, including a new scheme to reduce time wastage.
A player must sit out for two minutes before returning to the field of play if they are injured for 15 seconds or more in order to prevent players from fabricating injuries.
This will hurt gamers who need proper care, even though it might discourage people from wasting time utilizing the previous loophole. As he waited to return, Messi was heard criticizing the regulation, clearly irritated by it.
What did Messi say about the rule?
Photographers captured Messi uttering what appears to be the Spanish translation of “With this kind of rule… we’re headed in the wrong direction.” As Luis Suarez, a teammate, discovered later in the game, there are other rules in place to prevent wasting time.
In order to prevent the situation from getting worse, Miami manager Tata Martino had to hold back Suarez when he complained to the fourth official after being substituted in the 90th minute.
Another modification is that players must exit the field within ten seconds after being replaced, or else the person in their place will have to wait an additional sixty seconds to enter the game.
Players on the winning team frequently take their time off the field at the end of games in an effort to waste valuable seconds; this is something that MLS wants to stop.
While players in other leagues have been ordered to leave the field at the nearest touchline, the Major League Soccer (MLS) has implemented a 10-second timer.
Match story
Even though both celebrities appeared irritated, Miami appeared to benefit from the rage on Saturday night. Miami was trailing 2-0 to Montreal when Messi nearly averted injury in the 40th minute, but it gave David Beckham’s team a boost.
Matias Rojas and Suarez both scored goals quickly to even the score before halftime, and 14 minutes into the second half, Benjamin Cremaschi gave Miami the lead.
Miami was able to cling on to increase their advantage at the top of the Eastern Conference, despite Messi’s obvious shock at the injury scare and lack of involvement after the interval.
Inter Miami have won eight of their 13 games thus far this season and are the overwhelming favorites to win the MLS Cup.
In those 13 games, they have also scored 35 goals, and with 11 goals, Suarez is tied for the team lead in scoring with Christian Benteke of D.C. United and Cristian Arango of Real Salt Lake.
