Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 28 September 2023 (tca/dpa/MIA) — Thousands of pink number 10 Lionel Messi jerseys nearly filled DRV PNK Stadium Wednesday night for the highly anticipated US Open Cup final between Inter Miami and the Houston Dynamo, but the Argentine icon was not wearing one.

Messi, bothered by a nagging old injury, was not in uniform and left off the Miami roster. He showed up shortly before kickoff in street clothes and watched the game from the field-level suites, where French legend Zinedine Zidane, Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham, and Dynamo co-owner James Harden were among the dignitaries in attendance.

The Argentine icon was sorely missed, as was left back Jordi Alba, who also missed the game with an unspecified leg muscle injury. Houston dominated every aspect of play from the opening whistle and claimed the historic 108-year-old trophy with a 2-1 victory.

Hundreds of fans lined up along parking lot barricades in the rain before the game, hoping to catch a glimpse of Messi on the team bus as it entered the stadium’s gated team entrance.

But he was nowhere to be seen. The team disembarked without Messi and Alba, and a few minutes later, the team rosters were released and both players were missing, taking some wind out of Miami’s sails.

The game drew 52 TV rightsholders, many of whom traveled with crews from Latin America, and they were anticipating covering Messi in his second cup final since joining Inter Miami in July. Miami won the Leagues Cup final against Nashville SC in August. Messi has scored 11 goals over 13 games he played with Miami.

Instead, they saw Messi’s teammates outplayed from start to finish.

The Dynamo outsprinted Miami in transition and found holes in the porous Miami defense, which looked disjointed and confused at times. Inter Miami could get nothing going offensively, being outshot 18-1 in the first half.

Houston had two great chances to score in the 22nd minute, but Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender made a pair of spectacular back-to-back saves on shots by Nelson Quinones and Corey Baird. Callender leaped to catch the first shot and then dove to block Baird’s shot on the rebound.

Griffin Dorsey gave Houston a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on a right footed shot from the right side of the box to the upper center of the goal. The Dynamo counterattack began with an errant pass from Miami midfielder Facundo Farias.

The visitors made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute when Amine Bassi converted a penalty kick after Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin was yellow carded for taking down Quinones in the box.

It was briefly 3-0, but Quinones’ apparent goal in the 73rd minute was reversed after VAR determined he was offside.

Miami coach Tata Martino made two adjustments at halftime, replacing Robert Taylor and Diego Gomez with Josef Martinez and Dixon Arroyo. They seemed to energize the group, and Miami finally got itself into scoring situations.

Martinez gave the home fans reason to hope with a left-footed goal in the 92nd minute. The Venezuelan forward collected a through ball from Farias and launched the shot, igniting the crowd through the remaining four minute of added time.

But it was not enough.

Martinez had missed an earlier chance in the 56th minute on a header off a Farias free kick. Benjamin Cremaschi took a shot four minutes later, but it was saved.

Messi’s status for the game had been the main topic of conversation in the buildup to the match as he missed road games against Atlanta and Orlando and came out in the 37th minute of the previous home game against Toronto, citing discomfort from an old unspecified injury, according to Martino.

Martino told reporters on Tuesday that he would wait until Wednesday to make the decision on Messi after speaking to him to see how he felt. Apparently, his injury is bothering him more than initially thought.

Asked Tuesday if Messi’s injury might keep him from playing the five remaining league games, Martino said: “He doesn’t need surgery or anything like that, it’s just a matter of how much time a player needs to rest in order to play the next game. If it wasn’t a final, we wouldn’t take any risks. But because it’s a final, there is a chance we take that risk.”

In the end, they decided not to take the risk.

Miami resumes league play on Saturday night at home against New York City FC. Miami is five points back from the ninth-place playoff line with five games remaining.

Photo: EPA