TORONTO — Toronto FC coach John Herdman got an injury update on Lionel Messi from an unexpected source Sunday night.
"My daughter woke us up at it must have been about 10:50 last night to tell us Messi got injured (in the Copa America final). So she was the news reader," Herdman said Monday. "Which I wasn't too happy about, to be honest. I was fast asleep."
Toronto, which currently sits eighth in the MLS Eastern Conference, visits second-place Inter Miami on Wednesday before playing at 10th-place CF Montreal on Saturday.
A distraught Messi exited the game in the 64th minute with an apparent ankle injury Sunday night in Argentina' 1-0 championship game win over Colombia.
The 37-year-old had gone down in the 36th minute, needing treatment after getting tangled with Colombia's Santiago Arias. He returned to action but went down again in the second half and could not continue.
Kickoff of the Copa final was delayed more than 80-minute due to chaos at the gates of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., as fans — some without tickets — tried to get in.
While Messi seems unlikely to see action against Toronto, Sergio Busquets is definitely out. The former Barcelona star was sent off in Miami's last game — a 6-1 loss July 6 at FC Cincinnati — when he was shown a second yellow card for complaining about the first.
Uruguay and Miami striker Luis Suarez scored a stoppage time equalizer on Saturday against Canada that forced a penalty shootout in the Copa third-place game, eventually won by the South Americans.
Toronto, meanwhile will be boosted by the return of captain/midfielder Jonathan Osorio and wingback/fullback Richie Laryea from international duty with Canada.
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LONG HURTING: Not every TFC player emerged unscathed from Saturday's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Herdman reported that veteran centre back Kevin Long broke his nose, chipped a tooth and busted his lip. The hard-nosed defender still finished the game.
Raoul Petretta, who shifted from his normal defender/wingback role to patrol central midfield, felt something in his groin but a subsequent MRI came back clean.
"Outside of that it's just been guys beat up, fatigued," said Herdman. And you could see that in the game. Some guys, they gave it their best but we're on a grind at the moment"
Wednesday's game at Inter Miami is Toronto's 10th in 6 1/2 weeks in all competitions.
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JOHNSON MARKS MILESTONE: Veteran Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson celebrated a milestone in Saturday's win over Philadelphia.
The victory was the 150th in regular-season play for the 35-year-old Johnson, who becomes just the fourth goalkeeper in MLS history to reach that plateau. The retired Nick Rimando (223) and Kevin Hartman (180) top the list.
Johnson recently signed a contract extension with Toronto, guaranteed through 2025 with a TFC option for 2026.
The new deal was announced June 11 while Johnson, who joined Toronto as a free agent in January 2023 after six seasons with New York City FC, was away at Copa America with the United States.
"Everybody's made me feel right at home since signing here," Johnson said Monday in his first TFC availability since signing the extension. "The club's been tremendous in terms of welcoming me with open arms. So I want to give back in that way and do all I can to help bring another trophy back to this club."
In his 15th season, the Georgia native recorded 58 wins with the Chicago Fire (2010-16), 83 with NYCFC (2017-22) and nine with Toronto (2-2-3-present).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2024.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
