Lionel Messi Out for Argentina Friendlies in Philadelphia, Los Angeles with Injury

The Argentina men's national team announced Monday that superstar Lionel Messi will not play in the team's upcoming friendlies against El Salvador and Costa Rica in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, respectively.

"The captain Lionel Messi, will not be able to be in the squad for the friendlies in USA due to a minor injury he suffered in his team's match against Nashville," the team said in a statement (h/t Fabrizio Romano).

Argentina will face El Salvador at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field on Friday, March 22 (8 p.m. ET) and Costa Rica at L.A.'s United Airlines Field at the Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday, March 26 (10:50 p.m. ET).

The matches were originally scheduled to take place in China but were cancelled after Messi didn't appear in an Inter Miami friendly against Hong Kong last month due to a groin injury. Three days later he appeared in a friendly against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo, much to the chagrin of the Hong Kong government.

The 36-year-old missed Saturday's contest between Inter Miami and D.C. United after leaving Thursday's matchup vs. Nashville FC with a hamstring injury, an unrelated issue to last month's groin issues.

It always seemed likely that both he and the club would take a patient approach to his recovery from this latest knock.

"We'll continuously evaluate what he's doing," Inter Miami manager Tata Martino told reporters on Saturday. "The objective is for him to arrive to be able to play in the quarterfinals of CONCACAF Champions Cup. We don't want to take a risk."

Inter Miami will face CF Monterrey on Wednesday, April 3 and Wednesday, April 10 in the quarterfinals.

Obviously, Inter Miami's fate is closely tied to Messi's health and productivity. In five games this season between MLS and the Champions Cup he's registered five goals and two assists, a blistering pace.