Why did Lionel Messi not play for Argentina in international friendly against Costa Rica?

Argentina missed its captain and star player Lionel Messi for its international friendly against Costa Rica at the United Airlines Field at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Why did Messi not play?

Messi is currently recovering from a muscle injury, that has kept him out of action for Argentina during the international break and before that, for his club Inter Miami.

FOLLOW: LIVE UPDATES FROM THE ARGENTINA VS COSTA RICA INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

Suffering the injury against DC United in an MLS clash on March 16, Messi was subbed off in the second-half.  “He is overloaded in the right posterior. We don’t want to run a risk. We tried to see if he could go for a little longer, but it was bothering him, so we preferred for him to just get out of the game,” Miami head coach Tata Martino said after the match.

When will Messi return to action?

Although the exact date of Messi’s return is yet to be determined, reports that the Argentine might be back for Inter Miami for a Champions Cup clash with Monterrey on April 3.