Leo Messi looks so angry and unhappy from the stand after Inter Miami lost ‘US open cup final’ to Houston Dynamo F.C

Inter Miami will have a chance at their second trophy in two months as they take on the Houston Dynamo in the final of the US Open Cup. Kickoff is set for 8:30pm ET at DRV Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The Dynamo come into this game as underdogs but have already won the US Open Cup and are performing at a high level behind captain Hector Herrera.Inter Miami is coming off a tie against Orlando in a game that saw Messi, Alba, and Busquets all out of the squad. Miami chose to rest their stars in order to have them ready to go for tonight’s final.

Martino, who previously managed Messi with the Argentine National Team and Barcelona, even went so far as to say on Tuesday that Messi definitely would not play were this a league game, but because it’s a final the Herons are more willing to consider the risk.

Meanwhile, the Dynamo come in as almost an afterthought, despite winning the tournament in 2018 and being one of the teams that has most outperformed expectations during the 2023 MLS regular season.

Houston won these teams’ regular season meeting 1-0 back in April when neither Messi, Martino nor a good chunk of Miami’s supporting cast had yet to arrive in South Florida.