MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Lionel Messi watched in street clothes from a Hard Rock Stadium suite as Argentina’s national team played Venezuela in a friendly match on a soggy Friday night.

There had been speculation all week that the Argentine icon might sit out the game so he could play for Inter Miami Saturday night in the club’s regular-season home finale against Atlanta United.

Inter Miami is in position to secure the No. 2 seeding in the Eastern Conference for the upcoming MLS playoffs and Messi is tied with Denis Bouanga of Los Angeles FC in the Golden Boot race with 24 goals each.

If Messi scores on Saturday, he would move ahead of Bouanga, who is away on national team duty with Gabon. If they wind up tied, Messi has the edge with 17 assists to Bouanga’s eight.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni and Inter Miami coach Javier Masherano were non-committal about Messi’s plans all week. It wasn’t until the starting lineups were announced Friday night, and Messi was missing from the roster, that it was certain he would miss the match.

“If he doesn’t play [Friday] and if there’s a possibility he could play Saturday, I’d be delighted,” Mascherano said Friday morning. “Imagine being able to have Lionel Messi. But the reality is that he hasn’t been with us all week.”

Messi played the full 90 minutes in a seven-game stretch over 21 days in September and early October. He is highly motivated to lift an MLS Cup, as it is the only trophy left in Miami’s reach this season.

Messi’s Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul did not start for Argentina, either, but he was on the bench. The only Inter Miami player who started was Venezuela midfielder Telasco Segovia.

Scaloni, whose team finished in first place in South American World Cup qualifying, was using Friday’s match, and the Tuesday match against Puerto Rico at Chase Stadium, to integrate some of the younger and inexperienced players on the roster.

The Argentina starters were Emiliano Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico, Leandro Paredes, Marcos Senesi, Julian Alvarez, Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Romero (wearing captain’s armband in place of Messi), Nico Paz, Lautaro Martinez, Enzo Fernandez and Nahuel Molina.

Real Madrid star Franco Mastantuono suffered a muscle strain and will leave the Argentine camp and head back to Spain.

Lo Celso, who plays for Real Betis in Spain, scored in the 31st minute to give the Albiceleste a 1-0 lead they carried into halftime. The midfielder received the ball on the left from Lautaro after a few Venezuela rebounds in the area and slotted it into the near post. Julian got the sequence started.

Most of the crowd, which numbered around 25,000, was rooting for Argentina and erupted when Lo Celso’s shot hit the back of the net.

In addition to Segovia, Venezuela’s starting lineup included Jose Contreras, Alessandro Milani, Nahuel Ferraresi, Teo Quintero, Jon Aramburu, Cristian Casseres, Gleiker Mendoza, Kervin Andrade, Alejandro Marques and Juanpi.

Venezuelan fans did not show up in the usual big numbers. One reason is that the fan base is demoralized after La Vinotinto was routed 6-3 by Colombia in the final qualifying date last month and failed to earn a World Cup playoff spot. Venezuela is the only South American team never to have played in a World Cup.

Shortly after the painful loss, the nation’s president Nicolas Maduro called for a coaching change, and got one. The squad arrived in South Florida under the direction of interim coach Oswaldo Vizcarrondo after the recent firing of Fernando Batista.

The coaching staff will use Friday’s game and next week’s match against Belize in Bridgeview, Illinois, to begin the rebuilding process.

The game began with a moment of silence for legendary Argentine coach Miguel Russo, who died on Wednesday after a long illness.

Argentina-Puerto Rico moved to Fort Lauderdale

The friendly between Argentina and Puerto Rico scheduled for Monday at Soldier Field in Chicago was moved to Tuesday at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (8 p.m.) Protests about immigration and sagging ticket sales were among the reasons cited for the move, according to sources. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

The Puerto Rico roster includes Miami FC players Nicolas Cardona, Gerald Diaz and Ricardo Rivera.

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