Messi still unsure for Concacaf Champions Cup second leg

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It’s still anybody’s guess whether Lionel Messi, rated by many as the world’s greatest ever player, will travel to Jamaica with the Inter Miami team for tomorrow’s Concacaf round-of-16 second-leg match against Cavalier FC at the National Stadium.

Messi missed Inter Miami’s 2-0 opening leg win over Cavalier last Thursday and their head coach Javier Mascherano said the Argentinian was suffering from fatigue after he sat out his second straight game. Messi watched last Thursday’s game at the Chase Stadium from the stands with members of his family.

Mascherano explained that Messi’s playing status is considered day to day.

“It is day to day. The doctors have told me that he has no injury. He is fatigued from having played three games in six days, from changes of the weather and a lot of other situations,” Mascherano said.

An Inter Miami fan account on X, @intermiamicfhub posted last night that ‘there is a strong chance that Lionel Messi will travel to Jamaica for the games against Cavalier but his starting role is not guaranteed.’ The post added that Messi felt good after training yesterday.

Messi missed a third straight game on Sunday and an ESPN report after the match said Mascherano changed the game plan after goalkeeper Oscar Ustari received a red card in the first half of the match against Charlotte FC.

“The reality is that in the case of Leo maybe we had thought about giving him minutes in the game. But since the game was played with one man less, and taking into consideration the time he has without playing … . We didn’t want to risk it,” Masherano said.

Tomorrow’s match against Cavalier kicks off at 7 p.m.

Messi is expected to be very very busy in the second half of March. Following the Cavalier clash, Inter Miami are down to face MLS rivals Atlanta United on March 16. Messi is then expected to link up with his national team for two South American World Cup qualifiers this month. They will face Uruguay on March 21 then host Brazil on March 25.

– sp****@*******jm.com