Fort Lauderdale (United States) (AFP) – Inter Miami rested Lionel Messi again and had to grind out a 2-0 win over Jamaica’s Cavalier in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup round-of-16 tie on Thursday. Messi, who was also absent for Sunday’s 4-1 win at Houston in Major League Soccer, is not believed to be suffering from any injury, and the club has described his non-selection as ‘load management’.
Miami coach Javier Mascherano clearly believed his team was good enough to beat their youthful Caribbean opponents without the Argentine World Cup winner, but for the opening hour, that looked far from certain. The Kingston side impressed as they threatened on the counter-attack, showed energy in midfield, and were solid at the back against a lacklustre Miami team. Indeed, the visitors could have gone ahead in the 28th minute when Jamilio Rigters whipped a cross from the left towards the far post, but the arriving Jalmaro Calvin couldn’t get his shot on target.
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Minutes later, the Jamaican side was denied by the woodwork when Calvin was found inside the box, and the ball deflected off the lunging David Martinez and struck the post. Just before half-time, the Jamaicans thought they had the lead when Miami failed to deal with a free-kick into the box, and Richard King set up Shaquille Stein, who slotted home. The celebrations were cut short though by the referee indicating a VAR review, which went on for several minutes before, to the fury of the away side, the effort was ruled out for offside.
There was a more determined approach from Miami after the break, and they were rewarded in the 61st minute when, after a goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to Tadeo Allende, who fired into the corner. Cavalier paid the price for their high-energy approach in the first half, tiring as the game wore on, and weary defending in the 83rd minute was punished by Luis Suarez, who pounced after a mis-control by Shamar Watson and tucked home the second.
The return leg will be played in Kingston on March 13, and whether Messi will make his first appearance on the Caribbean island remains to be seen. Mascherano denied that Messi was suffering from anything other than tiredness. “I am guided by what the doctors tell me, and the doctors have told me that he has no injuries or scars. He is tired from having played three games in six days, from the changes in the weather, from a lot of situations, and since we want to take care of him and we intend not to aggravate that fatigue, we decided to rest him,” said the Argentine.
Mascherano was critical of the way his team performed in the first half, saying they lacked intensity, but Cavalier coach Rudolph Speid was still fuming over the disallowed goal. “I just think if there were a million referees in the world, a million minus one would have made that call,” he said. Speid said his team believed they could pull off an upset in the return leg but brushed off questions over Messi’s absence. “We came here to play Inter Miami, not Messi,” he said.
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