MIAMI, USA: Lionel Messi, who has sat out Inter Miami’s last three games, will travel to Jamaica for Thursday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup match with Kingston side Cavalier, coach Javier Mascherano said on Wednesday.
Messi missed Inter’s 4-1 win at the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer on Mar. 2 and then the 2-0 midweek home win over Cavalier in the first leg of the last-16 tie against the Jamaicans.
The Argentine then sat unused on the bench for Sunday’s 1-0 win over Charlotte in MLS, with Mascherano saying the caution over using the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was based on managing his workload and not an injury.
Speaking to the media before the team flew out to the Caribbean Island nation, Mascherano, a former team-mate of Messi’s at Barcelona, said the forward would be making the trip.
“Leo Messi is on the roster and will travel with the team to Jamaica. Tomorrow (Thursday) we will decide for the game what is best, if he starts or waits on the bench and comes in later,” he said.
“Today he trained with the team, and the sensations were good. We’re happy he’ll travel with us to Jamaica,” he added.
The game is expected to attract a sell-out crowd to the 35,000 capacity National Stadium in Kingston.
While Messi has faced Jamaica’s national team for Argentina, he has never played in the nation before.
Cavalier head coach and sporting director Rudolph Speid believes his team are capable of turning around the tie against a team that will include former Barca players Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez.
“It is about normalizing the Inter Miami team so that our players are comfortable playing against players with such high esteem,” Speid explained.
“Jordi Alba is 35 years old but he runs up and down like he thinks he is 25. Sergio Busquets is a brilliant player — it is very difficult to take the ball off him when he has it under control. And Lionel Messi, I don’t even have to say anything,” he told the Jamaican Gleaner.
Messi to travel with Miami for Jamaican tie
https://arab.news/gwnx8
Messi to travel with Miami for Jamaican tie
- Messi missed Inter’s 4-1 win at the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer on Mar. 2
- “Leo Messi is on the roster and will travel with the team to Jamaica,” Mascherano said
Bournemouth snap Liverpool’s unbeaten run to up pressure on Slot
- Goals from Evanilson and Alex Jimenez put the home side in a commanding position
- Defeat will intensify the scrutiny on Liverpool boss Arne Slot
BOURNEMOUTH, UK: Bournemouth ended Liverpool’s 13-game unbeaten run as Amine Adli’s 95th minute strike secured a thrilling 3-2 win for the Cherries on Saturday.
Goals from Evanilson and Alex Jimenez put the home side in a commanding position but Liverpool hit back through Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai to level.
However, Bournemouth won for just the second time in 15 matches after Adli fired in with virtually the last kick of the game.
Defeat will intensify the scrutiny on Liverpool boss Arne Slot with the Reds likely to fall outside of the Premier League’s top four after Sunday’s fixtures.
Slot, who guided Liverpool to Premier League glory last season, had steadied the ship after a run of nine defeats in 12 games earlier in the campaign.
But the Dutchman has attracted criticism for Liverpool’s uninspiring performances, even during their unbeaten run, and they are now winless in five league games.
The Reds put in a commanding performance to beat Marseille 3-0 and close in on the Champions League last 16 in midweek.
But they again struggled when faced with the rigours of breaking down a Premier League defense after gifting the Cherries a 2-0 lead.
The visitors dominated the ball throughout, but were made to pay for two defensive lapses in seven first-half minutes.
Van Dijk was too casual as he tried to flick Marcos Senesi’s ball over the top behind for a corner and Alex Scott pounced to cross for Evanilson to hammer home.
In trying to prevent the goal, Joe Gomez picked up an injury to further deplete Liverpool’s already threadbare options at center-back.
The visitors were down to 10 men as Wataru Endo waited to replace Gomez when Bournemouth doubled their lead.
Milos Kerkez was caught sleeping on his return to the Vitality Stadium to allow Jimenez to sneak in behind and slot in his first Bournemouth goal.
Van Dijk atoned for his previous error to begin the Liverpool fightback when he headed in Szoboszlai’s corner.
- Reward for positivity -
Andy Robertson replaced Kerkez at half-time despite being linked with a move to Tottenham before the transfer window closes in just over a week’s time.
Liverpool had little to show for their domination of the ball in the second period until Szoboszlai’s strike sparked a wild finale.
The Hungarian slotted a free-kick under the Marseille wall on Wednesday and this time used a flick from Cody Gakpo to work an angle to blast into the far corner.
Almost straight from kick-off, Liverpool needed Alisson Becker to produce a brilliant save from Ryan Christie to prevent Bournemouth retaking the lead.
Evanilson then wasted a glorious chance to win the game when the Brazilian slotted wide with just Alisson to beat.
Bournemouth could also have lost it when goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic made a fine save to prevent Florian Wirtz from finding the bottom corner.
But Andoni Iraola’s men were rewarded for going for the win when Adli smashed in from a narrow angle after Liverpool failed to clear a long throw.
Victory lifts Bournemouth up to 13th and 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
