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USA Today
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Lionel Messi in Jamaica: Cavalier vs. Inter Miami in Champions Cup live updates
Lionel Messi in Jamaica: Cavalier vs. Inter Miami in Champions Cup live updates Show Caption Hide Caption Messi 'never imagined' he would achieve what he has Lionel Messi says his dream was only ever to be a professional, and thanked God for all his success Stats Perform Video Lionel Messi could potentially return to action on Thursday night as Inter Miami faces Cavalier FC in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 showdown. Messi and Inter Miami arrived in Jamaica on Wednesday night to a hero's welcome, where he was greeted off the plane by Olivia Grange, Jamaica's Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. Messi was also featured on the front and back covers of the Jamaica Observer newspaper on Thursday, with a photo of Grange presenting Messi with a t-shirt of Bob Marley playing soccer. I was delighted to meet Lionel Messi as he arrived at the NMIA tonight with his Inter Miami Club members for their return game tomorrow against Cavalier Football Club in the Concacaf Champions Cup. — Hon. Olivia 'Babsy' Grange (@Babsy_grange) March 13, 2025 Messi's game status is up in the air before the match: It's unclear whether he will start or come off the bench for Inter Miami, or even play at all despite traveling with the team. Messi has missed Inter Miami's last three games due to fatigue, but could be needed against the eager Jamaican Premier League champions at National Stadium in Kingston. Inter Miami leads the Champions Cup series against Cavalier with a 2-0 aggregate score. How to watch Cavalier FC vs. Inter Miami match on Thursday? The Cavalier FC vs. Inter Miami match will be available to watch on FS2 in English, and on TUDN and ViX in Spanish. What time does Cavalier FC vs. Inter Miami match begin? The match begins at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. in Jamaica, 9 p.m. in Argentina). Is Messi playing tonight in Jamaica? It's possible Messi could play, but a formal decision will be known when Inter Miami announces its starting lineup about an hour before the match begins. Messi arrives in Jamaica with Inter Miami Jamaica's Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, extended a warm welcome to football legend Lionel Messi as he arrived in the country with his Inter Miami teammates. The Argentine superstar landed at Norman Manley International Airport at… — Jamaica Observer (@JamaicaObserver) March 13, 2025 Good morning from Jamaica 🇯🇲🗞️ — Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) March 13, 2025 How many games has Messi missed? Messi has not played in the last three Inter Miami matches, but was anticipated to return off the bench last Sunday at home against Charlotte FC. However, Inter Miami was forced to play with 10 players after goalie Oscar Ustari was given a red card and ejected in the first half of the match. Instead of playing without a goalie, Mascherano substituted midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi out of the match for backup goalie Rocco Ríos Novo. Mascherano said he didn't want to risk playing Messi in the match while down a player. Messi did not travel to Inter Miami's 4-1 win against the Houston Dynamo on March 2, and did not play in Inter Miami's first leg against Cavalier FC last Thursday. Messi predominately played in three matches during a six-day stretch from Feb. 19-25, and eight matches in a 40-day span from Jan. 18 to Feb. 14, including five preseason matches played in Las Vegas, Peru, Panama, Honduras and Tampa, Florida. Messi's upcoming schedule with Inter Miami, Argentina After Inter Miami returns from Jamaica, they will have a rematch Sunday against Atlanta United — the club that eliminated them in upset fashion from the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs last season. It will be Inter Miami's last match before the FIFA international window opens for World Cup qualifiers. Messi is expected to join the Argentine national team for two matches: Argentina visits Uruguay on March 21, then Argentina hosts Brazil on March 25. Inter Miami's last match of the month will be on March 29 at home against the Philadelphia Union. Who will Inter Miami or Cavalier FC face in next round of Champions Cup? The winner of the Inter Miami-Cavalier FC matchup will meet LAFC in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup. The quarterfinal series will begin in early April.
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How to watch Cavalier vs. Inter Miami: Lionel Messi's side seeks Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals
Lionel Messi makes his first trip to Jamaica, the 48th country covered in his storied career. His Inter Miami club looks to advance past Cavalier FC into the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals after winning the opening leg, 2-0. This match was relocated from Cavalier's usual 3,000-seat home ground to the National Stadium, familiar to national team fans as 'The Office.' Inter Miami is in a groove, unbeaten in its six total matches of 2025. It thoroughly triumphed in last Thursday's action even with Messi resting, as Tadeo Allende struck in the 61st minute and Luis Suárez added a goal in the 83rd. Advertisement 'Leo Messi is on the roster and will travel with the team to Jamaica,' Mascherano told media on Wednesday. 'Tomorrow we will decide for the game what is best, if he starts or waits on the bench and comes in later.' Allende also scored in Sunday's MLS tilt with Charlotte, which Miami won 1-0. He has a goal in four consecutive outings, while Suárez has three goals in that four-match span. Cavalier won the 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup and finished first in the Jamaica Premier League. They lost in last year's tournament to MLS' Cincinnati FC, 6-0 on aggregate. If Miami holds on Thursday night, they'll face league peers in LAFC. The Athletic's Conor O'Neill on Messi's first trip to yet another country: 'Across 1,086 club and international matches in 48 countries and 179 cities, Messi has scored 852 goals. Yet this will be the first Caribbean stamp on his footballing passport. For a player who struggled with intense homesickness after leaving Rosario for Barcelona at 13, the Argentinian has since enjoyed a career that's taken him across six continents. Completing the continental set with a match in Antarctica is logistically challenging — though last month's trip to Kansas City, played in -9°C (16°F), was a suitable proxy for the ice-capped, largely uninhabited landmass.' Pablo Maurer, live from Kingston: ''He's going to love Jamaica,' Campbell, who is in his 60s, says with a laugh. 'We love him here, he's gonna love us. Only Pelé was better.' The shadow of the Brazilian legend looms large in the entire Caribbean, where he was and still is widely idolized. Some 30,000 fans will fill The Office to watch Miami play, but the number won't approach the 45,000 who showed up in 1975 to watch Pelé's New York Cosmos face a Jamaican all-star team. Even tiny Cavalier FC has its own story about him, having faced Santos in 1971.' Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Lionel Messi: Rich Storry / Getty Images)
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
48 countries and 179 cities: Exploring the geography of Lionel Messi's career
Inter Miami's second-leg trip to face Kingston-based Cavalier FC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup takes Lionel Messi into uncharted territory (literally) — he's never played in Jamaica before. Across 1,086 club and international matches in 48 countries and 179 cities, Messi has scored 852 goals. Yet this will be the first Caribbean stamp on his footballing passport. Advertisement For a player who struggled with intense homesickness after leaving Rosario for Barcelona at 13, the Argentinian has since enjoyed a stellar career that's taken him across six continents. Completing the continental set with a match in Antarctica is logistically challenging, though last month's trip to Kansas City, played in -9°C (16°F), was a suitable proxy for the ice-capped, largely uninhabited landmass. From Melbourne to Montreal, Messi has dazzled crowds across the globe, but his international travels got off to a shaky start. His first senior match outside Spain ended in a 2-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in December 2004. Eight months later, he ventured beyond Barcelona again for his Argentina debut — an international friendly against Hungary in Budapest — only to be sent off just two minutes after coming on for an apparent elbow, a decision that left the distraught 18-year-old in tears. Inevitably, things picked up. Messi's globe-trotting career truly took off in 2006. He scored his first goal outside Spain in an international friendly against Croatia in Basel, Switzerland. That summer, he opened his World Cup account in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and just a few months later, netted his first away European club goal in a Champions League clash against Werder Bremen, a 1-1 draw that was just the beginning of his dominance on the continent's biggest stage. Unsurprisingly, Europe has been the playground for much of Messi's success, with 778 appearances for Barcelona — and, to a lesser extent, 75 for Paris Saint-Germain. Over that span, he scored 704 club goals and amassed 591 club wins, a dominance that delivered 12 domestic league titles. Yet the crowning glory of Messi's European club career lies in his four Champions League titles. These triumphs have come in countries where his win rate — by his own lofty standards — is relatively modest. Aside from his first title, secured in his absence through injury in Paris against Arsenal in 2006, each of his other Champions League victories was won in a country where he has prevailed in fewer than half his matches. Advertisement Take Italy for example, where he has won just five of 15 matches — only three against Italian club sides. The other two victories sit at opposite ends of the significance scale: one, a Champions League final masterclass, where his header sealed Barcelona's 2-0 win over Manchester United in Rome; the other, a far more forgettable 2-0 international friendly win over Angola in Salerno. England, too, holds mixed memories for Messi. He lifted another Champions League title there in 2011, scoring in Barcelona's 3-1 victory over Manchester United at Wembley — one of nine goals he has netted on English soil. Yet, for all his successes, a night in Liverpool in 2019 arguably marked the nadir of his club career. After winning the first leg 3-0, Barcelona famously collapsed in the return fixture, suffering a 4-0 defeat at Anfield that remains one of the most stunning turnarounds in Champions League history. Messi's final Champions League triumph came in Berlin, where Barcelona defeated Juventus 3-1 in the 2015 final. Over his career, he has played in nine German cities — Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Munich, Bremen, Stuttgart, Leverkusen, Berlin and Dortmund. Despite his extensive travels in Germany, he has never won an away match against Bayern Munich. Bayern also handed him the heaviest defeat of his career — a humiliating 8-2 loss in Lisbon, as the 2019-20 Champions League was relocated due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite his storied and dizzyingly successful European club career, Messi's greatest hour came in the blue and white of Argentina. In December 2022, he finally lifted the World Cup, triumphing over France in a dramatic penalty shootout in Lusail, Qatar. Argentina have long recognised Messi's value — and they charge accordingly. The going rate for a friendly featuring their captain is believed to be $5 million, a price that has taken him to myriad spots. Over the years, Messi has played international friendlies in Australia, Bangladesh, China, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Musical acts have long struggled to replicate their European success in America — just ask the film studio that spent over $100 million rendering Robbie Williams as a CGI monkey. Yet Messi has had no such trouble adapting to US shores — his MLS career has been a roaring success so far. He's back to scoring almost a goal a game again, and his Inter Miami career has included games in seventeen cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico. And, if he stays fit, he'll add Kingston, Jamaica, to that list tonight. (Header photo:)
USA Today
07-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Messi day-to-day with fatigue, Inter Miami coach says. When will Messi play again?
Messi day-to-day with fatigue, Inter Miami coach says. When will Messi play again? Show Caption Hide Caption Messi 'never imagined' he would achieve what he has Lionel Messi says his dream was only ever to be a professional, and thanked God for all his success Stats Perform Video FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Lionel Messi is considered day-to-day with fatigue, Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said Thursday night after the Argentine World Cup champion missed his second straight game for rest. Messi watched Inter Miami beat Cavalier FC 2-0 in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 match in an on-field suite at Chase Stadium with his wife and children. Mascherano said Messi is not injured, but dealing with the effects of logging significant minutes to start the 2025 season. Messi predominately played in three matches during a six-day stretch from Feb. 19-26, and eight matches in a 40-day span from Jan. 18 to Feb. 14, including five preseason matches played in Las Vegas, Peru, Panama, Honduras and Tampa, Florida. 'We decided to give him a rest, knowing the risks we run, obviously, of not having the best player in the world,' Mascherano said after the game against Cavalier, the reigning Jamaican Premier League champions. Mascherano did not divulge whether Messi would play in Inter Miami's next match, at home against Charlotte FC at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, or the second leg against Cavalier next Thursday. Inter Miami will face Cavalier at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, where a sold-out crowd of 35,000 people are expected to see Messi play. 'Day-to-day,' Mascherano said when asked about Messi's status for Inter Miami's next two matches. 'The doctors have told me that he has no injury. … He is fatigued from having played three games in six days,' Mascherano added. When Inter Miami returns from Jamaica, they will travel to face Atlanta United on March 16 in a rematch of last season's first-round series in the MLS Cup playoffs, which saw Messi and his side lose in upset fashion. Messi is also expected to join the Argentine national team for two World Cup qualifying matches later this month. Argentina will visit Uruguay on March 21, then host Brazil on June 25. Messi's upcoming schedule with Inter Miami, Argentina Messi could play in the following six matches with Inter Miami and the Argentina national team later this month:
Arab News
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
With Messi sitting out again, Suárez and Allende score to lead Inter Miami past Cavalier FC 2-0
FORT LAUDERDALE: Luis Suárez and Tadeo Allende scored second-half goals with a healthy Lionel Messi on the bench, and Inter Miami beat Jamaican club Cavalier FC 2-0 on Thursday night in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup group of 16 match. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport
