Inter Miami defeats Cavalier FC in Champions Cup without Messi Highlights

Lionel Messi sat in a premium on-field suite as his Inter Miami teammates were nearly on the wrong side of a historic letdown against Jamaican Premier League champions Cavalier FC on Thursday night.

The Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16 game initially appeared to be a David vs. Goliath matchup between Inter Miami, the reigning MLS Supporters’ Shield winners, and Cavalier FC – which won two of the last four Jamaican league titles, but was outscored 6-0 by MLS side FC Cincinnati during the tournament last year.

Cavalier had several chances to score in the first half – even celebrating a goal that was later negated after a VAR check that lasted several minutes just before halftime. It was unclear which side was David and which one was Goliath until Inter Miami came alive in the second half.

Tadeo Allende scored a left boot in the 61st minute, Luis Suarez scored in the 83rd minute and Inter Miami holds a 2-0 lead in aggregate score against Cavalier FC after the first leg of their Champions Cup matchup at Chase Stadium.

“We’re playing with fire. And when you play with fire, it’s very possible that you’ll get burned,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said after the match. “It was a game where we were lucky, where the three or four times they had the upper hand, they couldn’t finish off in the best way. And I think that in the second half we were better.”

It was a commendable performance by Cavalier FC for at least the first 83 minutes of the match. Now, Cavalier must hope for a monumental upset in the second leg on March 13 in front of an already-announced sellout crowd of 35,000 people at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.

Will Messi play in that match? It’s a natural question after the Argentine World Cup champion was given a second night of rest to start the MLS season.

Messi is healthy, uninjured and rested after a match full of adversity, but dealing with fatigue and is considered day to day, Mascherano said.

Before the second leg in Jamaica, Inter Miami hosts Charlotte FC in an MLS regular-season match at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday. So, there’s two more chances for Messi to either suit up or rest this week.

“The doctors have told me that he has no injury. He is fatigued from having played three games in six days,” Mascherano said of Messi.

Messi has not played since Feb. 25 when Inter Miami dispatched Sporting Kansas City in the first round of the Champions Cup. He did not travel to Houston to play against the Dynamo last Sunday, a match Inter Miami won 4-1.

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 when you include five preseason matches played in Las Vegas, Peru, Panama, Honduras and Tampa, Florida.

However, Messi’s presence was clearly missed as Cavalier pressed Inter Miami with speed on both sides of the field.

Cavalier owned a 3-1 advantage in shots taken after the first half, which Inter Miami flipped to 12-5 in their favor by the end of the match.

Just before halftime, Cavalier forward Shaquille Stein appeared to score following a corner kick. Stein and his teammates celebrated down the field until they reached the bench and hugged their coaches and other teammates on the bench. The celebration lasted about five minutes, and ended after the goal was overturned due to an offside call following a lengthy VAR check.

Cavalier coach and sporting director Rudolph Speid said if a million referees were making the judgement call on the goal, “Just a million less one would’ve made that call.”

“It looked like there was a player in a position that could be offside, but he wasn’t in the play at all,” Speid said. “I thought the goal should have stand.”

Cavalier striker Jalmaro Calvin missed a flying attempt in the 28th minute, his left boot grazing the outside of the right post after a cross from the other side of the field. Calvin nearly scored in the 33rd minute, when his kick was deflected by Inter Miami defender David Martinez and nearly sneaked past goalie Oscar Ustari.

At the end of the night, it was Inter Miami celebrating.

Cavalier, whose players have an average age of 20.2 years old, will turn their focus to upsetting Inter Miami in the second leg in Jamaica next week.

“We’ll let them mourn and feel dejected for a while – it usually helps,” Speid said of his side. “We’ll give them the day off, and we’ll pick it up from there. I can assure they will be motivated for the second leg, even by themselves.”