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Messi will be game-day decision for Miami in Leagues Cup semis | The Express Tribune
MIAMI:
Lionel Messi’s status for Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup semi-final against Orlando City will be a game-day decision after the Argentine star trained with his teammates, the MLS squad announced Tuesday.
Inter Miami assistant coach Javier Morales said the Herons will monitor both Messi and Jordi Alba before deciding whether they will be available for Wednesday’s home showdown against Orlando City.
“Jordi and Leo trained with us, they completed training. We’ll see how they feel as the day progresses, and tomorrow we’ll make a decision,” Morales said.
Morales called Messi completing his training workout “super positive” and added, “I imagine he’ll be in the squad at least.”
The Miami-Orlando winner will face the winner of Wednesday’s other semi-final between the reigning MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders in Sunday’s title game of the event, which included MLS and Mexican league clubs.
Messi, 38, sparked Miami to the 2023 Leagues Cup crown in his early days in South Florida.
But Messi missed Miami’s quarter-final victory a week ago over Tigres with a “minor” right leg muscle injury and did not play Saturday in Miami’s MLS draw at DC United.
Alba suffered a knee injury and departed in the second half against Tigres but both he and Messi handled practice with teammates on Monday and Tuesday.
Messi last played for the Herons in a reserve role against the Galaxy on August 16, scoring one goal and setting up another in Miami’s triumph.
“Whether Messi is or is not playing, I feel like we’ll have the same mentality — just to go out there and be the best and try and win,” Orlando back Alex Freeman said.
One guaranteed absentee for the Orlando-Miami showdown is Inter head coach Javier Mascherano, who was issued a red card in the Tigres match.
Orlando have won both matches against Miami this season by a combind 7-1 margin, including a 4-1 rout earlier this month.
“We know there’s a different setting prior to this match,” Orlando coach Oscar Pareja said. “But we have the same energy, the same strength, the same desire that has always characterized us in previous derbies.”
Morales said: “It’s probably the most important clasico that we’re going to play so far.”
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Legendary England batter Geoffrey Boycott on Monday advised the Ben Stokes-led side to adopt a more strategic and thoughtful approach ahead of the second Ashes Test against Australia, scheduled for Thursday in Brisbane.
England suffered an agonising eight-wicket defeat in the series opener in Perth, which lasted less than two days, the first of which was dominated by the touring side as they had reduced the hosts to 123/9 after accumulating 172 all out.
The visitors now face another gruelling challenge in the blockbuster series as they take on the Baggy Greens in a pink-ball Test, in which the hosts boast a dominant record, having lost just one out of their previous 14 appearances, but Boycott, who has won Ashes both in England and Australia, believes that the Three Lions can win the upcoming game by adopting a calculated strategy.
He, however, warned England batters of self-destruction, advising them to “use their brains” and decide whether to attack or hold back after analysing the situation.
“But it doesn’t help our chances of success if Ben Stokes keeps encouraging our batsmen to attack, attack with one finger hovering over the self-destruct button,” Boycott wrote in his Daily Telegraph column.
“Nobody is asking the players to stop being positive because they have given us some marvellous, thrilling and entertaining cricket. All we ask is for them to use their brains and realise there are times when they should throttle back and be aware of situations and bat accordingly,” he added.
Boycott, who represented England in 108 Tests and 36 ODIs, also slammed Stokes for his comments in which he referred to former cricketers as “has-beens” but expressed satisfaction over the all-rounder’s partial apology.
“To call past players ‘has-beens’ was disrespectful, especially as some of those ‘has-beens’ played in teams that won the Ashes in England and Australia,” Boycott wrote.
“I am glad Ben has half apologised, saying it was a slip of the tongue, because none of this team has won the Ashes in Australia. Get the job done, because then you don’t need to say anything and you can bask in all the glory coming your way.”
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