FOR weeks, thousands of Jamaicans pencilled Thursday, March 13 on their calendars as the day they would get to witness one of the greatest football players ever, Lionel Messi, play on Jamaican soil. However, it’s set to be a nervous next 24 hours as uncertainty surrounds the Argentine’s participation in Inter Miami’s Round of 16 second-leg Concacaf Champions Cup tie against Cavalier.

Messi returned to Inter Miami’s match day squad in their Major League Soccer (MLS) clash against Charlotte FC on Sunday, having missed their last two games. One of those games was a 2-0 win over Jamaica Premier League champions Cavalier in Florida last Thursday when he watched from the stands.

Following the game, Inter Miami Head Coach Javier Mascherano said his absence was due to the club managing his workload.

“I am guided by what the doctors tell me, and the doctors have told me that he has no injuries or scars,” he said. “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.”

Optimism grew around Messi’s return to action when he took part in training on Friday and subsequently made the bench on Sunday. The former Barcelona star, though, took no part in the proceedings as 10-man Inter Miami beat Charlotte 1-0.

Mascherano said the game situation prevented Messi from taking the field.

“The reality is that in the case of Leo, maybe we had thought about giving him minutes in the game but since the game was played with one man less, and taking into consideration the time he has without playing, we thought that the best thing was to preserve it. We didn’t want to risk it,” said Mascherano.

Franco Panizo, co-host of Inter Miami podcast Miami Total Futbol, and José Armando Rodriguez, Inter Miami’s beat writer for Deporte Total USA, both told the Jamaica Observer on Monday that Messi didn’t participate in the warm-up sessions, both prior and during the game.

“Mascherano said the game didn’t lend itself to Messi coming in but to me, if he never warmed up he was never a real option to play,” Panizo said.

Though not confirmed, the Observer understands that Inter Miami are expected to land in the next 24-48 hours, with training set for Wednesday, ahead of Thursday’s contest with Cavalier.

However, Rodriguez isn’t confident that Messi will showcase his talent at the National Stadium.

“They will not risk him,” he said. “My expectation was for him not to travel to Jamaica but since he didn’t play against Charlotte, there is a slim chance.”

Panizo also cast doubt over Messi’s activeness, especially with Inter Miami having a two goal advantage.

“You could figure that if he was in line for some minutes on Sunday, as Mascherano said, then he should be up for some minutes on Thursday. But of course, the aggregate score comes into play there and Inter Miami might feel they do not need Messi to close out the series,” he said.

Rodriguez and Panizo also believs international duty will play a factor in Messi’s availability as Argentina resumes their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in 10 days, with tough fixtures against Uruguay on March 21 and Brazil on March 25.

“Messi will always consider the national team a priority and the FIFA window starts next week,” said Rodriguez.

“I think part of it is to yes manage his workload through another busy year of Inter Miami but I think a big part of it is also him trying to make sure he’s healthy to play for Argentina later this month,” said Panizo.

“It’s no secret how much the national team means to him and looking at the bigger picture between now and the World Cup, there isn’t many more games for him in his career so yes I think he is prioritising taking care of himself to ensure his availability with Argentina,” he added.

Regardless, Cavalier Head Coach Rudolph Speid is optimistic the Argentine will make the trip to Kingston.

“I want him to come and I want to him to play for the good of the game,” Speid told the Observer.

On Sunday, Mascherano didn’t confirm whether Messi will be in Kingston this week but did admit Inter’s current situation is far from ideal.

“It’s a long season for us,” he said. “We have a tough game Thursday. [It] will be difficult, difficult in Jamaica, so we have to be ready [but] it’s not easy.

“We are playing every three, four days. We are tired. The squad is not too long. We have some injuries but we keep going forward. In football we have two ways: excuses or results. And we have to choose results.”

Thursday’s match is set to kick off at 7:00 pm, with local supporters hoping their GOAT grazes the Jamaican grass.