Whitecaps say Miami will be tight-lipped on Messi status for Vancouver match
Lionel Messi is scheduled to play the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place next week, and everyone wants to know if he will show up this time.
But will he?
Messi infamously skipped Inter Miami CF’s regular-season MLS match in Vancouver last year. This upcoming match is the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final, and there is optimism he’ll make the trip.
Tickets are being resold for hundreds of dollars, and the excitement is building. While the Whitecaps are optimistic Miami will field their best 11 players, sporting director Axel Shuster doesn’t expect much advance notice on Messi’s status.
“This game is different [than last year’s]. Miami has said right from the beginning of the season that the most important competition for them, for the first half of the year, is the CONCACAF Champions Cup. They want to win this,” Schuster noted in an interview with Sportsnet 650’s Halford & Brough show.
“But you can also imagine that they will not share with us anything to give us any advantage for that game because the game of Miami is obviously very different if he shows up and plays or not.”
“We will know two days before the game, like the last time, and we will update and share what we know, and it will be publicly available information, but I hope everybody understands there’s only so much that we can do to find out.”
Miami has an MLS match back in Florida three days after the game at BC Place, leading some to theorize that Messi won’t make the trip across the continent. However, as Schuster pointed out, a major trophy is on the line in this tournament, and Miami will likely want their best player available.
The Whitecaps are off to an excellent start to their season. They sit atop the MLS table and have made this deep run in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, pulling out two massive results in Mexico to advance to this stage. No matter if Messi plays or not, they’re going to present a big challenge for Miami.
“We host the first leg. We are, right now, the top team in the standings. I really think everyone in the city should focus on our team, come to get behind our team, to support us in this extremely important game,” added Schuster.
“What our opponent is doing, I don’t really care about it. I hope that they bring their best team.
“If they want to have my recommendation, they better bring their best team because it’s very difficult to play the Whitecaps in Vancouver right now.”