A leg ailment had limited Messi to only two appearances and 72 total minutes played for Miami (9-17-7, 34 points) since Labor Day. And by the time he was able to contribute again, his insertion as a second-half substitute ended in a 1-0 home defeat to Cincinnati on Oct. 7 that eliminated the Herons from playoff contention.
But Messi followed that with two appearances for Argentina in World Cup qualifying, scoring twice and playing all 90 minutes in the latter, a 2-0 win over Peru on Tuesday.
He returned in time to watch Wednesday's 2-2 draw between Miami and Charlotte in Florida from the sidelines, and had said after Tuesday's appearance he intends to
play Saturday.
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"The most important thing is the 90 minutes he played, that he felt well and played confidently and not worried about his injury," Miami manager Tata Martino said postgame, according to an interpretation from the Charlotte Observer. "Sometimes your head plays games with you after injuries. ... We will see if he is also ready to play Saturday."
The uncertainty leaves Charlotte (9-11-13, 40 points) in a peculiar position ahead of a match it must win to have any hope of wrapping up one of the nine Eastern Conference postseason spots.
The Crown begin the weekend as one of four teams tied for that ninth spot, but because Chicago and New York City FC play each other Saturday, one of the two is guaranteed to move to 41 points or better.
Charlotte will rue giving back two late leads in Florida in their 2-2 draw, but they should have leading scorer Karol Swiderski available to start after he came off the bench on Wednesday, having played for Poland a day before.
Charlotte boss Christian Lattanzio isn't speculating whether Messi will play, at least publicly.
"If he plays, he plays," Lattanzio said. "And we have to deal with, to play against all the players that they have. We have to focus on ourselves and we have to play our game. And also, we have our supporters on our side and we hope that they will really be behind the guys like they always do."
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Houston Texans vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Recap AUG 9TH 2024
Kerwin Vargas notched his second goal in consecutive matches, and Charlotte FC earned their inaugural journey to the MLS Cup Playoffs by maintaining a 1-0 victory over Inter Miami, featuring Lionel Messi, on Saturday.
Vargas' goal -- following his goal and an assist in a 2-2 draw at Miami on Wednesday night -- combined with outcomes in other Eastern Conference matches lifted Charlotte (10-11-13, 43 points) to ninth in the East on the season's final day.
They'll visit the New York Red Bulls in the East play-in game on Wednesday or Thursday, with the victor to face Supporters' Shield champions FC Cincinnati in a best-of-three first-round series.
Kristijan Kahlina made three saves to preserve the clean sheet, including a couple of reflexive saves deep in the second half with Miami (9-18-7, 34 points) pressing.
Messi played 90 minutes for the first time since a 3-1 win at LAFC on September 3 after a combination of an injury and international duty limited him to just 72 minutes and two appearances in Miami's eight previous league matches.
The Herons were officially eliminated from postseason contention during that stretch, and while Messi scored 10 times while helping Miami win the 2023 Leagues Cup, he had only one in MLS regular season play.
Vargas gave the hosts the lead in the 13th minute. It began with an attack that worked left-to-right up the field before Kamil Jozwiak tried to hit an inswinging cross back across the goal from the right flank.
A Miami defender deflected that attempt directly back to Jozwiak, who then spotted Vargas to his left. Vargas simulated a shot to elude DeAndre Yedlin's challenge, dodged left, and then finished past goalkeeper C.J. dos Santos and inside the right post.
Messi had an apparent goal early in the second half correctly disallowed for being offside. Then in the 62nd minute, his free kick from a tight angle on the right caromed off Enzo Copetti and Kahlina and then off the crossbar but stayed out.
Karol Swiderski found himself wide open in the box with a chance to score Charlotte's second in the 72nd minute, but dos Santos leaped off his line and made a sprawling save from close range with his left arm.
Kahlina made a stop of remarkable nature, leaping left to deny Leonardo Campana's flick-on header in the 90th minute, and then still had to perform some more heroics in a couple of goal-mouth scrambles.