Messi and Inter Miami stars prepare to face former coach Luis Enrique and PSG in Club World Cup
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and their Inter Miami teammates took the field at their practice facility Thursday for another training session.
There wasn't much different about what they did. Dribbling drills. Some laughs. Interactions with coaches.
But this training was more important than most.
In a few days, Inter Miami will play one of the biggest matches of its five-year club history when the Herons take on French juggernaut Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup round of 16.
The storylines will be plenty.
Inter Miami will be a heavy underdog against Paris Saint-Germain, winners of last month's
Champions League final
in a 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan. It will be uncharted territory for Messi, who rarely has in his decorated career entered a match as anything other than the favorite.
It will be the first time Messi faces his former club since his
exit from Paris Saint-Germain
in 2023 after two seasons.
He also will be facing his former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, now the coach of PSG, who has had a big influence on Messi and several Inter Miami stars.
Messi was coached by Enrique for three of his 17 seasons with Barcelona. The Spanish coach led Barcelona from 2014 to 2017. He won nine titles, including two La Liga trophies, three from Copa del Rey and one Champions League.
Messi, Suarez and Brazilian star Neymar played together under Enrique for three memorable seasons, forming the famed 'MSN' trio that combined for 364 goals and 173 assists.
'He has been very important to my career,' Suarez said of Enrique, 'what I learned from him and just being around him. I had a competitive DNA before I played for him, but he upgraded it even more.'
Miami's Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets also played for Enrique, and coach Javier Mascherano considers him a great friend.
'I have said this many times, but Luis Enrique is the best coach in the world,' Alba said after Miami's draw with Palmeiras on Monday, 'not only just as a soccer coach, but also in the way he manages the whole group, which is spectacular. He's a phenomenon. We'll meet him and hug him, but when the referee blows the opening whistle, we're going try to beat him, which is what all of us here are trying to do.'
Mascherano, 41, also played alongside Messi, Suarez & Co. when Barcelona won the treble under Enrique in 2015.
'I have a special relationship with him,' Mascherano said. 'I have a special relationship with his family. Obviously, it will be very special facing him. It will be an honor for me facing a great coach. One of the greatest coaches I've had in my career.'
The knockout stages of the Club World Cup begin Saturday, and Inter Miami's showdown with PSG is Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Despite entering the tournament on somewhat of a slump, Miami became the only Major League Soccer team to advance to the Club World Cup round of 16 after playing Palmeiras to a
2-2 draw earlier this week
, finishing runner-up to the Brazilian club in Group A.
That was after the Herons
secured a 2-1 victory
over two-time European champion Porto on a
trademark free kick by Messi
, who along with his longtime teammates has driven Miami's belief that it can
make a statement
on the global stage.
Suarez noted how important advancing to the knockout stage was for the club's trajectory, but the Herons know the odds for Sunday's matchup. They know they'll be the underdogs.
They insist they're ready for the challenge.
'Now that we are facing likely the best team in Europe — the Champions League champion — we will try to maintain the same commitment and unity and play a great match,' Mascherano said. 'If there is something this sport has proven is that anything can happen in any match. And who's to say that Sunday will (not) be our day. Sometimes, things happen.'
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'When I was a kid, you got little clips of the Premier League, almost in black and white, but you couldn't follow the game. These days, kids get everything on social media. These clubs have huge marketing budgets and appeal, and we see some of our young kids putting on football tops rather than All Blacks tops.' There is collaboration with the All Blacks, including exchanges with coaches and performance experts. 'They have done great things in terms of environment and standards, and the reason they've been world champions is because they're able to instil a powerful culture, so there are shared learnings.' In 2023, New Zealand co-hosted the Women's World Cup with Australia and 42,137 fans watched New Zealand defeat Norway in their opening match at Eden Park, while similar numbers turned out to watch the US. women's national team play Vietnam and Portugal in the group stages. 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The idea may be that we're gonna look at this ocean, the Pacific, and that we could host it across that. The Paris Olympics (in 2024) held the surfing in Tahiti, right? People want different things. They are looking for a different experience and the idea of holding this across the ocean (appeals).' As for the club game, Auckland City are unlikely to be seen again at the Club World Cup because Oceania is changing its formula for teams to qualify for the next edition. They qualified for this tournament because they have won the past four Oceania Champions League trophies but the best teams in New Zealand do not play in that tournament. Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC (a different team to Auckland City) are professional sides who compete in the Australian A-League, but the Australian teams fall under the Asian confederation. Advertisement Oceania's new system will see the launch of the Oceania Pro League in 2026 and both Wellington and Auckland FC — but not Auckland City — have registered their interest in competing in the competition. Pragnell says: 'Auckland City have opted to not pursue that, so they're not currently in the mix. Oceania Football are going through the assessment phase and they're due to make a decision around September this year as to how many clubs from each country and region will be represented. It will ensure there's a professional competition for the whole region beyond the A-League and whoever's competing in that will then be competing in future editions of the Club World Cup. 'Oceania have put it out there that they're interested in having an Australian club in this Pro League, as it might open up some commercial interest in the league, bu t what they have been very clear about is that an Australian Club could not use the Pro League as a pathway to the Club World Cup. Those spots available for future Club World Cups are reserved for Oceania teams.' Auckland FC are owned by the billionaire Bill Foley, who also owns Premier League club AFC Bournemouth, French Ligue 1 side Lorient and Scottish Premier League team Hibernian. In the U.S., he is best known as the man who had the idea to launch a NHL team — the Vegas Golden Knights — in the Nevada desert. Auckland FC, founded only in 2024, averaged just over 18,000 per game in their first season: higher than any other team in the A-League. Their ownership, which partnered with Hollywood actor Michael B. Jordan as well as former All Black Ali Williams, AllBirds footwear billionaire Tim Brown and ex-NBA centre Steven Adams, makes it likely that we will see them sooner rather than later at a Club World Cup. Elsewhere in the capital, Auckland City FC players return home, back into their day jobs after requesting annual leave to fulfil their semi-professional obligations as footballers. According to Opta Sports power rankings, they are the 4,715th best team in the world and Boca Juniors are ranked 131st, underlining the achievement. Auckland FC are ranked 740th, which highlights how we saw the best of New Zealand spirit but not necessarily quality during this tournament. Within the Club World Cup, the next-lowest ranked team after Auckland City are Al-Ain of the UAE, and they are 637th. Auckland City earned $3.58m USD for their participation in the tournament, in addition to a $1m bonus from FIFA for the draw against Boca. Just under $1m of this is immediately taken out by the costs of the competition, as FIFA cover lodging but not travel or pre-tournament camps. Pragnell also points out that tax may be pretty hefty, with obligations in both New Zealand and the United States accounting for around 35 per cent of the earnings, while there may be some individual taxes to consider too. Advertisement There has been some tensions over the earnings but what remains is likely to be divided between players, coaches, local community projects and the federation to redistribute towards the development of football in New Zealand. The nation will be hoping the best is yet to come.
