Messi denied in CWC opener, incredible final play leaves Beckham stunned

News.com.au

13 hours ago

The Lionel Messi starring, David Beckham owned Inter Miami were unable to find the back of the net in the FIFA Club World Cup opener as they played out a scoreless draw with Egypt's Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
It was a game of two halves as Al Ahly dominated the opening 45 minutes, and would have been in front if not for the heroics of Inter Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari.
The 38-year-old shot stopper earned man of the match honours for penalty save shortly before half time as well as several important saves in general play.
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Messi was the main attraction however for the 60,927 fans at the home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins, and the 37-year-old eight-time Ballon d'Or winner came every so close to giving them a memorable goal.
A stoppage time curler that initially looked like a ball into the box came agnosingly close to being a late winner but for a piece of Mohamed Elshenawy's glove tipping into the cross bar.
In the stands, Beckham clearly thought it was in for all money but he was unable to hide his disappointment as his team took a point away from the contest ahead of what shape up as tougher matches against Portuguese side Porto and Brazil's Palmeiras.
The Al Ahly goalkeeper matched the efforts of his opposite number at the other end of the pitch, with seven of Inter Miami's 15 shots on targets.
Messi's curling free kick in the 64th minute also teased the crowd, half of whom were out of their seats, as they though it had gone in but the ball had clipped the post and hit the side netting.
Messi's old Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez was unable to provide the spark needed as Inter Miami manager Javier Mascherano, the former Barcelona, Liverpool and Argentine midfielder, said they were much improved in the second half but 'could improve with the transition'.
'In the first half, we lost some balls where we gave them transition, but in the second half we had the chances to score and win the game.'
Al Ahly's were threatening in attack with eight of their ten shots on target and on the post-match coverage former Italian international Christian Vieri said that Inter Miami could have conceded 'four or five goals' in the second half.
Al Ahly also overcame the early loss of midfielder Emam Ashour, who is an Egyptian international, was forced off with an injury in just the 14th minute and not long after the football world's hearts were in mouths as Messi clutched in his knee on the ground after a collision.
The only time fans saw the ball go into the back of the net was when YouTuber IShowSpeed took the pitch at half time alongside football icons Kaka, Alessandro Del Piero and Pepe to entertain the crowd by showing they still have some of their old skills.