Messi mania turns Miami into America's soccer city - as big decisions loom
Atlanta, June 29 (UNI) Lionel Messi will be pitted against his former club and the reigning European champions in the last 16 of the Club World Cup.
Inter Miami against Paris St-Germain here on Sunday is expected to attract one of the biggest crowds of the tournament so far, with the Messi factor a large reason.
There was huge controversy about how Inter Miami and Messi entered the expanded new-look tournament.
Fifa granted, in a one-off rule, a host-nation slot to a US club for this expanded 32-team edition.
And instead of MLS Cup play-off winners LA Galaxy, they chose Inter Miami, who are the 2024
MLS Supporters' Shield winners by virtue of having the best regular-season record.
But, despite the pre-tournament scepticism, Inter's unbeaten run in the group matches puts them
into the knockout stages on merit.
Up next are Luis Enrique's PSG, currently regarded as the best football team on the planet, who
will go head to head with most people's choice as the greatest player of all time, according to a BBC
news.
Messi's impact on Miami has been seismic, but what comes next for the 39-year-old eight-time
Ballon d'Or winner, and will he be back on the big stage with Argentina to defend the World Cup
next summer?
Messi has never been eliminated in the group stage of any major international competition - not with Argentina, not with Barcelona, not with PSG, and now not with Inter.
His role now though is perhaps a little different to what it used to be.
These days he plays deeper and closer to midfield and defence, much more in a ball-collecting position, allowing him to launch attacks from further back, either with runs through the middle or by spreading passes to either wing.
Over and above everything else, what remains undimmed is a ferocious competitive spirit and a passionate desire to win.
This is something that is borne out by his anger and frustration, which he showed when a two-goal lead was lost to Palmeiras in the final group game - not because it cost Inter Miami being group winners but simply because it meant they failed to win the game.
Winning is, has always been, and always will be, paramount to Messi; it is his reason for playing.
UNI BM
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