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Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lionel Messi's free kick was magical, but the most remarkable part of Miami's Club World Cup upset? The ‘young boys'
Inter Miami's Noah Allen bounced back from an early mistake to help the Herons upset Porto on Thursday in the Club World Cup. (Photo by Marcio Machado/Eurasia) The highlight that will loop was, of course, Lionel Messi's. In the 54th minute of a critical Club World Cup match, he lined up a free kick and … splash. He saw Porto's goalkeeper cheating. He picked out a top corner. He lifted 30,000 people from their seats, hauled Inter Miami toward the knockout rounds, and gave this start-up tournament its first signature moment. But that was not what made Miami head coach Javier Mascherano glow toward the end of his post-match press conference Thursday. Advertisement On Messi, 'what else can I say?' Mascherano asked. 'He's the best player to ever play the sport.' The subject of his two-minute monologue, instead, was what Messi called the 'young boys.' It was Noah Allen, Ian Fray and Benjamin Cremaschi, three homegrown players who, as Messi said, had exhibited some 'nerves' in Saturday's Club World Cup opener. That, Messi noted, was their 'first time playing in such a special, meaningful competition.' They'd struggled against Al Ahly in a 0-0 draw. To many observers, they embodied the reason Miami wouldn't be able to survive on this elevated stage. On Thursday in Atlanta, though, they thrived. Advertisement Allen, a 21-year-old from Pembroke Pines, Florida, recovered from an early mistake to put in a solid shift at left back. Cremaschi, 20, from Key Biscayne, excelled in three different positions. Fray, a 22-year-old who's already overcome three ACL tears and a meniscus injury in recent years, 'played at a very high level,' Mascherano said, and helped hold Porto's Samu Aghehowa and Rodrigo Mora — an attacking pair worth over $100 million — to just one goal from the penalty spot. Ian Fray (L) and Benjamin Cremaschi (R) played pivotal roles in holding Porto to just one goal in Inter Miami's 2-1 win Thursday. (Photo by Shaun Botterill - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) (Shaun Botterill - FIFA via Getty Images) The three local kids made $91,383, $202,216 and $125,000 last season. Up against a European team of what Mascherano called 'top-level, international-level players,' many worried that they'd get exposed. They were only in the lineup because regular starters, such as Jordi Alba, were injured — and, critics argued, because MLS roster restrictions and spending caps prevented Inter Miami from adding better replacements. Advertisement This had been the narrative when Mexico's Monterrey dumped Miami out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in Messi's first season. It was the excuse being readied at this Club World Cup, even the day before Saturday's and Thursday's games. 'It's clear that we needed new signings,' Mascherano said last Friday after a pre-Club World Cup transfer window shut without any additions. On Wednesday, Sergio Busquets and Federico Redondo both spoke about the league's self-imposed limits. 'I think what MLS is missing in order to take the next step is loosening the salary cap a bit, allowing for that freedom,' Redondo said. 'For football [here] to keep growing, more money needs to be invested — that's what's happening all over the world.' Advertisement That's what happens in Porto, at a club that regularly reaches the Champions League knockout stages. Although it often sells more than it buys, Porto had spent roughly $225 million on new signings since the summer of 2022 — far more than any MLS club has spent in its entire history. It came to the Club World Cup after its worst season in 10 years, and without a star like Messi; but its depth of talent, most assumed, would overrun Miami's aging and unbalanced squad. Instead, it was Miami who played on the front foot. It was Miami who 'suffered when we had to suffer,' as Mascherano said, but also held possession at times and dictated play. After 22-year-old midfielder Telasco Segovia equalized, and Messi gave Inter the lead, for 10 or 15 remarkable minutes, they controlled the ball and the game. They did that, in part, because they had Messi and Busquets and Luis Suarez. But they played coherent soccer — something they haven't always done — because not a single one of their 11 players looked out of place. That's a credit to Cremaschi, who Mascherano called 'a player with a huge heart.' Advertisement It's a credit to Allen, who the former Barcelona stalwart-turned-coach called 'one of my favorites. … He's a kid whose playing style reflects how I felt when I played.' And it's a credit to Fray, who 'has shown tremendous growth this season,' Mascherano added. "He's realizing that when he starts adding seriousness and focus to his game, he's a player with amazing qualities.' It's also a credit to Miami's academy, which is really what made Mascherano glow. 'I believe the club should see itself in players like that, homegrown players,' he said. 'It mustn't stop paying attention to the academy and its players. Because in the end, beyond the big names we have who show the way with their experience, the real sense of belonging comes from the people who are from the club.' Advertisement The academy, he said, is 'where, at least in my opinion, great teams are built.' Miami's was only established in 2019, and it's not why the Herons are here, on this stage. But it's part of why they could compete with a club like Porto, and part of why they'll forever hold a unique place in Major League Soccer history: as the first MLS team ever to beat a European opponent in an official competition.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Inter Miami vs. Porto: The Messi Effect meets the Club World Cup
Lionel Messi scored his first goal of the 2025 Club World Cup, a stunning free kick that proved to be the difference against Porto. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images) ATLANTA — For more than 20 years, one rule has governed international soccer: the more Messi, the better. Whether you're fighting for eyeballs, relevance or legitimacy, having Leo Messi's godlike stature — and 500 million Instagram followers — in your corner solves a whole lot of problems. So it wasn't a real surprise to anyone paying attention that FIFA turned to Messi as a way of kickstarting interest in the 2025 Club World Cup. Last October, FIFA announced that Messi's Inter Miami club would host the Club World Cup's inaugural match, despite not qualifying under any established criteria. FIFA's reasoning was obvious, cynical and — judging by the 60,000-plus in attendance at Saturday's CWC debut — highly profitable. Advertisement The real test of Messi's drawing power came five days later, on a rainy Thursday afternoon in Atlanta. Inter Miami faced a favored FC Porto in the second match of their group stage, jumped out to a 2-1 lead, and hung on through a furious finish, plus seven long minutes of stoppage time, to leave Atlanta with an impressive, crucial 2-1 victory. Porto struck first, thanks to a penalty against Miami's Noah Allen that gave Samu Aghehowa a penalty kick he drove home. That 1-0 lead held up through the first half, with FC Porto keeping the older Miami squad in check. But just two minutes into the second half, Inter Miami's Telasco Segovia scored the equalizer on a brilliant cross from Marcelo Weigandt: And then came one of those Messi moments that make soccer so compelling and Messi himself so magnetic. In the 58th minute, Messi fired a free kick that seemed piloted by a drone, well outside the reach of Porto goalkeeper Claudio Ramos: Those are the moments why Messi's armada watches, the moments soccer fans admire, the moments FIFA craves. Messi's kick might be the moment so far of the still-young tournament — admittedly, a low bar to clear — and if this tournament can harness more of the jolt that Messi's goal sent through the crowd, the Club World Cup will be on a much more solid foundation. Advertisement Thursday's attendance still didn't approach anything near sellout levels, though the Mercedes-Benz Stadium seats were markedly more full than Monday's echoing, sparse Chelsea-LAFC match. Some of the same rationales applied for this match: high ticket prices plus a 3 p.m. weekday kickoff aren't exactly conducive to a full stadium experience. On the other hand, if Lionel freaking Messi can't draw fans to the Club World Cup, who can? Messi has filled Mercedes-Benz before; his Inter Miami debut was a sellout despite the fact that he didn't play, and Messi and Argentina lit up Atlanta at last year's Copa América tournament. FIFA announced attendance at Thursday's match of 31,783 — almost 10,000 more than Monday — and about half seemed to be wearing Messi's Inter Miami or Argentina jerseys. Chants of 'MES-SI!' thundered through the stadium throughout the second half. That's the key to Messi's power: regardless of the results of any one match, he's transcended both the game and national loyalties the way few others have. You don't have to know a single other player on Messi's Inter Miami squad to root for them; their association with Messi is enough. Off the pitch, Messi remains a PR force of nature. In the two years since he joined Inter Miami for a twilight-of-his-career payday, he's become a marketing behemoth in the United States, appearing in Super Bowl ads and crossing over with Patrick Mahomes and others in a bid to introduce American soccer skeptics to what the rest of the world has known for two decades. Advertisement As Boardroom noted earlier this week, Messi rocketed Inter Miami's valuation and popularity into orbit; the club is now worth $1.2 billion, nearly double what it was before Messi signed in 2023. Inter Miami now ranks second behind only LAFC in valuation among MLS clubs, and its 17.3 million Instagram followers dwarf every other MLS squad. (LA Galaxy ranks second at 1.5 million.) The vexing question now facing FIFA is just how long the Club World Cup will be able to leverage all that popularity. Messi and Inter Miami will enjoy a return to Miami for the conclusion of the group stage, though they'll face a significant challenge from Palmeiras. If Inter Miami manage to advance, they face either another date in Atlanta or a trip to Philadelphia, depending on their group standing. The Messi Effect remains a powerful force in American soccer, but the Messi Effect can't solve all problems. Messi is the closest thing soccer has to a cheat code, but there are no shortcuts to establishing a soccer foundation in the United States. If the Club World Cup is going to take flight this year, and if the World Cup is to connect on a national scale in 2026, FIFA is going to need help from a whole lot more than just Messi. Even at age 37, he still can do virtually anything, but he can't do everything.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Messi, Inter Miami trail Porto 1-0 in Club World Cup game after controversial PK
Lionel Messi fans in pink No. 10 shirts, and some in Argentina's iconic striped jerseys, showed up at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday afternoon for a chance to see their idol and his Inter Miami teammates play in a pivotal game against Portuguese club FC Porto in the Club World Cup. Plenty of Porto fans in royal blue and white shirts were also there for the occasion, and though they were outnumbered, they roared when their team took an early lead with a penalty kick by Spaniard Samu Omorodion at the eight-minute mark. Head referee Cristian Garay called for the controversial PK after going to VAR and the ruling was that Noah Allen made contact with Porto's Joao Mario in the penalty area. The Miami fans booed the decision, but the Porto faithful cheered for the result. After the opening Group A games over the weekend, Miami and the 30-time Portuguese champion Dragons were tied on points with Al Ahly and Palmeiras after earning one point with scoreless draws. Palmeiras took control of the group Thursday afternoon with a 2-0 win over Al Ahly at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. The game was suspended temporarily due to a thunderstorm, but it finished just before the Miami vs Porto game started. There was also bad weather in the Atlanta area in the hours before kickoff, dampening some of the pre-game celebrations outside the stadium, but it did not affect the game because the stadium roof was closed. The Miami Starting XI included Messi, goalkeeper Oscar Ustari (who had a brilliant game in the tournament opener), right back Marcelo Weigandt, center back Ian Fray, center back Maxi Falcon, left back Noah Allen, winger Tadeo Allende, midfielder Benja Cremaschi, midfielder Sergio Busquets, midfielder Telasco Segovia, and forward Luis Suarez. Jordi Alba was on the game roster for the first time in three weeks after recovering from a hamstring injury, but he was not in the starting lineup. Joining Alba on the bench were Rocco Rios Novo, Will Yarbrough, Ryan Sailor, Toto Aviles, David Martinez, Fede Redondo, Baltisar Rodriguez, Santi Morales, Fafa Picault, Leo Afonso and Allen Obando. Porto's starters were: Claudio Ramos (in place of injured captain and goalkeeper Diogo Costa), Ze Pedro, Ivan Marcano, Martim Fernandes, Alan Varela, Rodrigo Mora, Moura, Joao Mario, Samu Omorodion, Gabri Veiga, and Fabio Vieira.
