MLS
Messi expects ‘great things’ at Inter Miami after glitzy unveiling
Not even the pouring rain could spoil Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami welcome party on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the new face of Major League Soccer (MLS) was introduced to a packed stadium of adoring fans.
Messi, seven months removed from leading Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar, was presented to fans during a glitzy event called ‘The Unveil’ at Miami’s home stadium.
After being introduced, the seven-times Ballon d’Or winner walked toward midfield along a spotlight-lined catwalk wearing a T-shirt and jeans and was presented with his No. 10 shirt before addressing the crowd with a few brief remarks in Spanish.
“I am very happy to have chosen to come to this city with my family, to have chosen this project and I have no doubt that we are going to enjoy it very much,” said Messi.
“We are going to have a good time and great things are going to happen. Thank you very much, thank you all for this day.
“I can’t wait to start training to compete. I feel the same desire I’ve always had to compete, to really want to win and to help it (Miami) continue to grow.”
After his remarks, a video compilation of well wishes was played on the stadium’s big screen and included messages from the likes of former NFL quarterback Tom Brady and NBA player Stephen Curry.
Messi, 36, was then joined on the field by his wife and three children where they posed for photos before more fireworks lit up the night sky.
The event was being held a day after Inter Miami announced that Messi signed a contract that will keep him with the club through 2025. Messi will be available to make his debut on Friday in a Leagues Cup fixture against Mexico’s Cruz Azul.
‘THE NEXT CHAPTER’
Messi’s arrival is a huge boost for the profile of soccer in the United States, which will co-host the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada.
He joins a Miami side co-owned by another global soccer great in David Beckham.
“Like all of you, I cannot wait to see Leo take the field in our colours,” Beckham told the crowd moments before Messi was introduced.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the next chapter of our story starts here.”
Messi has his work cut out to make the next chapter a successful one.
Miami are winless in 11 MLS matches and sit dead last in the Eastern Conference with 18 points after 22 games.
Messi’s next destination after leaving Paris St Germain had been the subject of much speculation.
A source close to Messi had told Reuters he received a formal offer to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal in a deal reportedly worth around $400 million a year.
PSG suspended him for making a trip to Saudi Arabia and missing a training session as a result, and the visit fuelled speculation that he would be joining Cristiano Ronaldo in the desert kingdom.
Portugal captain Ronaldo joined Al Nassr last December on a lucrative 2-1/2 year contract.
Messi had also been linked with a return to Barcelona, the Spanish club he helped claim 10 league titles, four Champions League crowns and three Club World Cups.
But in early June Messi announced his decision to join Inter Miami in an interview with Mundo Deportivo and Sport newspaper even though a contract had not yet been signed.
-Reuters
Lionel Messi is facing a lawsuit from a Miami-based event promoter that alleges the soccer star breached a contract by failing to play in an exhibition match last year, according to court records filed on March 31.
VID Music Group last month filed claims of fraud and breach of contract against Messi and the Argentine Football Association in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, court records show. The lawsuit also names sports executive Julian Marcos Kapelan.
According to the complaint, VID signed an agreement with the AFA last summer , granting it exclusive rights to organise and promote Argentina’s international friendlies in October against Venezuela and Puerto Rico, in exchange for ticketing, broadcast and sponsorship revenue.
The promoter says the deal required Messi to play at least 30 minutes in each match unless he was injured, with his participation “a central element of the match’s commercial value” and the “primary economic driver of the matches.”
The lawsuit accuses Messi of conspiring with Kapelan and the AFA “to engage in conduct” designed to induce VID into entering the contracts with AFA “under false pretences”. Messi is also accused of negligent misrepresentation.
The claims against the AFA include alleged negligent misrepresentation and breaches of contract relating to the match against Venezuela, the October fixture versus Puerto Rico, and two proposed matches that were scheduled to take place in the United States in June 2026, while Kapelan is accused of fraud.
Messi, 38, did not play in Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Venezuela on October 10, instead watching the match from a suite at Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida, according to the lawsuit.
The following day, Messi started and scored twice for Inter Miami in a 4-0 win over Atlanta United.
He later appeared for Argentina in a 6-0 victory over Puerto Rico on October 14, recording two assists in a match that was also organised and promoted by VID, a game that was moved from Chicago and played at Inter Miami’s then home ground, Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
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Lionel Messi scored his 900th career goal on Wednesday to become the second player to reach the mark in elite men’s football after Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 38-year-old Argentine World Cup winner brought up the milestone with a left-footed strike in Inter Miami’s 1-1 draw with Nashville SC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
The 900th goal came 21 years after Messi scored his first in senior football for Barcelona as a 17-year-old in 2005.
Inter manager Javier Mascherano said Messi’s tally was “insane”.
“I’ve been lucky enough to see most, or many, of the goals he’s scored, much closer than you all, and that’s a privilege,” he added.
“The number we’re talking about is insane, and that’s why Leo is a one of a kind.”
Messi, who has won the Ballon d’Or eight times, reached the landmark in his 1,142nd appearance for club and country, nearly 100 games fewer than Ronaldo, who took 1,236 games to reach the milestone in September 2024.
Portuguese forward Ronaldo has now reached 965 goals and has targeted the 1,000-mark before he quits the game.
The majority of Messi’s goals came during his spell at Barcelona, where he scored 672 times. He added 32 at Paris St-Germain and 81 for Inter Miami and scored 115 for Argentina, with whom he won the World Cup in 2022.
Messi’s teammates have been able to depend on him at crucial times with 175 of his goals coming in knockout matches, including 35 in finals.
His 129 goals in Europe’s Champions League is second only to Ronaldo’s 140.
Messi’s milestone goal came on a bittersweet night for Miami, who exited the competition on away goals after the first leg of their tie ended 0-0.
-Reuters
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U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami team to the White House on Thursday, but confessed he had no idea that one of the world’s greatest soccer players was coming — until his son told him.
Trump celebrated the 2025 Major League Soccer Cup champions, Inter Miami, in a ceremony that blended athletic prowess and military might, as the president boasted about the United States’ ongoing operation in Iran.
“The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy, far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before,” Trump said as Argentine great Messi stood next to him.
Trump then turned his attention to what he called “soccer-slash-football,” mixing both the American and international terms for the game.
“It’s my distinct privilege to say what no American president has ever had the chance to say before: Welcome to the White House, Lionel Messi,” Trump said.
Trump said Messi’s visit snuck up on him, as the White House has been engulfed in the operation in Iran since Saturday, and that he realised Thursday’s event was scheduled only after his son pointed it out to him.
“I got a lot of things going on,” Trump quipped.
With a World Cup on America’s doorstep, Trump praised Miami coach Javier Mascherano, and other soccer greats like Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian legend Pele, but raved the most over Messi and the Florida team.
“Leo is the reigning FIFA World Cup MVP. You could have gone anywhere in the world. You could have chosen any team in the world, and you chose to go to Miami. I don’t blame you. The weather’s extremely good,” Trump said.
As the president regaled the East Room crowd with a play-by-play of the team’s victory, Trump gushed about the “good-looking” men on the team, who stood lined up behind him.
Surveying the squad, Trump paused to single out Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul and asked, “Do you have any bad-looking players?”
“I don’t like good-looking men,” Trump joked, “You don’t feel so good about yourself.”
The team presented the president with a jersey featuring the number 47, a reference to Trump as the 47th president, and a soccer ball and watch with the team’s signature pink colour.
Trump also looked ahead to the summer. “We have the World Cup and the Olympics,” he said. The World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., across 16 cities, runs from June 11 to July 19 and will be the first to feature 48 teams.
Argentina will arrive as defending World Cup and Copa America champions.
Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi had previously been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic predecessor, in January 2025. However, Messi said he was unable to attend the ceremony due to scheduling conflicts.
Turning back to politics, Trump complimented Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s handling of the Iran operation, and said when that war is finished, the United States could turn to focus on communist Cuba.
Cuba wants “to make a deal so badly,” Trump said.
-Reuters
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