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Messi scores twice as Miami thrash Atlanta 4-0

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Leagues Cup - Group J - Inter Miami v Atlanta United - DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States - July 25, 2023 Inter Miami's Lionel Messi in action REUTERS/Marco Bello

Lionel Messi scored two first half goals and assisted on another in the second to lead Inter Miami to a 4-0 dismantling of Atlanta United and advance to the knockout stage of the Leagues Cup on Tuesday.

After coming off the bench to score a dramatic game winner in his debut on Friday night, the World Cup champion from Argentina wasted no time in his first start with the MLS side.

The team captain received a lovely lofting pass from former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets and, after initially hitting the post, fired home his own rebound to put Miami up in the eighth minute to roars of approval from the home crowd.

Messi slotted home a second in the 22nd minute on a diving cross from teammate Robert Taylor, who notched a brace of his own on a hot night in Miami.

After scoring, Messi stopped and pointed from the field at the team co-owner David Beckham, who was watching the game. The gesture was met with a wide smile from the former Manchester United great who helped lure Messi to the MLS despite a massive counter offer from Saudi Arabia.

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Atlanta’s best chance at getting on the scoreboard came with a late penalty kick from Thiago Almada but Miami keeper Drake Callender read it perfectly to preserve the clean sheet.

Messi and fellow Argentinian Almada hugged when Messi was subbed out in the 78th minute and the pair exchanged jerseys after the match.

Messi came on as a substitute in Friday match against Cruz Azul and his game winner on a set piece in the dying second of the contest made for a dream start in MLS for the 36-year-old, a seven-times Ballon d’Or winner who led Argentina to World Cup glory last year.

With the win Miami have now won their group in the Leagues Cup tournament, which is a World Cup-style tournament featuring all teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.

-Reuters

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Luis Suarez Ready To Hang Boots –

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Luis Suarez Ready To Hang Boots -

Inter Miami will be the last club Luis Suarez plays for, the Uruguay striker said on Thursday.

Suarez, 37, signed a contract with the Major League Soccer side last year for the 2024 season after a stint with Brazilian club Gremio.

He reunited with former Barcelona team mates Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, with whom he won four LaLiga titles in five years in Spain.

“Inter Miami will be my last club, my family already know that. I don’t have a date yet, but it’s the last step,” Suarez said in an interview with Uruguayan radio station Del Sol.

“I’m ready for this last challenge, but there is an inevitable fatigue and, in the end, I want to have quality of life in the future,” he added.

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Suarez, who also played for clubs including Ajax Amsterdam, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, has won 138 caps for Uruguay since 2007.

Inter Miami kick off their MLS campaign against Real Salt Lake on Feb. 21.

-Reuters

 

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Messi-less Miami lose U.S. Open Cup final to Houston

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Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami watches from the stands against the Houston Dynamo during the 2023 U.S. Open Cup Final at DRV PNK Stadium on September 27, 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Photo: AFP

The Houston Dynamo defeated Inter Miami 2-1 to win the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday with an injured Lionel Messi watching from the stands at DRV PNK Stadium.

Without Messi and his former Barcelona team-mate Jordi Alba, Miami struggled to compete with an enterprising Houston and went in 2-0 down at the break.

Houston grabbed the lead in the 24th minute with a perfect counter-attack ending with Brazilian Artur feeding the overlapping Griffin Dorsey who blasted in at the near post.

French forward Amine Bassi doubled the lead from the penalty spot nine minutes later after DeAndre Yedlin had brought down Nelson Quinones.

Houston thought that they had scored a third after the break but Quinones’ effort was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.

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Substitute Josef Martinez gave Miami some late hope with a left-foot strike in stoppage time after latching on to a ball from Argentine Facundo Farias.

But despite some late pressure, it was too little, too late from Miami and Houston deservedly won their second U.S. Open Cup to add to their triumph in 2018.

Miami had won the Leagues Cup last month with Messi prominently involved but they must now battle to make the Major League Soccer play-offs with uncertainty over their Argentine star’s fitness.

-AFP

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Inter Miami to wait until ‘last moment’ to decide on Messi fitness for Cup final

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Inter Miami will wait until the “last moment” to see if Lionel Messi is fit to play in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup final against Houston Dynamo, coach Gerardo Martino said.

Messi was substituted in Inter’s league match against Toronto FC before halftime with an unspecified injury, and missed Sunday’s clash against rivals Orlando City.

The Argentina captain is a doubt for the U.S. Open Cup final when his team will aim to claim their second title after winning the Leagues Cup last month.

“We are going to wait for Leo until tomorrow, until the last moment,” Martino told a news conference on Tuesday. “I’m going to sit down with him, see what his feelings are (…) We’ll probably come to an agreement tomorrow.

“There are three issues here: there is the player, then the final, and then what comes next. We have to try to make the decision, there are always risks, but we have to reduce them.”

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The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored 11 goals and provided five assists in 12 games for Inter Miami since his arrival from Paris St Germain in July.

The Miami side are yet to lose with Messi on the pitch and Martino said he would not consider playing the 36-year-old if it were not a cup final.

“It’s 90 or 120 minutes that stand between you and a title,” said the Argentine boss. “It’s logical. If it was any other kind of game we wouldn’t take any risks.”

-Reuters

 

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