MLS
Atlanta crush Messi-less Miami 5-2
Inter Miami rested Lionel Messi and suffered their first defeat since the Argentine joined the club, with a 5-2 hammering at Atlanta United damaging their playoff hopes on Saturday.
Messi had not made the trip to Atlanta, after a busy run of games since making his Miami debut in late July.
Miami coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino said after the loss that Messi had been suffering from “muscle fatigue” and that it would have been “very reckless to bring him to play this game”.
The 36-year-old sat out Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Bolivia in La Paz on Tuesday but watched his team-mates from the bench.
With no Messi last week, Miami defeated Sporting Kansas City 3-2 but this time it was a very different story for Martino’s team.
Miami went ahead in the 25th minute with a superbly taken goal from in-form Ecuadoran striker Leonardo Campana.
But the response from Atlanta, sixth in the Eastern Conference, was emphatic with three goals in eight minutes.
A glancing header from French midfielder Tristan Muyumba, which struck the inside of the post, was ruled to have crossed the line by the assistant referee.
Five minutes later, Atlanta had the lead when Brazilian winger Xande Silva dribbled to the byline and his pull-back was turned into his own net by Miami defender Kamal Miller.
Miami’s defence, without former Spain international left-back Jordi Alba, were reeling and Brooks Lennon added the third in the 44th minute with a sweetly struck shot.
Miami got back in the game in the 54th minute through a Campana penalty but — while they have made a habit of comebacks with Messi — there was no such revival this time.
As they pushed forward in search of an equalizer, Atlanta caught them on the counter with Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis slotting home his 14th goal of the season, bringing him level as joint top scorer in the MLS.
Another well-worked break resulted in the fifth in the 89th minute with Saba Lobzhanidze setting up Tyler Wolff to blast home.
Miami remain next to bottom of the Eastern Conference, six points behind D.C United who occupy ninth place, the last playoff spot.
Martino defended the decision to leave Messi and Alba — who he said also had muscle fatigue — at home ahead of a busy run of games with league matches on Wednesday and Sunday before the US Open Cup final on September 27.
“We risked worse consequences if they came to play this game,” said the coach.
Comebacks
Eastern Conference leaders Cincinnati, already assured of a post-season berth, battled back for a 2-2 draw at last year’s MLS Cup runners-up the Philadelphia Union.
A Jose Martinez goal and a penalty from Daniel Gazdag had put Philadelphia in command, but the impressive Aaron Boupendza pulled a goal back for Cincinnati in the fourth minute of the second half.
The visitors grabbed a point when Boupendza found Brandon Vazquez with a magnificent low ball and the USA striker found the net.
In-form Orlando City produced an even more impressive comeback at home to Columbus, winning 4-3 after trailing 3-1.
Ramiro Enrique levelled in the 86th minute with an opportunist strike and then won the game in the seventh minute of stoppage time, taking advantage of chaos in the Crew defence.
In the Western Conference, Denis Bouanga scored twice for champions Los Angeles FC as they beat cross-city rivals Los Angeles Galaxy 4-2.
Bouanga headed LAFC in front in the 23rd minute but the Galaxy struck back immediately with English forward Billy Sharp firing home his third goal in five appearances since joining the club from Sheffield United.
But a Ryan Hollingshead strike restored LAFC’s lead only for Japanese veteran Maya Yoshida to bring the Galaxy back on level terms again.
Bouanga’s second and an 84th minute goal from Timothy Tillman clinched the derby win and allowed LAFC to narrow the deficit on leaders St. Louis City to six points.
The New England Revolution had a tumultuous week with the resignation, after an MLS investigation, of their head coach Bruce Arena and then a reshuffle of the interim coaching staff.
A win at Colorado would have secured a playoff spot but the Revolution fell to a 2-1 defeat to a team which had won just one of their last 18 games and have the worst record in the league.
The ‘Hudson River derby’ between New York City and New York Red Bulls ended goalless.
-AP
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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U.S. President Donald Trump is set to host global football icon Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates at the White House following the club’s historic Major League Soccer triumph.
According to The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism arm of The New York Times, Inter Miami CF received an invitation to the White House to commemorate their 2025 MLS Cup championship. The Miami Herald confirmed that the ceremony will take place on Thursday, just two days before the Herons face D.C. United in Washington, D.C.
Reports indicate that the entire squad — including Messi — is expected to attend the event with President Trump.
Inter Miami secured the first MLS Cup title in franchise history with a 3–1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on December 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The triumph marked a milestone moment for the relatively young club and capped a season highlighted by Messi’s continued influence both on and off the pitch.
White House visits have long been a tradition for championship-winning American sports teams, and Inter Miami’s appearance will place the club alongside a distinguished list of title holders honoured in Washington.
The visit will also carry added significance for co-owner David Beckham, who previously attended a White House ceremony in 2012 during his time with the LA Galaxy after the club’s 2011 MLS Cup victory.
For Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, the White House reception adds another high-profile chapter to a decorated career that has spanned Europe, South America and now North America.
The ceremony is expected to take place in Washington before Inter Miami shifts focus back to league action, with their upcoming fixture against D.C. United is looming shortly after the White House engagement.
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Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi was knocked to the ground by a security guard who was restraining a shirtless fan on the field near the end of their 2-1 friendly win over Ecuadorean champions Independiente del Valle in Puerto Rico.
The fan reached the centre circle and wrapped his arms around twice-reigning MLS Most Valuable Player Messi before the security guard intervened and pulled the pitch invader to the ground while dragging the Argentine great down in the process.
By the time the individual got to Messi, there were two other fans — one in a Barcelona jersey and the other in a Miami shirt — in the middle of the field, where one took a selfie with the player while Messi signed the other’s shirt.
The 38-year-old Messi, who came on at halftime and converted the winner from the penalty spot in the 70th minute, got up immediately and appeared to be unharmed in Thursday’s incident.
The game at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon was originally scheduled for February 13 and was supposed to be Miami’s pre-season finale, but it was postponed after Messi suffered a hamstring strain.
-Reuter
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