MLS
Messi watches from bench as 10-man Inter Miami edge Charlotte
Lionel Messi watched from the bench as 10-man Inter Miami held on for a 1-0 win over Charlotte FC in Major League Soccer on Sunday.
The Argentine was not used by coach Javier Mascherano in a game where Miami spent much of the game on the back foot after goalkeeper Oscar Ustari was sent off in the 38th minute.
It marked the third straight game that Messi failed to feature for Miami after he did not travel to Houston for last week’s 4-1 win in MLS and then watched the 2-0 victory over Jamaica’s Cavalier in the CONCACAF Champions Cup first-leg game on Thursday.
Mascherano has said he is managing the workload of the 37-year-old World Cup winner and while his absence has been a disappointment for fans, Miami have not paid a price on the field.
Charlotte, coached by Englishman Dean Smith, the former Aston Villa manager, were the better team throughout the encounter but proved unable to convert their plentiful possession into real goal chances.
The visitors offered early indicators of where their threats lay, with Wilfried Zaha, the former Crystal Palace winger, showing flashes of his skill on the left flank while Israeli winger Liel Abada’s pace was evident on the opposite wing.
Miami were creating little, with Ashley Westwood dictating play in the centre of midfield for the North Carolina side, and they found themselves in trouble when Ustari received a straight red after he raced off his line and brought down Zaha.
The teams went in goalless at the break but it took just seconds for Miami to strike after the interval with a delightfully constructed goal.
Tadeo Allende back-heeled to Luis Suarez and the veteran returned the ball with a chip which the Argentine chested down and then buried into the bottom corner.
It was the fourth goal this season, in all competitions for Allende who joined Miami on loan from Spanish club Celta Vigo.
Miami opted to defend their lead, sitting deep and in numbers, frustrating Charlotte who struggled to break through their defence.
Their best chance came in the 65th minute when Zaha whipped in a wicked cross from the left but Patrick Agyemang’s glancing header flashed wide of the post.
The crowd chanted for a Messi cameo, but Mascherano opted for defensive changes as the South Florida side held firm to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
-AFP
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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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