Tag: Inter Miami

Guillermo Hoyos said his long friendship with Lionel Messi will not stop him from working the Argentine superstar hard in training, as he was unveiled as the new coach of MLS side Inter Miami on Wednesday.

Hoyos, previously Miami’s sporting director, replaces Javier Mascherano, who departed the club for “personal reasons” on Tuesday, just four months after guiding the club to its first MLS Cup title.

The 62-year-old Hoyos was a key mentor of Messi’s in Barcelona’s youth team more than two decades ago, and the Argentine pair have remained close ever since.

“Friendship is non-negotiable. We share a friendship that spans many years,” said Hoyos, speaking in Spanish, at his first press conference.

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“However, that friendship does not mean that we will be constantly hovering over him or in his face every single day.”

A club statement initially said Hoyos will take charge of the team for the “upcoming matches,” but the team has since referred to him as head coach in social media posts.

Club sources told AFP that Hoyos is expected to remain at the helm only until the middle of the year, with a new coaching setup in place by the start of the Leagues Cup in August.

After seven rounds this season, Inter Miami sit third in the MLS Eastern Conference.

Messi, a 2022 World Cup winner and eight-time Ballon d’Or laureate, is the jewel in the crown of Miami’s squad.

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Argentine superstar Lionel Messi bagged the 900th goal of his glittering career on Wednesday, but could not prevent Inter Miami from crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on away goals after a 1-1 draw with Nashville.

Messi, 38, scored his milestone goal after just seven minutes to put Miami 1-0 up in the second leg of their last-16 clash in the regional club competition.

But Nashville’s Cristian Espinoza lashed in a 74th-minute equaliser to make it 1-1 on aggregate, and after holding Miami at bay for the remainder of the game, the visitors from Tennessee advanced to the quarter-finals on the away goals rule.

Miami’s exit was a bittersweet ending to what had promised to be a night of celebration after Messi’s early opener in what was the club’s final game at their Chase Stadium home in Fort Lauderdale.

Messi’s strike took the Argentine’s tally to 81 goals for the MLS champions following his move to Florida in 2023.

The eight-time Ballon D’Or winner previously scored 672 goals for Spanish giants Barcelona, 32 for France’s Paris Saint-Germain, and a further 115 international goals for Argentina.

Goal number 900 came some 21 years after Messi’s first goal in senior football, when he scored for Barcelona in a 2-0 win over Albacete in 2005 as a fresh-faced 17-year-old.

Messi, widely regarded as the greatest player in football history, still has some way to go before he catches his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, the 41-year-old Portuguese superstar who is on 965 career goals.

Speaking ahead of Messi’s 900th goal, Miami manager and former Argentina and Barcelona team-mate Javier Mascherano described the star’s goals total as “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,” Mascherano said.

“The number we’re talking about (900) is insane, and that’s why Leo is a one of a kind.”

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Wednesday’s match carried added significance for Inter Miami, marking a farewell to the team’s Chase Stadium.

The venue has served as Inter Miami’s home since the club entered Major League Soccer in 2020. The team will move into a new purpose-built 26,700-seat facility next month.

Messi is strongly expected to play in his sixth World Cup later this year, when Argentina defend their title in the 48-team tournament being staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Argentine star has already extended his Inter Miami contract through to the end of the 2028 season.

Messi’s prolific goal-scoring has been a hallmark of his career. His 672 goals for Barcelona came in just 778 games — an average of 0.86 per game — helping the Catalan club win 35 trophies before departure to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021.

In France, he scored 32 goals in 75 matches, winning three trophies, including two league titles.

In Miami, his 81 goals have come in just 96 appearances, helping the team win the 2023 Leagues Cup and the 2025 MLS Cup.

His 115 international goals have come in 196 matches, including two in the 2022 World Cup final victory over France.

Messi’s goals tally leaves him second only to Ronaldo, according to most recognised statistical records.

Brazilian legend Pele is often said to have scored more than 1,000 goals, but those numbers have been the subject of debate. Most statisticians put Pele’s total for Brazil, Santos and New York Cosmos at 762.

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Argentina’s superstar Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates were feted by US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday in honour of their 2025 MLS Cup championship.

Messi was at the forefront as Miami players, coach Javier Mascherano, and team co-owner Jorge Mas flanked Trump, who opened proceedings with comments on military action in the Middle East.

But he soon got down to the team’s 2025 exploits and rememiniscences of Brazilian icon Pele’s 1970s stint with the New York Cosmos and its electrifying effect on soccer in the United States.

“I shouldn’t say this because I’m old, but I watched Pele play,” Trump said. “I don’t know, you (Messi) may be better than Pele. Pele was pretty good.”

The players came bearing gifts for Trump, including a No. 47 jersey from the team’s signature pink kit, reflecting his status as the nation’s 47th president.

From Trump, there were shout-outs to Miami’s Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, rising star Tadeo Allende, and Rodrigo De Paul, and a subtle dig at former president Joe Biden.

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“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,” Trump said, an oblique reference to the fact Messi did not attend the ceremony when Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2025.

“I’ve seen a lot of great players come into the world of sports,” Trump said. “They come to the Yankees, or they come to the Dodgers… and there’s such a clamour.

“Everything’s great, but they don’t win. This guy won,” he said with a gesture toward Messi.

“Leo, you came in, and you won. There’s a lot more pressure put on you than anyone would know because you’re sort of expected to win,” Trump added.

Trump’s rundown of Miami’s 2025 achievements included not only their 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS Cup final but also their 2-1 victory over Portuguese side Porto in the Club World Cup, which marked the first time a North American team had beaten a European one in an official competition.

In accepting Trump’s congratulations, Mas, the son of Cuban immigrants, said Miami’s rise since its 2020 inaugural season was based on the philosophy that “if you work hard and you sacrifice and you dream, it can be possible.”

Inter Miami’s global success is “not only because of Lionel Messi, but these men standing behind you have changed the culture of football in the United States of America forever,” Mas said. “We can play with the big boys.”

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Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano hailed Lionel Messi as “extraordinary” after the Argentine superstar steered the club into their first MLS Cup final with a 5-1 thrashing of New York City FC on Saturday.

A Tadeo Allende hat-trick and goals from Mateo Silvetti and Telasco Segovia sent a revitalised Miami roaring into Major League Soccer’s championship game next Saturday at their home field in Fort Lauderdale.

While Messi did not get on the scoresheet, the 38-year-old provided a crucial, classy assist for Miami’s third goal, scored by Silvetti that effectively killed off the game as New York chased an equaliser.

“Leo has accustomed us to the extraordinary,” Mascherano said of his former Barcelona and Argentina team-mate.

“He’s someone extraordinary, someone we’ll never see again. Today, perhaps we’re surprised that he didn’t score, but he gave us peace of mind with the third goal, an assist that only he can see. He practically sealed the game.”

Miami will host the winner of the Western Conference final, which is being played between San Diego FC and Vancouver Whitecaps, later on Saturday.

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Messi and his teammates will head into that game bristling with confidence after another ruthless, high-scoring demolition job that followed on from their 4-0 drubbing of FC Cincinnati in the previous round.

Allende — who scored twice in the victory over Cincinnati — was once again the focal point of the Miami attack.

The 26-year-old Argentine forward opened the scoring in the 14th minute after cleverly springing the New York offside trap and then headed in a superb second to make it 2-0.

New York rallied back with a headed Justin Haak goal in the 37th minute, and came within a whisker of an equaliser when Julian Fernandez forced a fine one-handed save from Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo in the 66th minute.

That near miss was to prove crucial.

Miami immediately swept upfield, and a flowing move saw Rodrigo De Paul and Jordi Alba combine before Messi slipped a pass to Silvetti, who rifled home to make it 3-1.

Segovia then eliminated any doubt with Miami’s fourth in the 83rd minute before Allende completed his hat-trick a minute from time to spark wild celebrations.

The victory leaves Miami just one win away from completing a remarkable transformation after a season that appeared to be unraveling in disarray earlier in the campaign, following after a string of defeats.

“The real credit goes to the players who embraced where we wanted to go,” Mascherano said. “We strengthened as a group and reached the end of the season with a brotherhood within the team, where everyone pulls together, and it doesn’t matter who starts.

“We are a group, and the power of a group is unbreakable.”

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Lionel Messi scored two goals and assisted on two by Tadeo Allende to spark Inter Miami in a 4-0 rout of Nashville on Saturday to advance in the MLS Cup playoffs.

Argentine icon Messi opened the scoring in the 10th minute, added another goal in the 39th, and set up compatriot Allende’s goals in the 73rd and 76th that sealed Miami’s triumph.

Inter Miami won the best-of-three Eastern Conference first-round series 2-1 to advance to a second-round match against FC Cincinnati, which defeated Columbus 2-1 in another series-deciding encounter.

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi ensured Miami would avoid a third first-round exit in four seasons after having fallen to Atlanta last year and New York City in 2022.

In the night’s other match, 10-man Minnesota United rallied to eliminate Seattle 7-6 on penalty kicks after playing to a 3-3 draw in a Western Conference thriller, booking a second-round match against Sunday’s winner between Portland and San Diego.

Miami striker Luis Suarez was absent, suspended one game by MLS for violent conduct in last week’s loss at Nashville.

MLS season goal-scoring leader Messi took a deflected ball, ran to the top of the box, and fired a left-footed shot into the lower right corner.

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Messi doubled the margin when he fired home a left-footed shot from just outside the box off a pass from Argentine teen rookie Mateo Silvetti.

Allende’s first goal was from point-blank range off passes from Messi and Jordi Alba. He then took a long pass from Messi and chipped a high ball into the net.

At Cincinnati, Canadian Jacen Russell-Rowe gave Columbus a 1-0 lead in the 61st minute but Brazilian striker Brenner Souza answered in the 67th and 86th to send Cincinnati into a second-round home match against Miami.

At Minnesota, the series was not decided until the 10th round of penalties when Seattle goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, injured making a save in the opening round after being inserted for the shootout, clanged the ball off the crossbar.

Seattle equalized at 3-3 on a goal by Jordan Morris in the 88th minute but when the penalty shootout arrived, the Sounders replaced keeper Stefan Frei for backup Thomas.

Minnesota’s Joaquin Pereyra missed the first penalty kick wide right, and Thomas hurt a hand diving for the ball, but stayed in the match.

Morris hit the crossbar in the second round, and in sudden-death rounds, Thomas made two saves, but Seattle missed both chances to win, Obed Vargas hitting the left post, and Osaze De Rosario’s shot being saved by Minnesota’s Dayne St. Clair.

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, St. Clair scored in the 10th round, and Thomas missed to give the Loons the victory.

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Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez will be suspended for Saturday’s MLS winner-take-all playoff match against Nashville after kicking an opponent in last weekend’s loss to the same team.

The MLS disciplinary committee on Wednesday imposed a one-match ban and fined Suarez an undisclosed amount for violent conduct in the 71st minute of Miami’s 2-1 loss at Nashville.

The 38-year-old Uruguayan striker will sit out a must-win match for Miami when they host Nashville on Saturday in the third match of their best-of-three MLS first-round playoff series.

The ban was issued for Suarez kicking out and striking Nashville defender Andy Najar, who fell to the ground in the penalty area after being hit.

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It was the second suspension of the season for Suarez, who was banned for three MLS games after spitting on a Seattle Sounders official moments after Miami lost in the Leagues Cup final.

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi scored three goals and added two assists in the matches Suarez missed.

Inter Miami will likely lean heavily upon the Argentine star and MLS scoring champion again with their season on the line.

Miami will try to avoid a third first-round exit in four years in the MLS playoffs.

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Argentine superstar Lionel Messi scored twice to lift Inter Miami to a 3-1 victory over Nashville SC on Friday in the opening game of their Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup round one playoff series.

Tadeo Allende also scored for Inter, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series, with game two in Nashville on November 1.

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi was presented with the Golden Boot award before the game after topping the regular-season scoring chart with 29 goals in 28 games.

He wasted no time in demonstrating how he earned it, putting Miami up 1-0 with a diving header off a pass from Luis Suarez in the 19th minute.

Sergio Busquets had gained control of the ball near the sideline and passed to Rodrigo De Paul.

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De Paul found a charging Messi, who handed off to Suarez on the right and pressed forward to connect when Suarez fed it back.

Allende’s header from a pass by Ian Fray put Miami up 2-0 in the 62nd minute.

Messi made sure of the win nine minutes into second-half injury time when Nashville keeper Joe Willis leapt forward to stop a ball from Jordi Alba, the left wing, but failed to corral it, leaving Messi to slot home.

That meant Hany Mukhtar’s strike in the 11th and final minute of stoppage time was nothing but window dressing.

The victory comes a day after Messi inked a three-year contract extension that will keep the 38-year-old in Florida through 2028.

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Lionel Messi has agreed a contract extension with Inter Miami, which will see the Argentine superstar remain in Major League Soccer until the end of the 2028 season, the club confirmed on Thursday.

Inter Miami’s X feed posted a video of Messi signing a contract sitting at a table in the middle of the club’s new Freedom Park stadium, which is under construction, with the simple caption: “He’s Home.”

“It makes me really happy to stay here and to continue with this project that, besides being a dream, has become a beautiful reality — playing in this stadium, at Miami Freedom Park,” Messi, 38, said in a club statement.

“Since I arrived in Miami, I’ve been very happy, so I’m truly glad to keep going here,” Messi added.

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said Messi’s decision to extend reflected his “commitment to the city, to the club, to the game”.

“He’s still as committed as he’s ever been and he still wants to win,” Beckham said. “As owners to have a player that loves the game as much as he does, and who has done as much for the game in this country and to inspire the next generation of young talent as he has, we feel very lucky.”

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The World Cup-winner’s current contract expires at the end of the 2025 MLS season.

A new deal had been viewed as a formality after club sources told AFP last month that the franchise had reached an agreement on an extension.

Messi’s contract ensures he will remain in competitive action until and long after the 2026 World Cup hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The tournament gets under way on June 11, with the final to be played at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.

Messi moved to Inter Miami in 2023 after an unhappy spell at Paris Saint-Germain, but the bulk of his stellar career was spent at Barcelona, where he played from 2004 to 2021 after coming through the youth system at the Spanish giants.

At Barcelona, he won the La Liga title 10 times and lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy on four occasions.

In 2022, he led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar and has expressed a desire to try to retain the trophy next year.

He has scored 114 international goals and also won the Copa America twice with Argentina, in 2021 and 2024.

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A rampant Lionel Messi scored a sensational hat-trick to seal Major League Soccer’s Golden Boot award on Saturday as Inter Miami roared into the playoffs with a 5-2 victory over Nashville SC.

The Argentine superstar tallied an astonishing 29 goals from 28 matches, with Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga and Nashville’s Sam Surridge tied for second best with 24 goals.

Messi claimed his first MLS Golden Boot and also staked his claim to a second straight Most Valuable Player award with a bravura performance that saw Inter rally to clinch third place in the Eastern Conference.

They’ll face the same Nashville team in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs starting on October 24.

Nashville had seen some quality chances go begging when Messi put Miami in front in the 34th minute with a cracking goal from outside the penalty area.

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Messi took a pass from Jordi Alba and made one cut before he unleashed a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner.

Nine minutes later, Nashville’s Surridge grabbed his 24th goal of the season when he headed in a pinpoint delivery from Hany Mukhtar at the near post.

Nashville seized a 2-1 lead deep in first-half injury time when Jacob Shaffelburg was there to fire home the rebound off a Mukhtar shot that hit the post.

Messi’s first penalty conversion of the season pulled Inter level in the 63rd.

The referee pointed to the spot after a ball deflected by Luis Suarez hit Mukhtar on the arm.

Messi stepped up and rolled it past Nashville keeper Joe Willis.

After Baltasar Rodriguez made it 3-2 to Miami in the 67th, Messi completed his hat-trick in the 81st with a curling shot through traffic and past Willis.

Miami’s Telasco Segovia completed the scoring against a shell-shocked Nashville in second-half injury time.

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Lionel Messi scored twice to spark Inter Miami to a 4-0 victory over Atlanta United, seizing the lead in Major League Soccer’s scoring table in a key victory for the Florida club.

The Argentine superstar scored his 25th and 26th goals of the season, moving ahead of Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga in the race for the Golden Boot after starting the day tied with the Gabon international on 24 goals.

Miami, already assured of an MLS Cup playoff berth, continued their push for better playoff position.

They pulled level with Cincinnati on 62 points in the Eastern Conference, four points behind leaders Philadelphia, who have clinched the Supporters Shield as the team with the best regular season record in the league.

Messi’s 39th-minute strike to open the scoring was a beauty.

Baltasar Rodriguez robbed an Atlanta defender and found Messi just outside the box. Messi strode forward and curled a left-footed shot around Pedro Amador and out of the reach of Atlanta goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert in the upper left corner of the net.

Hibbert had denied Messi in the 13th minute as the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner came up empty on a string of early attempts.

Messi was instrumental in Jordi Alba’s goal that doubled Miami’s lead in the 52nd minute, lofting a ball forward to the Spaniard, who chipped a left-footed shot over Hibbert into the bottom right corner of the net.

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Alba’s sixth goal of the season came on the day that Inter paid tribute to the former Spain and Barcelona star, who announced this week that he would retire at the end of the MLS season.

Uruguay’s Luis Suarez made it 3-0 in the 61st minute, and Messi added his second in the 87th, knocking in a left-footed shot from the center of the box after Alba found him with a long through ball.

With MLS playing through the FIFA international window, Messi’s status for Inter’s match remained a mystery until shortly before kickoff when manager Javier Mascherano announced his lineup.

Messi and Rodrigo De Paul had trained with Argentina this week in Florida, although Messi was a spectator as Argentina beat Venezuela 1-0 in a friendly at Hard Rock Stadium on Friday.

De Paul came on as a late substitute against Venezuela and was unavailable for Inter, who had six players called up for international duty during the current window, which will also see Argentina play Puerto Rico on Monday in a match moved from Chicago to Inter’s Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

Saturday’s game was Inter’s last regular-season home game at the venue, as they prepare to move into their new Miami Freedom Park next season.

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