Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
CNN
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There are worn-out cliches in soccer. No player is bigger than the club.
At Thursday’s newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup in Atlanta, the event was still in its early stages, with the old proverb being thrown to the side and replaced by questions about the 31,783 lips present. Can players be bigger than tournaments?
The football star in question was, of course, a particular Lionel Andres Messi, who the public made a pilgrimage for worship as Intermiami faced Portuguese Giants FC Porto in the second match of Group A.
But until the magical Messi moment of the 54th minute, the match was at risk of becoming mere sideshows for the 37-year-olds who have long cemented their status as one of the greats of the sport, and for supporters expressing their admiration. Let’s face it. Argentina, who has won almost everything from Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain and is the World Cup champion, does not accurately harm his claim.
Prior to kickoff outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, it was clear how Messi’s pull didn’t know the limits, or rather the miles. While Atlanta supporters were present, CNN Sports spoke with families in Louisiana, Alabama, Washington, DC, Buffalo, Puerto Rico and Dublin, Ireland.
They said that when one fan “We’re here for football!” inside, the roar from the rather sparse crowd resembles the environment along the sold-out stadium when Messi was introduced 30 minutes before kickoff.
It raised some notches when he went out to a fulfilling house again, just as FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently said the tournament would “provide 63 Super Bowls in a month,” as players made individual entrances to the field, and so on.
At kickoff there was apparently every ball touch from the eight Ballon d’Or winners, and the sound from the stands ranged from “OOH’s” to whistle, “Me-Ssi!” Reciting the most popular ones. Given that the Barca legend turned 38 on Tuesday, it was surprisingly adjacent that the crowd didn’t serenade Argentina in the “Happy Birthday” chorus.
The match was a slow burner, but it exploded in the second half. Intermiami scored the goal on the break courtesy of an early penalty from Porto’s Sam Ageho.
After the spot kick was converted, Messi’s response from near the center circle was to not move the muscles for 10 seconds in a way that suggested “this was not a plan.” Perhaps then it was Porto who hadn’t planned an InterMiami quick response.
Just two minutes into the second half, Terrace Cosegovia’s smart finish levelled the score past goalkeeper Claudio Ramos, and after seven minutes Messi stepped up. In every respect.
The Argentine star free-kicked the edge of the box that won, taking the crowd to the edge of the seat. A sense of inevitability hangs down into the air as the Maestro marked his territory and found the exact angle to place a whipshot on the corner of the net. I had to feel Ramos unable to put the gloves on either strike.
We have been treated so often over the years, so the goal was to be beautiful. Portuguese defender Jose Fonte praises Messi on Dazen’s broadcast. Stunner was the first time that not only the winner of the match, but a team in the CONCACAF region has defeated the European side with a competitive fixture.
It was Messi’s 50th goal for the team. Not too crude for a Thursday afternoon in mid-June. Points in the final group game with Palmeiras in Brazilian outfits next Monday will guarantee Inter Miami’s position in the knockout phase.
As you get through the noise, you wonder what the power in FIFA makes it all. The Governing Body of Sports essentially quickly followed InterMiami, who was essentially fast tracked in a 32-team tournament, not because they won the MLS Cup, but rather the regular season Supporters Shield, which may have a trophy but may ultimately be the path to the postseason.
Messi and Miami were shockedly bounced last year in three best playoff series by teams. This turns out to be playable at Atlanta United, this stunning 70,000 capacity stadium. However, the Seattle Sounders and LAFC completed the conditions for the three MLS side of the Club World Cup, placing the galaxy outside and stared enviously at all those brightest stars.
And he attracted the crowd here on Thursday thanks to Messi’s left foot becoming one of the tournament’s first signing moments as the Club World Cup finally found his foot, and the reality remains that last Saturday the opening game of the tournament attracted over 60,000 fans at Messi’s American-based Hard Rock Stadium.
Intermiami is a relatively new MLS franchise with co-owner David Beckham. David Beckham may have felt sympathy for his former club, the LA Galaxy, but he has not been invited to a FIFA party.
Club World Cup – Whether it will be held every four years, Slightly The FIFA World Cup, which has been established since he turns 96 next summer, will allow him to grow taller. Here and now, only Messi and Messi are in the minds of those lucky enough to see him take action. And it expands to players as well.
When CNN Sports talks with Messi’s teammate Fafa Picoll after a match, the three words that Winger associates with the football superstar are, “leader, winner, winner again,” and then “it’s not sometimes said just through words and physical actions.
And on Thursday, Lionel Messi’s actions spoke much more eloquent than words.
