Inter Miami will celebrate the signing of Lionel Messi on Sunday, but they will do so despite the fact that their winless streak reached 11 games when they were defeated 3-0 away at St. Louis City on Saturday. As a result of this loss, they are currently ranked dead last in Major League Soccer.
Even though the presence of Lionel Messi was announced by Miami hours before their game in Missouri began, the team coached by Gerardo Martino was unable to pull off the victory, and they suffered their 14th loss out of a total of 22 matches.
After suffering yet another defeat, Miami is now in last position not only in the Eastern Conference but also in the overall standings, where they are ranked last out of all 29 teams.
That means Messi, the winner of seven Ballon d’Or awards and the hero of Argentina’s victory at the World Cup, is currently playing for the side that is ranked last in the MLS.
The Major League Soccer (MLS) does not, unlike the majority of leagues throughout the world, have a system of relegation, which is fortunate for the club and their new star player. In order for the club to make a run at making the playoffs, Messi will need to have a game-changing impact on the pitch.
It was anticipated that Messi would make his debut on Friday against Cruz Azul in the new Leagues Cup, a tournament that features all of the top-flight teams from Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX (Mexico’s top professional soccer league).
The Major League Soccer season will be put on hold for a month so that the League Cup can be played, which means that the former Barcelona great, who is now 36 years old, won’t get an opportunity to start helping Miami move up the league table until they play Charlotte on August 20.
However, despite the fact that fans are ecstatic about the move and that it presents an opportunity for Miami and the MLS to increase their popularity and money, the Florida club is obviously hoping that Messi will be able to boost the level of his teammates.
“Lionel Messi is an exceptional talent. Chris Henderson, the Sporting Director of Inter Miami, expressed excitement over the new player’s arrival on Saturday. “What he brings both on and off the field will elevate everyone around him, and we’re excited to have him,” Henderson stated.
However, St. Louis’s home team took the lead in the 28th minute on the strength of a header from a corner that was buried by Samuel Adeniran. Miami’s performance in St. Louis was unremarkable and failed to provide any excitement.
Tim Parker’s header at the near post five minutes before halftime made it 2-0 for the Cardinals, who are currently first in the Western Conference in their first season. Miami was once again unable to defend a corner kick, and St. Louis capitalized by scoring on the opportunity.
Just ten minutes before the match was over, the German Eduard Loewen finished off Miami’s agony with a resounding free kick.
It was a disappointing first game for former Barcelona and Argentina coach Martino, who claimed fans would need to be patient with Messi and left open the question of whether he will play against Cruz Azul. The game was Martino’s first game in control of the team since he was fired from his positions at Barcelona and Argentina.
“We look to the future with hope (given) that the best player in the world will play for our team, but also with the patience that we have to have so that he can get in good physical shape and can play at the right moment,” he said. “We look to the future with the patience that we have to have so that he can get in good physical shape and can play at the right moment.”
We ended up losing the game with three set pieces, which is perfectly acceptable because that is how games are won. However, we were unable to prevent ourselves from losing. He went on to say that there was a great deal of rectification work to be done.
The top team in the Eastern Conference, FC Cincinnati, kept their dominant home record going with a 3-1 victory over Nashville, which concluded the match with nine men for the second straight game. This victory gave FC Cincinnati their 11th win in their last 12 games at Nippert Stadium.
Walker Zimmerman, who plays for the USA national team, gave Nashville the lead in the 31st minute with a tap-in goal after Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano made a mistake with a cross.
After Luciano Acosta’s penalty kick in the 42nd minute tied the game for the home team, Nashville’s Taylor Washington and Fata Picault were both sent off for Nashville after receiving their second yellow card, leaving them with two men less for the last 20 minutes of the match.
Acosta gave Santiago Arias the opportunity to score with a brilliant diagonal ball in the 74th minute, and then recently acquired Gabonese attacker Aaron Boupendza sealed the victory for his team.
New England Revolution, who are now in second place in the East, defeated Wayne Rooney and D.C. United 4-0 thanks to two goals scored by Ian Harkes, son of former US international John Harkes.
The Philadelphia Union, who finished in second place the year before, defeated the New York City FC, who were the defending champions, 2-1, with goals from Jose Martinez and Chris Donovan.