Lionel Messi’s debut in Major League Soccer (MLS) against the New York Red Bulls can be seen for free in Times Square. Rosario has already made an impressive impression in the United States, both on and off the pitch. His arrival at Inter Miami boosted interest in the team tremendously, reflected in packed stadiums and thousands of new Apple TV+ subscriptions as the team went from being one of the worst in the Premier League to champions of the League Cup and the US Open Cup Finalist, with the captain scoring 10 goals in 8 games.
In the last month and a half, they only finished 10th without playing a single minute in the main competition, in which the Florida franchise sits bottom in the Eastern Conference with just 18 points. After a long wait, his debut will arrive in Argentina this Saturday at 8:30 p.m. when he visits the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey to face the New York Red Bulls, and the league is already preparing for the occasion: in the morning, he announced that the game will be broadcast on nothing less than the giant screens in New York’s legendary corner of Times Square.
In this case, Inter Miami’s challenge will be much more complex than it was a week ago, when the team won the first title in its history. Led by Gerardo “Tata” Martino, the team has the worst record in the entire league, 20 points behind Atlanta United and at the bottom of the post-season playoff entry positions. Just closing that gap and making it to the finals would make them the first team in MLS history to finish bottom for more than half the season. But he only has 12 games to reverse his situation.
In the MLS, Inter Miami has not won eleven games since May 13 (2-1 against New England), before the arrival of Messi, coach Martino, and the Spaniards Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, who also brought glory to the franchise co-owned by Englishman David Beckham.
The New York Red Bulls have no Argentines on their roster and are also fighting for postseason qualification. With 29 points, he is in eleventh place. After this game, Inter Miami will face Nashville (left), Los Angeles FC (V), Kansas City (left), Atlanta United (V), Toronto (left), Orlando (V), New York City (left), Chicago Fire (V), Cincinnati (L), and twice against Charlotte (L and V).
“The chances that we have are still open. We have to compete to try to get them and see if we finally make it to the last ranked,” was the analysis of Martino, who leads a team that has improved overall but would not be possible without Messi. At the same time, he issued a notice about Crack’s physical health. “At some point Messi should stop recovering because playing every three or four days is a lot, but as long as he doesn’t tell me, he’ll keep going on the field and playing ball,” he explained.
And he went further, with an agenda full of commitments ahead of him. “Eventually it will happen, for example, when I play with the Argentina national team. We need to look for a team that can progress in his important absence. We expect it to happen at least three times this year. Next year, the same It’s something we have to expect,” said Tata, who is comfortable with football in the United States after committing to Atlanta United.
