MLS
Inter Miami, with 11 winless streak set for Messi unveiling
Inter Miami will celebrate the signing of Lionel Messi on Sunday but will do so after their winless run extended to 11 games with a 3-0 defeat at St. Louis City this Saturday, leaving them rock bottom of Major League Soccer.
Miami confirmed the arrival of Messi hours before their game kicked off in Missouri, but that couldn’t inspire Gerardo Martino’s team to victory as they suffered their 14th defeat in 22 games.
Miami are bottom of the Eastern Conference and their latest loss also left them in last place in the overall standings — 29th of 29 clubs.
That leaves Messi, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner and Argentina World Cup hero, playing for officially the worst team in MLS.
Fortunately for the club and their new star, MLS does not, like most leagues in the world, have relegation. But Messi will need to have a transformational impact on the field if the club are to make a push towards the playoffs.
Messi has been expected to make his debut on Friday against Cruz Azul in the new Leagues Cup, a tournament featuring all the top-flight teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.
MLS is suspending its play for a month while the Leagues Cup is played, meaning the 36-year-old former Barcelona star won’t have a chance to start helping Miami up the league table until they host Charlotte on August 20.
But while the move has excited fans and gives Miami and MLS a chance to grow their popularity and revenue, the Florida club clearly hope that Messi will be able to raise the levels of his teammates.
“Lionel Messi is an incomparable talent. What he brings on and off the field will elevate everyone around him and we’re excited to have him at Inter Miami,” the club’s Sporting Director Chris Henderson said on Saturday.
There was nothing exciting about Miami’s performance in St. Louis, however, with the home side taking the lead in the 28th minute thanks to a header from a corner buried by Samuel Adeniran.
St. Louis, top of the Western Conference in their debut season, made it 2-0 five minutes before the break, with Miami again unable to defend a corner as Tim Parker glanced in a header at the near post.
German Eduard Loewen completed Miami’s misery with a thundering free-kick, 10 minutes from the end.
– Disappointing debut –
It was a disappointing first game in charge for former Barcelona and Argentina coach Martino, who said fans would need to be patient with Messi and left open the question of whether he would feature against Cruz Azul.
“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 ended up losing the game with three set pieces, which, of course, is valid and that’s how games are won. We have a lot of stuff to correct,” he added.
Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati continued their outstanding home form with their 11th win in 12 games thanks to a 3-1 win over a Nashville team who ended with nine men for the second straight game.
USA defender Walker Zimmerman put Nashville ahead in the 31st minute with a tap-in after Cincinnati keeper Roman Celentano failed to hold onto a cross.
The home side drew level through a 42nd-minute Luciano Acosta penalty but then Nashville saw Taylor Washington and Fata Picault both sent off for second yellow cards, leaving them two men down for the final 20 minutes.
Acosta set up Santiago Arias with a clever diagonal pass in the 74th minute before newly signed Gabonese striker Aaron Boupendza made sure of the win.
Ian Harkes, son of former US international John, scored twice for the New England Revolution, second in the East, as they beat Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United 4-0.
Last season’s runners-up, the Philadelphia Union beat 2021 champions New York City 2-1 with goals from Jose Martinez and Chris Donovan.
-AP
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
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to host global football icon Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates at the White House following the club’s historic Major League Soccer triumph.
According to The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism arm of The New York Times, Inter Miami CF received an invitation to the White House to commemorate their 2025 MLS Cup championship. The Miami Herald confirmed that the ceremony will take place on Thursday, just two days before the Herons face D.C. United in Washington, D.C.
Reports indicate that the entire squad — including Messi — is expected to attend the event with President Trump.
Inter Miami secured the first MLS Cup title in franchise history with a 3–1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on December 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The triumph marked a milestone moment for the relatively young club and capped a season highlighted by Messi’s continued influence both on and off the pitch.
White House visits have long been a tradition for championship-winning American sports teams, and Inter Miami’s appearance will place the club alongside a distinguished list of title holders honoured in Washington.
The visit will also carry added significance for co-owner David Beckham, who previously attended a White House ceremony in 2012 during his time with the LA Galaxy after the club’s 2011 MLS Cup victory.
For Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, the White House reception adds another high-profile chapter to a decorated career that has spanned Europe, South America and now North America.
The ceremony is expected to take place in Washington before Inter Miami shifts focus back to league action, with their upcoming fixture against D.C. United is looming shortly after the White House engagement.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi was knocked to the ground by a security guard who was restraining a shirtless fan on the field near the end of their 2-1 friendly win over Ecuadorean champions Independiente del Valle in Puerto Rico.
The fan reached the centre circle and wrapped his arms around twice-reigning MLS Most Valuable Player Messi before the security guard intervened and pulled the pitch invader to the ground while dragging the Argentine great down in the process.
By the time the individual got to Messi, there were two other fans — one in a Barcelona jersey and the other in a Miami shirt — in the middle of the field, where one took a selfie with the player while Messi signed the other’s shirt.
The 38-year-old Messi, who came on at halftime and converted the winner from the penalty spot in the 70th minute, got up immediately and appeared to be unharmed in Thursday’s incident.
The game at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon was originally scheduled for February 13 and was supposed to be Miami’s pre-season finale, but it was postponed after Messi suffered a hamstring strain.
-Reuter
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- WAFCON4 days ago
BREAKING: CAF Postpones WAFCON 2026
- OBITUARY5 days ago
Nigerian Sports Journalism Mourns Oyeniyi Oyeleke and Tonex Chukwu
- MLS1 week ago
Trump to Host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at the White House
- World Cup5 days ago
‘I really don’t care’ if Iran plays in World Cup, Trump tells Politico
- World Cup4 days ago
Iraq’s World Cup Playoff in Doubt as War Disrupts Travel and Visa Processing
- FA Cup2 days ago
Eze thunderbolt guides Arsenal past Mansfield into FA Cup quarter-finals
- MLS3 days ago
Trump celebrates Messi
- World Cup3 days ago
World Cup 2026: U-20 World Cup Winner Ouahbi Takes Charge of Morocco’s Atlas Lions