Club World Cup: Inter Miami validates the Messi project, but proves an exception to the MLS rule
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — For Major League Soccer, the Club World Cup was a test. “A chance,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said, “for us to showcase our growing competitiveness on the global stage.” And on that stage, last Thursday in Atlanta and Monday here at Hard Rock Stadium, Inter Miami passed the test in historic fashion.It advanced to the Club World Cup’s Round of 16 with a 2-2 draw against Brazilian power Palmeiras. It nearly won Group A, having beaten FC Porto last week, 2-1. “We [showed] the world,” Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said after the Porto win, “that we can compete against any team.”AdvertisementAdvertisement Advertisement"We showed," defender Noah Allen said Monday, "that we can hang."But what, exactly, did MLS show?Hours before Inter Miami survived Group A, the Seattle Sounders bowed out of Group B without a point. LAFC, the third of three MLS teams, crashed out of Group D before it even got to a decisive third game.Nine countries sent multiple representatives to this novel Club World Cup. On a points per match basis, collectively, the U.S. and Mexican reps have been the worst. CONCACAF, the region encompassing North and Central America, has been outpaced by South America and Africa. Its teams have been competitive, but results have been underwhelming.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementThe only exception to the rule, thus far, has been Inter Miami.Which makes sense. Inter Miami is the exception to many MLS rules. It has Lionel Messi, who earns more money than any other MLS club’s entire roster. He has won more career trophies than MLS has played seasons. He has elevated Inter, on and off the field, to this stage, and to levels the league has never known.The question, then, is whether their progress to the Club World Cup’s knockout stage says all that much about the league’s broader progress.Built in his imageMessi is also the primary reason Inter has performed onstage. He has elevated the Herons with his on-ball brilliance, with his goals and gravity, with his alien-like skills — but also indirectly and intangibly. He propelled them to Thursday’s win over Porto with a classic free kick, but “beyond the goal,” Mascherano said, “he's a player who guides us. His hunger, his resilience, his desire to continue competing at any level — he shows us where we need to go.”AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementHe has elevated Inter Miami over the past two years with his aura, his standards and his professionalism. The team, Mascherano said, has been “infected by his spirit, his winning spirit.” Homegrown kids have played beyond their years and above their pedigrees. On Thursday, an unbalanced squad won as a coherent, confident unit. On Monday, it was sturdy and cohesive for 80 minutes yet again.It is unbalanced, of course, because MLS roster regulations and spending caps make it so. Messi, though, has been the ultimate workaround. He lured three former Barcelona teammates to Miami, two of them — Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba — on under-market contracts. He also wooed several young South Americans, who came, in part, for a chance to play with the GOAT. His god-like pull made recruitment “much easier,” former Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson told Yahoo Sports last year.Luis Suarez extended Inter Miami's lead over Palmeiras with a brilliant solo goal, helping the MLS side advance to the Club World Cup's Round of 16. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP) (PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA via Getty Images)The end product was the best roster in league history; the most regular-season points in league history; and on Thursday, the first win by an MLS club over a European counterpart in official competition.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementThat Porto win was a dream-like showcase for a 5-year-old club with grand ambition. Sunday’s Round of 16 match against PSG, the European champion, will be another. It will further validate the Messi project, which began with a years-long courtship. It will boost Inter’s brand globally.What it will do for MLS is up for debate. Messi and Inter Miami have become so distinct, so distinguishable from the rest of the league, that Seattle and LAFC probably tell a more accurate story.‘Nowadays, any team can compete with you’Seattle and LAFC have played five games and lost all five. LAFC could make it six on Tuesday against Flamengo. On paper, it’s a semi-humiliating haul for MLS. On the field, however, it has been more respectable.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementThe Sounders bowed out with pride. In a 2-1 loss to Botafogo, they nearly overwhelmed the Brazilian champions in search of a second-half equalizer. Against Atlético Madrid and PSG, they never looked capable of winning; but they never looked comically overmatched either. Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas battled with some of the best midfielders in the world. Their only glaring defect was the lack of a dynamic forward — in part because their best one, Jordan Morris, missed almost all of the tournament due to injury.LAFC also held its own against Chelsea. Its downfall was a downright ugly performance against what was, per Opta, the 258th-ranked team in the world, Espérance Tunis.LAFC’s 1-0 loss to the Tunisian champs was the biggest stain on MLS at the Club World Cup. For all the league’s talk of challenging Europe’s Big Five, and perhaps even reaching soccer’s summit in a decade, its top teams remain roughly on par with the kings of overlooked leagues on other continents.They also don’t spend enough money on enough difference-makers. In the Sounders case, academy product Paul Rothrock was perfectly capable of hassling defenders. But no one was capable of doing what Botafogo striker Igor Jesus did, or what Chelsea’s Pedro Neto did to LAFC.“Nowadays, any team can compete with you,” Jordi Alba said Sunday. “Physically, they're all [mostly] on par.”AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementIt’s individual quality that so often tips or wins games. And that’s what MLS clubs don’t have quite enough of.Superteam, still standingThe exception, once again, is Inter Miami. Even beyond Messi, beyond Sergio Busquets, it has Suarez, who astutely created Monday’s opening goal. It has Tadeo Allende, an Argentine winger signed from Celta Vigo in Spain’s La Liga, who sprinted away from the Palmeiras defense and finished.Inter, a 2020 expansion franchise, has nowhere near the history of Palmeiras or Al Ahly. It has nowhere near the social impact. It has been a quasi-away team twice in its own city at this Club World Cup. The tournament has reinforced just how young MLS clubs are, and just how much deeper the passion for soccer is elsewhere.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementBut MLS had the infrastructure; Miami had the lifestyle; Inter owner Jorge Mas had the relationships and the money. They attracted Messi. Together, they assembled an MLS superteam. Together, over three games, they were better than the most powerful club in Africa, and just as good as perhaps the most powerful in South America.Suarez seemed to finish the job with a bulldozing run, straight through the heart of the Palmeiras defense. His 65th-minute goal triggered triumphant celebrations. Subs spilled over the sideline. Players and coaches and owners pumped their fists, as if to punctuate Inter Miami's statement.Instead, Palmeiras punctuated the night with a comeback. With two late goals, O Verdão stormed back to the top of Group A.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementSpeaking postgame, Miami players expressed "bittersweet" disappointment. And speaking the day before, presciently, Mascherano explained a difference between the two squads that ultimately swung the game. While Inter Miami's depth is constrained by MLS regulations, Palmeiras "has two or even three options per position, at a very high level," Mascherano said. Two of those options, Paulinho and Mauricio, came off the bench to reclaim first place — whereas Inter Miami's subs, such as Fafà Picault, squandered chances to put the game away.But Inter escaped nonetheless, into the knockout rounds, toward the bigger and better things it wants to chase.And its statement held up, battered by Palmeiras but, in the end, unblemished."When we started this tournament, we were convinced that we can play our football," Mascherano said postgame. "We knew we were going to play against teams with maybe more quality than us — maybe teams that, normally, in their domestic league, they have more competitive games. But I think we [were able] to show the world that we can compete when we’re [united]."Allen added: "This tournament was made for all the teams around the world to compete and showcase their talent. And I think that's what we're doing. We're showcasing how we can play, and how we can compete at the top level against the top teams."
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