Atlanta (AFP) – Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano admitted he is surprised at Lionel Messi’s desire to win after the MLS side shocked Porto at the Club World Cup on Thursday. Veteran playmaker Messi curled home a fine free-kick in a man-of-the-match performance at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the winning goal in Miami’s 2-1 Group A victory over their Portuguese opponents.
Mascherano said his Argentine compatriot’s competitive spirit at 37 was more surprising to him than the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s quality. “Beyond his goal…he’s a player who shows us how to compete, his hunger, his desire to continue competing at whatever level it is,” Mascherano told reporters. “In a footballing sense, what else is there to say? He’s the best player that has played this sport in its history, but what is surprising is his will to win. Today, even in the last minutes, tired, with a knock, he kept helping the team in any way he could, in attack, in defence, to get the result… We know having him gives us an advantage, but above all, through his contagious spirit, the winning spirit that he has.”
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Many expected Porto to beat Inter Miami, but the American side recorded a first-ever victory in a competitive match for an MLS team against European opposition and the first shock at the Club World Cup. “I think that we understood that in football there are obviously hierarchies, and we were facing against a team at a high level, with international players,” said Mascherano. “But we were convinced that if we did what we had to do, if we had a plan, if we supported each other, if we were together, but above all, if we dared to play, we could compete.”
Samu Aghehowa netted a first-half penalty for Porto, but Telasco Segovia and Messi’s strikes after the break earned Inter Miami victory, which puts them level on four points with Palmeiras at the top of the group. “What I told them (at half-time) was…to raise their spirits, because we had clearly showed we could compete, and that we had reached a moment where I didn’t care about the result,” added Mascherano. “What I was interested in was showing we were capable of playing with and without the ball, and they understood, they picked themselves up and in the end it was a great afternoon for us.”
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