As the American football community mourns the exit of the USA women’s team from World Cup 2023, attention turns to the men’s sport as Messi Mania continues to dominate in Major League Soccer.
The USWNT crashed out of the Women’s World Cup after a nail-biting penalty shootout loss to Sweden when Megan Rapinoe shanked her penalty high and wide and the Swede’s winning spot kick only just crossed the line. So, to take USA fans’ minds off that disappointment it’s time to look at MLS and the impact made by Lionel Messi since his arrival at Inter Miami. The 2023 campaign is the 28th of the Major League Soccer and this year there is a sprinkling of stardust on the competition as Messi, joined by some of his old Barcelona friends, begins to make his mark, scoring five goals in his first three games for the club.
Inter Miami are bottom of the Easter Conference and they have a big task ahead to make the play-off places. The Major League Soccer 2023 betting odds will give a good price but Miami have real hope now that Messi has arrived and he is making a big difference to the club off the field too. At 36 years of age the former Barcelona talisman is still a great player, it’s only eight months since he led Argentina to World Cup glory and he remains one of the best players on the planet. But in terms of merchandise and investment the results are already showing.
More that £175m has been piled into Inter Miami since the announcement, in June, that Messi and a number of other big names would be joining the club. The costs of bringing the Argentine legend into the club have already been covered and merchandise sales are outstripping the best of the other clubs by 50 per cent, and they have sold more team items in the last month than in the six month period before.
Apple streaming service is feeling the benefit too as Apple TV+ has beaten its subscriber targets over the three months ending July 1 and Messi’s explosive start will ensure that trend continues. There has been an uptick in membership since the arrival of the great man and Apple’s CEO has expressed delight at the Messi signing.
Apple began a ten year partnership with MLS in February, offering a season pass at $13 a month to subscribers, and the tech giants couldn’t have envisaged such a profitable start
As well as Messi joining the ambitious club, former Blaugrana team-mates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba have arrived in Miami, preferring the move to a switch to the Saudi Pro League where financial riches are the only real attraction. There have been rumours that Luis Suarez might also be on his way to Miami, but the Uruguayan star is suffering serious knee problems and so we’ll have to wait and see on that one. Stars and Stripes favourite DeAndre Yedin was the biggest name in the Inter Miami side but now it is a star studded outfit. While SBOTOP fans are more familiar with Europe’s top leagues, Inter Miami’s transfer activity has elevated MLS to new heights, not seen since the great Pele played for New York Cosmos in the mid 1970s.
Messi’s five goals have fired Inter Miami to the League Cup round of 16 which takes place during the mid-season break, and the club, owned by David Beckham will hope to take that form into the second half of the MLS campaign. But, at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table, they have a mountain to climb when the league starts again later in August.
Messi has already dominated the Major League Soccer 2023 news since his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain and he will continue to write the headlines as Inter Miami begin their long climb up the league table. So far the club has accumulated 18 points from 22 league games, with five wins, three draws and 14 defeats. That poor first half has left them in serious trouble and, with just 12 games to play there is no hope of catching leaders FC Cincinnati on 51 points. But that isn’t Inter’s target. They need to reach ninth place to qualify for the play-offs and then they are in the real competition.
DC United currently occupy the ninth position and have 30 points from 24 games. They can expect to accumulate around 40 at that rate so Inter Miami realistically need to pick up 22 points or more to make the cut.
That’s almost two points a game, or seven wins and a draw from 12 matches. They have won their first three games with Messi in the side so Inter Miami must believe they have a real chance.
The impact of Lionel Messi, on and off the pitch, is simply huge.
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