Lionel Messi, still in doubt due to muscle strain, will be chasing his second title tonight in an Inter Miami shirt when he faces Houston Dynamo in the final of the US Open Cup. The game will be played starting at 9:30 pm (Argentina) time ) at the DRV PNK stadium in Fort Lauderdale and will be televised by TyC Sports. The captain of the Argentine national team is doubtful because of the muscle tension he has carried since his participation in the South American Qualifiers, but if he is not a starter he will be on the substitute bench.
Two months after his arrival in the United States, the Argentine star is looking to add his second title to Inter Miami. Messi already won the Leagues Cup with the team led by Gerardo Martino from Rosario on August 19 and with 44 trophies he became the most successful. footballer in history. If he wins the oldest soccer tournament in the United States, Messi will also leave the discussion about the number of titles as some estimate that he will have 43. The debate arose about his presence in the 2005 Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona since Even without Messi. participate in either of the two finals, he is part of the squad and the Catalan club counts this as one of the 35 titles it has won with the “Blaugrana” shirt.
Messi came into this decisive game amid doubts due to the hamstring strain in his right leg, which he suffered on debut against Ecuador, when he scored a great goal from a free kick and was substituted a minute from in the end. . Then, the captain traveled to La Paz to visit Bolivia but did not train with the team and ended up missing the game. He made another appearance thirteen days later against Toronto in the MLS but was only on the field for half an hour as he suffered from the same ailment.
Possible formations:
Inter Miami: Drake Callender; Noah Allen, Tomás Avilés, Serhiy Kryvtsov, DeAndre Yedlin; Robert Taylor, Sergio Busquets, David Ruiz, Benjamín Cremaschi; Lionel Messi or Leonardo Campana and Josef Martínez. DT: Gerardo Martino.
Houston Dynamo: Steve Clark; Franco Escobar, Teenage Hadebe, Micael dos Santos Silva, Griffin Dorsey; Héctor Herrera, Caicedo Mosquera; Nelson Quiñones, Arthur and Adalberto Carrasquilla; Corey Baird. DT: Ben Olsen.
What happens if there is a tie in the US Open Cup
In case of tie in regular time, since only one match will be played, extra time of 30 minutes will be played. If the tie continues, all will be decided in a penalty shootout. This method of solving matches is different from the one done in the Leagues Cup, which is decided directly by penalties after 90 minutes.
FIFA, based in Miami
FIFA will move some of its offices located in the city of Zurich in Switzerland to the city of Miami in America, with nearly a hundred employees involved in the move, the highest football body in world shown this Wednesday. In that sense, FIFA has moved part of the department that serves member associations to Paris and recently opened several offices in Miami to support the organization of the next World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026. The offices will have a more important role in the permanent arrival of staff who will work in four different departments.
In addition to the upcoming World Cup, Miami is considered by FIFA to be a strategic location due to its proximity to the 41 member associations of the Concacaf region (North, Central America and the Caribbean) and its beneficial connections with South America. Miami has also raised its profile as a soccer city since the high-profile signing of Lionel Messi for MLS’s Inter Miami, a franchise owned by David Beckham. The organization’s headquarters, located in Zurich, is known as “The Home of FIFA” and has been its base since 2007. FIFA was founded in Paris in 1904 and moved to Zurich in 1932.
