Miami, Feb 21: Less than three months removed from its first MLS Cup championship, Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami shows no signs of a letdown.
The Herons have assembled one of the strongest rosters in Major League Soccer history heading into a season that begins this weekend and bookends around the biggest event of them all, the World Cup hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The ageless Messi – he turns 39 in June – is coming off his second straight MVP award, the first player in MLS history to accomplish that feat. He just keeps adding to a legacy that already ensures he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest ever to play the beautiful game.“He’s a quiet guy, but on the pitch he transforms into an animal,” teammate Yannick Bright told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“After all he’s won, he never wants to lose, not even in training.” Messi is hardly going it alone in Miami, which pulled off an impressive reload after bringing a title to South Florida.
MLS goalkeeper of the year Dayne St. Clair was lured away from Minnesota United, addressing the club’s biggest area of concern. German Berterame arrived from Liga MX’s Monterrey to fill a designated player spot, giving the Herons another dynamic threat up front. (AP)
