{"id":3484,"date":"2023-08-15T23:45:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T23:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/?p=3484"},"modified":"2024-05-13T17:29:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T17:29:49","slug":"impact-of-lionel-messi-arrival-in-the-mls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/impact-of-lionel-messi-arrival-in-the-mls\/","title":{"rendered":"The impact of global superstar Lionel Messi’s arrival in the MLS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Earlier this summer, heralded professional footballer, Lionel Messi swapped Paris for Miami in a truly earth-shattering move in the world of not just professional football, but also on a global scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revered as arguably the greatest football player to ever lace a pair of boots, fresh from a stunning FIFA World Cup win with his native, Argentina, Messi, who has won gold across multiple seasons in professional football \u2013 would venture stateside for the first time in his professional career \u2013 joining MLS (Major League Soccer) with the David Beckham-led, Inter Miami.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A global sports icon, Messi\u2019s stunning move to the United States has already garnered much attention amid a media frenzy, with the Argentine veteran netting five goals in just three games for his new side ahead of the commencing of the new MLS season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the wake of Messi\u2019s move to the MLS, following his stunning World Cup win with Argentina last December, betting has hit the roof on a number of markets, of the possibility of the multiple-time FIFA Ballon d\u2019Or winner becoming the first recipient of the award to win gold whilst playing his club football in the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promotions for online casinos<\/strong><\/a> offer multiple ways for consumers and bettors to play and wager on worldwide sports, including football, with Messi sure to rival Manchester City forward and treble-winning goalscoring ace, Erling Haaland in any conversation for FIFA Ballon d\u2019Or spoils in their year\u2019s iteration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spending two series with French side and Ligue 1 dominators, Paris Saint Germain, Messi, who formed a formidable front three with former FC Barcelona teammate, Neymar, and the recently cast out, Kylian Mbappe \u2013 failed to deliver the Parisian club a much-sought-after, UEFA Champions League trophy \u2013 despite spending two seasons in the French capital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, separating himself from fellow sport great, Cristiano Ronaldo in the eyes of many critics and football pundits last year in Qatar, Messi managed to guide Argentina to World Cup glory for the first time since 1986 \u2013 and the first occasion since the sad passing of former leader, Diego Maradona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Drawing 3-3 after extra time, with Messi twice scoring \u2013 while now-former PSG teammate, Mbappe landed himself a stunning hat-trick, the former would convert from the spot as the first kicker, with follow-up strikes from Paulo Dybala, Leandro Paredes, and Gonzalo Montiel past French stopper, Hugo Lloris enough to land Argentina the Jules Rimet Cup in the Middle East. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landing the captaincy immediately following his move to Inter Miami CF, Messi has since been joined in \u2018The Sunshine State\u2019 alongside former FC Barcelona teammates, full back, Jordi Alba, and defensive midfield maestro, Sergio Busquets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in a summer which has saw a slew of notable and high-profile transfers to Saudi Arabia for massive sums of money, the aforenoted, Ronaldo \u2013 who moved to Al Nassr from Manchester United following a brief season-and-a-half salvo with Erik ten Hag\u2019s side in the last two years, appears to have been the catalyst for an attempted entry into mainstream football for the Saudi Pro League. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite receiving a reportedly eye-watering $1,600,000,000 offer over the period of three-years to make a move to the Saudi Pro League, Messi has decided to trade Paris for South Florida \u2013 taking his uber talents to the MLS. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On many markets to boot, Messi\u2019s arrival to Florida to link up with Inter Miami CF, has seen the club\u2019s odds slashed as low as +2,200 to win the MLS Cup this season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of his storied tenure with the aforenoted Catalan giants, FC Barcelona, Messi, who racked up a stunning 672 goals in 778 appearance for the reigning La Liga champions, landed a slew of league titles, Spanish cups, and multiple UEFA Champions League crowns \u2013 under the tutelage of both current Manchester City head coach, Pep Guardiola, and newly-minted PSG manager, Luis Enrique \u2013 has traded European football for an MLS experience in his venture to the United States this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featuring against Orlando City, Messi guided Inter Miami CF to a 3-1 victory, scoring in both the first and second half<\/a>, in between a spot kick goal from Venezuelan striker, Josef Martinez. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning 36-years-old just earlier this summer, whilst Messi\u2019s stint in the United States and whilst competing in the MLS may be short-lived, the Newell Old Boys product is currently priced as short as -500 to win the golden ball for the staggering eighth FIFA Ballon d\u2019Or \u2013 ahead of the aforenoted Norweigan goalscorer, Haaland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And despite his age, Messi, who managed to turn in an impressive 16 goals and a further 16 assists during his final season with former side, PSG<\/a> \u2013 is sure to excel while plying his trade for inter Miami CF in the MLS \u2013 netting five goals since joining the Floridian side just earlier this summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst the UEFA Champions League record of Cristiano Ronaldo in terms to outright goalscorer in competition history will likely remain in tact with Messi\u2019s move from PSG to Inter Miami CF \u2013 as well as the Portuguese\u2019s recent admission that his days in European football are over, Messi is surefire to add to his stunning goal tally whilst playing in the United States for the foreseeable future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as his league goal exploits, Messi also managed to surpass 100 goals whilst competing in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last December in the Middle East \u2013 en route to a legacy sealing, and G.O.A.T stealing status to boot. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this summer, heralded professional footballer, Lionel Messi swapped Paris for Miami in a truly earth-shattering move in the world of not just professional football, but also on a global scale. Revered as arguably the greatest football player to ever lace a pair of boots, fresh from a stunning FIFA World Cup win with his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[364,154],"class_list":["post-3484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","tag-lionel-messi","tag-mls"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"Soccer"}],"post_tag":[{"value":364,"label":"Lionel Messi"},{"value":154,"label":"mls"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Lionel-Messi-1024x576.jpeg",1024,576,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Ross Markey","author_link":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/author\/rossmarkey\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"Soccer","slug":"soccer","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":504,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":504,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Soccer","category_nicename":"soccer","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":364,"name":"Lionel Messi","slug":"lionel-messi","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":364,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":154,"name":"mls","slug":"mls","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":154,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3484"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4243,"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions\/4243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soccerballworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}