3/1/2024 0 Comments Cruz azul jersey near me![]() His games took on the feel of a religious revival. Attendance, ticket prices, merchandise sales, and viewership soared. At 36, two decades into his unparalleled career, Messi provided a singular stimulus to soccer in America. A nagging injury slowed his MLS pace come September, but that hardly mattered. by scoring 10 goals in seven Leagues Cup games while leading Inter Miami to the championship. Fans wait to enter DRV PNK Stadium before a match against Cruz Azul on July 21. It was a deal that not only reflected Messi’s undiminished talent on the field but also set a new standard for athlete leverage and empowerment. In addition to the more than $20 million a year Inter Miami would pay him, he would be granted an ownership stake in the team upon retirement and an unprecedented cut of revenues earned by a league media partner-in this case, Apple. It wasn’t just the move that was stunning, but the size and scope of the deal. “As the country’s tourism ambassador, it was a destination that attracted me, especially because I’ve enjoyed everything I have visited, because of how football is growing in the country and because of the effort they are putting into creating a top competition.”Īt the end, he tells TIME, “it was Saudi Arabia or MLS, and both options seemed very interesting to me.” Messi shocked the globe by turning down a contract from a Saudi club reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year and announcing in June that he was signing with Inter Miami. “It is also true that later I was thinking a lot about going to the Saudi league, where I know the country and they have created a very powerful competition that can become an important league in the near future,” Messi says. “I tried to return, and it did not happen.” Saudi Arabia, indeed, was very much in the mix. “My first option was to return to Barcelona, but it was not possible,” Messi says. He confirms that a Barcelona homecoming was a real consideration. ![]() “The truth is that fortunately, I had several options on the table that were interesting, and I had to analyze them and think, even weigh them up with my family, before making the final decision to come to Miami,” Messi tells TIME. (Saudi Arabia is also set to host the 2034 World Cup.) Would he return to Barcelona, the team that signed him as a 13-year-old phenom from Rosario, Argentina? Would he further empower Saudi Arabia, a country that has been accused of “sports-washing” its troubling human-rights record by signing global superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema? After all, Messi was already a tourism ambassador for the kingdom, for which he can earn some $25 million. ![]() Then, as his contract with that team wound down, speculation about his future ran rampant. Messi finished his 2022–2023 club season, for Paris St.-Germain (PSG), with 21 goals and 20 assists across all competitions. Get a print of the Lionel Messi Athlete of the Year cover hereįew could have imagined this scene-the pink sea of fans losing their minds over their new local sensation-seven months earlier as Messi kissed the World Cup trophy, finally securing the ultimate prize that had long eluded him. It was for the future of the game.” Illustration by Neil Jamieson for TIME Trevor Ruszkowski-USSF/Getty Images Megan Briggs-Getty Images Matt Kelley-Getty Images “I remember getting in the car on the way back, and I said to Victoria, ‘I’m not even sure I can drive home,’” Beckham tells TIME. Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham was moved to tears. ![]() Messi’s shot continued bending, bending, past the outstretched arms of the diving Cruz Azul goalkeeper, sending the 20,000-plus fans at DRV PNK Stadium-and millions more watching around the world-into absolute hysterics. “You know when you can just feel something?” says Yedlin. The ball left Messi’s left foot, and as the shot began to curl around a wall of a half-dozen Cruz Azul players, Yedlin, who was standing on the field behind Messi, spread his arms in a victory pose. Kim Kardashian and LeBron James were in the crowd that night, but not a soul was looking at them.
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