Key events
Kieran McKintosh writes: “Huh. After that first half, perhaps Messi won’t want to go up against a team from the EPL. Never thought I’d be typing that sentence. I imagine Man City, even in their questionable last season, would absolutely steamroller this lot-especially with pocket rocket Cherki now in their ranks.”
Well, yeah. I don’t think many people around MLS are under any illusions that the league’s clubs could avoid relegation if dropped into England’s Premier League.
It’s tempting to say they might not avoid relegation in Egypt’s Premier League, but it’s worth remembering how strong this Al Ahly side are.
Halftime: Al Ahly 0-0 Inter Miami
Penalty saves can sometimes change the momentum of the game, and Inter desperately needed something. The last five minutes of the half were much better for the MLS side than the preceding 43.
It was the striker, incidentally, Abou Ali who acrobatically hit an overhead kick to keep the ball from Allende.
45 min +2: An olimpico attempt for Messi? Punched clear, but barely. Messi draws about five defenders and gets it to the other side of the area. It’s lofted into the air and lands just away from Allende, who has raced within three yards of the goal while the keeper has gone missing. Big defensive challenge to keep Allende from scoring against the run of play.
45 min +1: Hey, it’s another Messi sighting! He turns and unleashes a shot that deflected for a corner. Now Inter’s xG might be 0.2 or so.
The corner isn’t cleared well, and it’s played back in for … another corner.
45 min: As a reminder, the score is 0-0.
The xG, on the other hand, has to be something like 2-0.01 in Al Ahly’s favor.
SAVE BY USTARI!
This is a goalkeeping performance for the ages from Inter’s Argentine keeper. He holds his ground as Trezeguet pauses his run-up, then moves right to punch Trezeguet’s shot back to him. Then he returns to his feet to keep Trezeguet from slotting in the rebound.
Penalty to Al Ahly.
It was a weak pass from Redondo that was picked off, and Segovia trips Zizo in the penalty area.
39 min: Now it’s El Shenawy’s turn to show his goalkeeping prowess, as he punches clear from Messi’s free kick into traffic.
Al Ahly go the other way, and Tomas Aviles hacks down Trezeguet. Aviles is already on a yellow. This should be a second, but our referee is forgiving. For now.
38 min: Center holds it … holds it …
Busquets plays long to Fray, who is not running. Busquets raises a hand in apology.
Ball to Messi, and he’s clipped from behind by Attia. Messi wants a yellow card, and he has a case.
35 min: Ustari races out of the penalty area to clear a long ball, but the bigger concern here is that an Al Ahly player’s follow-through landed hard into the inside of Messi’s leg before that ball was played.
He’ll stay in the game, though.
It’s nearly 30 degrees Celsius, and the humidity is in the 60s. Little wonder Al-Ahly’s players’ shirts are clinging to their bodies, drenched in sweat.
34 min: Inter play over the top to Allende, who promptly loses it.
The best player for Inter in this half, but a considerable margin, is the goalkeeper Ustari.
We get a replay of the header off the corner kick. How did Ustari keep that out?
33 min: WHAT A SAVE by Ustari at point-blank range as Inter again fail to defend properly off a set piece, this time a corner kick. Dari was the player who got onto the ball and directed it on frame with considerable venom.
31 min: Another yellow card, as Redondo slides in from behind and clips an attacker. Abou Ali lines up the free kick from 25 …
… and Ustari has to tip it over the bar!
Good thing for Inter that it was straight down the middle. One foot either way, and that’s a goal.
GOOOOOAL if it stands
Oh no … this might. Abou Ali was behind Falcon, but did another player keep him on?
Apparently not, because we’re already playing again.
29 min: Inter with a sustained possession, and while the time of possession stat lies more than most statistics, it’s better than chasing after Al Ahly players racing toward goal.
27 min: Busquets takes a free kick quickly. His teammates lose the ball quickly.
MLS officials may be wondering if they can put Vancouver on the field for the second half.
26 min: The ball goes to Lionel Messi. Did you forget he was in this game?
Then it’s not a bad possession for Inter, and Fray takes an opportunistic long-range shot that whistles over the far upper corner.
25 min: A very easy decision to show a yellow card to Aviles, who makes little effort to do anything other than slam his body into Zizo as Al Ahly race downfield.
We get our first look at the ref’s body cam. It’s shaky. As a referee who sometimes has his glasses shaking while at full sprint, I get it.
Free kick somehow eludes every Al Ahly player, and Ustari easily grabs the ball.
Joe Pearson writes: “Never in my life did I think I’d be rooting for an Egyptian club side over an American side, but here we are. Miami’s ‘qualification’ for this tournament is a complete and utter farce, and I hope they get thumped.”
Kurt Perleberg asks: “Who is this Club World Cup for?”
It’s for you. Happy birthday!
22 min: Trezeguet is simply at a higher level than the defenders who are chasing him.
Inter concede a corner kick. Zizo will take.
From Nick Carter in the inbox: “I missed the opening ceremony. Did Baggio take a Diana Ross penalty?”
I’ll have to Google a bit later to get the reference. World Cup 1994 ended with Baggio sending a penalty kick skyward, but how does Diana Ross enter into it?
20 min: That should’ve been a better shot in the end. The ball floats near the penalty spot, and Fathy is there to shoot, but he doesn’t see Ustari’s positioning, and it’s perfect. The Inter keeper makes another save.
At last, a half-chance for Inter, with Allen overlapping and racing onto a through ball that El Shenawy intercepts.
19 min: The increasingly useless stat of possession is in Inter’s favor.
Ian Fray is called for a foul for nearly yanking off a player’s shorts.
17 min: Free kick to Al Ahly, as the sub Zizo is fouled. They play it backwards. A few patient passes later, they spring Trezeguet down the left flank. Ustari ends up snagging a pass in a dangerous area.
Far better start for the visitors so far.
16 min: A lot of Inter’s attacking is going through Fray on the right. Now they try to spread things around a bit while Al Ahly gives only minimal pressure at midfield. That’s still enough for them to force an impatient pass and a turnover.
15 min: Free kick for Messi … and it’s about four feet over the bar.
Zizo just signed with Al Ahly from fellow Egyptian side Zamalek last week.
13 min: Handball on Al Ahly, and …
Substitution for Al Ahly, as Ashour is unable to continue. He was in one of those collisions a few minutes ago. Zizo, also an Egyptian international, enters the game.
12 min: Redondo does well to strip the ball from a dribbling Al Ahly attacker at midfield.
Al Ahly have settled into the game and are stringing together solid passes. Inter have not.
11 min: Finally a solid defensive moment for the Inter defense. But Javier Mascherano has to figure out how to keep his young defenders from conceding through balls to open players so easily.
For now, they’ll slow down a bit.
9 min: Inter try to establish possession and fail.
CHANCE for Al Ahly, and credit to Trezeguet for alertly intercepting a pass to an offside teammate near midfield. He carries the ball forward another 30 yards and tips it over to his formerly offside teammate Ashour, whose shot is well-saved by Ustari.
7 min: A couple of off-the-ball collisions so far. Clumsy game at the moment.
The referee has a chat with Inter center back Aviles, who appears apologetic.
6 min: CHANCE for Al Ahly as Palestinian forward Abou Ali breaks through to race onto a longball with several yards of space between him and the pursuing defenders. Ustari does well to cut down the angle and make the save.
5 min: Weak pass in Al Ahly’s back line, and overlapping back Fray is racing along the end line. He earns a corner kick … or not.
From the inbox: I’m a fool for thinking the pregame show was better than Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl show. I blotted the Super Bowl out of my head this year, so the writer may be correct.
3 min: Al Ahly tests Falcon with a direct ball, but he reads it perfectly and shields the attacker from the ball before making a simple pass.
Ball is blasted the other way, and it’ll be a goal kick. Not the free-flowing game you might expect so far.
2 min: Inter play over the top and gain possession deep in the offensive half. A wayward throw-in forces them to play back to the defenders.
Kickoff
At 8:08 p.m. ET. Not too bad.
It’s red vs. pink. Why did the ref allow that?
The stage has been cleared from the field. The teams have walked out, but instead of the traditional single line, they’re staring at each other as if they’re about to play Red Rover.
Now they’re shaking hands.
The VAR crew are from Spain and Uruguay. The referee is Alireza Faghani, who has moved to and works in Australia but is from Iran. What must be going through his mind right now?
Question of the day
With this expanded Club World Cup and the potential for a 48-team event, as reported by Matt Hughes in The Guardian, it’s clear that club events are on the way up. Yes, the World Cup World Cup (the traditional one) also is expanding, but has the club game blown past the international game, and is that a good thing?
Now up is French Montana, the outspoken critic of US immigration policies mentioned in Barney Ronay’s story about the political backdrop of this event.
He’s probably not lip-syncing, given the fact that he just said one of the words George Carlin said you can’t say on television. (Or someone forgot to listen to it before playing it. Or people just don’t care about that any more.)
What I’m basically saying here is that there’s no way this game starts at 8 p.m. Eastern.
I have no idea who’s performing in this pregame show, but it’s several levels of excellence ahead of any recent Super Bowl halftime show.
I don’t think the “trombone players” are fooling anyone, though. They were “playing” for several seconds before any brass instruments were heard.
The entire field is covered with what looks like a thin stage. Are we sure this is where they’re playing the game? Or is this a Taylor Swift concert?
Hey … look who’s here …
Formations, schnormations …
Fifa and TBS/DAZN disagree on how these teams will line up. ESPN disagrees even more. They have Al Ahly in a 4-3-2-1, the old “Christmas tree” formation, and they say Inter will play in a 4-2-3-1 with Suarez as the lone forward. MLSSoccer.com agrees, but they switch a couple of Al Ahly’s players.
Inter Miami lineup
GK: 18 Oscar Ustari – Aging Argentinian claimed starting spot this year
D: 6 Tomas Aviles – Also from Argentina, but barely half Ustari’s age
D: 17 Ian Fray – Homegrown Miami player
D: 32 Noah Allen – Homegrown player, though he switched his nationality to Greece
D: 37 Maximiliano Falcon – Uruguayan joined Miami this year
M: 5 Sergio Busquets – Yes, that Busquets
M: 8 Telasco Segovia – Venezuelan new to club
M: 55 Federico Redondo – No, not that Redondo. He’s Fernando’s son and an Argentine youth international
F: 9 Luis Suarez – Yes, that Luis Suarez
F: 10 Lionel Messi – Yes, that Messi
F: 21 Tadeo Allende – Argentina player on loan from Spain’s Celta de Vigo
Fifa says 4-3-3. TBS says two forwards.
Al Ahly lineup
The Al Ahly side are overwhelmingly domestic. A few players from Morocco dot the roster, and they have Slovenian Nejc Gradišar on the bench.
One familiar name is Trézéguet – no, not David. It’s actually a Brazilian-style nickname for an Egyptian player Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan. He spent a few years with Aston Villa before a spell in Turkey and a return back to the club with which he started.
US fans who recall the 1998 World Cup should look away for a moment …
…
…
… ready?
The Fifa site says Al Ahly will line up in a 3-6-1, the formation that became the subject of much consternation after the USA’s ignominious departure from the 1998 Cup.
TBS/DAZN, our US broadcaster for this event, says it’s four at the back.
Starting XI:
GK : 1 Mohamed El Shenawy – long-serving captain starts for Egypt
D: 6 Yasser Ibrahim – 32-year-old has spent entire career in Egypt
D: 15 Achraf Dari – Moroccan player had short spell with Brest in France
D: 30 Mohamed Hany – started for Egypt at right back in last game
M: 5 Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane – Tunisian player; new to club this year
M: 7 Trézéguet – Egyptian national starter
M: 8 Hamdy Fathy – substitute in last Egypt’s last game
M: 13 Marawan Attia – another player who has stayed in Egypt for his whole career so far
M: 22 Emam Ashour – very short spell in Denmark
M: 36 Ahmed Koka – defensive mid in Egypt’s last game
F: 9 Wessam Abou Ali – Danish-born player represents Palestine internationally
Preamble
If you’ve ever wanted to see Lionel Messi take on EPL opposition in a meaningful game, tonight’s your night.
You did mean Egyptian Premier League, didn’t you?
It’s not just an Egyptian team, of course. It’s Al-Ahly FC, winners of 12 African Champions League tournaments, including four of the last six.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Barney Ronay’s latest dispatch from Miami.
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2025-06-14 23:03:06