Today, Inter faces a crucial game to live alive at the Club World Cup. Messi will play, Mascherano denied that he was injured
Can a team with Lionel Messi leave a tournament in advance? To avoid this risk, Inter Miami must defeat Portuguese Porto today on the second date of group A of the Club World Cup.
In the inaugural duel of the championship, the herons tied without goals before a resistant to the Egyptian Ahly despite the efforts of the Messiah and the goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, who covered everything they sent him, including a penalty.
This Thursday at 3:00 p.m. (1:00 PM of El Salvador) at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta (Southeast), those led by Javier Mascherano must add three points to safely face the final duel against Brazilian Palmeiras.
In his previous appearance, the JEECH confirmed the return of the Spanish Jordi Alba and denied rumors that emerged in the last hours about a supposed lesion of Messi.
Those alerts were ignited when some images of the Inter training that show the Argentine star playing the back of the left thigh.
– Messi “Okay” –
“Leo is fine, he did all the training,” Mascherano reassured. “People sometimes are usually played but nothing happened. It is fine and is obviously going to play tomorrow.”
Less resounding was about the participation of Alba, which could begin in the bank after three weeks stopped by a muscle injury.
Noah Allen fulfilled as a left side in the debut, but the telepathic alba connection with Messi seems crucial for the possibilities of triumph of the US squad.
The attack would be in the hands of the Uruguayan Luis Suárez and a Messi who is still in his tribune and with the fans of world football, who hope to see him score.
Despite the entity of his rival, Mascherano advanced that his team intends to master the game.
“Our players feel more comfortable having the ball. The rival is too and its level is high but on the court we are eleven against eleven,” said the former Argentine player.
– Duel of Argentine strategists –
In betting houses and among the specialized press, the favorites of the meeting are the Portuguese but defender Zé Pedro does not believe it so fast.
“Hopefully in practice it will be like that, in theory many things can be said, but then when the game begins they are 11 against 11 and the ball is round,” he said.
If Inter is a franchise that is being covered with albiceleste figures, in the Porto wardrobe also resonates the Argentine accent with midfielder Alan Varela, defender Nehuén Pérez and especially his young helmsman, Martín Anselmi.
“I always thought about how a match against Messi would play if I played as a coach,” he acknowledged to the Anselmi press, motivated to measure himself to the soccer icons collection that brings together Inter.
“Having the possibility to face them as a coach is another challenge and one more reason to celebrate this profession,” he said. “They are players with an impressive trajectory. If you let them have the ball, they know how to generate danger.”
Anselmi, 39, took the reins of Porto last January after an abrupt and conflicting departure from Mexican Cruz Azul, who received compensation of more than three million dollars from the Portuguese club.
Probable alignments:
Inter Miami: Oscar Usari – Marcelo Weigandt, Maxi Falcón, Ian Frat, Noah Allen (or Jordi Alba) – Tadeo Allende, Benjamín Cremaschi, Sergio Busquets, Cancasco Segovia – Lionel Messi Y Luis Suárez. DT: Javier Mascherano.
OPORTO: Claudio Ramos – Martim Fernandes, Zé Pedro, Iván Marcano – João Mário, Alan Varela, Gabriel Veiga, Francisco Moura – Fábio Vieira, Rodrigo Mora y Samu Omon. DT: Martin Anselmi.
Today, earlier, Palmeiras also plays against Al-Ahly in a group where the four teams have a point. And later, in shares of Group B, the PSG will face the Botagofo (7:00) and the Seattle Sounders of Álex Roldán goes against Atlético de Madrid (4:00 pm)
Look also: Iván Barton, with another duel at the Club World Cup
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