Inter Miami secured a surprising 2-1 victory against Porto in the Club World Cup through Lionel Messi’s signature free-kick on Thursday. Inter Miami and Palmeiras now have four points each in Group A, following the Brazilian team’s 2-0 win over Al Ahly. Both Porto and Al Ahly remain with one point. Porto took an early lead through Samu Aghehowa’s penalty in a first half that they dominated. Telasco Segovia equalised for Miami before Messi’s free-kick sealed an impressive win in what was expected to be an easy match for Porto, with Miami becoming the first club from MLS to secure a win over European opposition in an official competition. Inter Miami, partly owned by David Beckham, began their MLS journey in 2020 and enhanced their status by signing Messi in 2023.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Messi showed his class from the beginning, creating an early chance for Luis Suarez. Porto opened the scoring in the eighth minute after VAR awarded a penalty for Noah Allen’s slight contact with Joao Mario.Suarez missed a chance to equalise after receiving Messi’s through ball, with goalkeeper Claudio Ramos making the save. Benjamin Cremaschi nearly scored for Miami following Suarez’s forward run, but Ramos denied him at the near post.Maximiliano Falcon made a crucial goal-line clearance to keep Miami in the game. Ustari made important saves before halftime, denying Aghehowa and managing to prevent a goal after a shot from Alan Varela hit the post.Segovia equalised early in the second half, converting Marcelo Weigandt’s assist.Messi put Miami ahead in the 54th minute with a perfectly placed free-kick into the top corner after being fouled outside the box.Watch:This victory marked the first time an MLS team defeated European opposition in competitive play, following Chelsea’s win over Los Angeles FC earlier in the week.“It’s a huge joy, the whole team made a big effort, we worked really well,” Messi told DAZN. “It’s a really important win for us and we have to enjoy it… You can see that we want to compete, and today we competed against a really good European team… we knew that today we were weaker, but we had our strengths.”The Mercedes-Benz Stadium was less than half-full at kickoff due to the 3:00 pm start time on a workday, similar to Chelsea’s opening match.Attendance grew throughout the game as fans arrived to watch the 37-year-old Messi, with nearly 32,000 spectators present by the end.“(Messi) is a leader, he’s the player he is, he’s the greatest player in the world,” Inter Miami forward Fafa Picault told DAZN. “I had a feeling (the free-kick) was going in. That was a great goal, a great show of leadership and coming in a clutch moment for us.” The stadium tensed when seven minutes of stoppage time was announced. Miami’s players showed tremendous defensive effort, blocking multiple shots to secure their significant victory.
