Commissioner Don Garber says Major League Soccer is on a “rocket ship” and believes Lionel Messi’s move to Inter Miami will take the competition to new heights.
After Pele’s move to New York Cosmos in 1975, MLS kicking off in 1996 and David Beckham’s 2007 switch to the LA Galaxy, this summer saw another seismic moment in North American football.
Global star Messi’s move to Miami just seven months after lifting the World Cup with Argentina in Qatar sent ripples across the footballing world.
The 36-year-old’s last-gasp free-kick winner on his debut against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup on Friday only increased attention on a move that Garber is thrilled about.
“MLS has been on this sort of rocket ship for a while,” said the league’s commissioner since 1999.
“Every day that you think they don’t maybe there’s a quiet period and you can settle in, something else happens that gives you even more momentum, more energy and more sort of optimism about where things are going.
“I think the time is going to come where these great things become expected, special moments are going to be expected and it’s not going to be ‘boy, is this the most special time in the history of the league?’”
Garber takes great pride in the fact “the best player in the history of the game made MLS his league of choice” when he could have gone anywhere.
The commissioner says the Argentinian’s arrival underlines the league’s “unending ambition”, perhaps meaning that one day the best players on the planet will move to North America at 26 rather than 36.
“I think you need to start with getting the best of all time choose us now,” Garber said when that potential change was put to him.
“What will that look like in the years to come and perhaps it will because I think the perception of Major League Soccer is going to change dramatically over the next number of years.
“I think our own ambition is going to change as we all see how all of this plays out.
“But I think because there are a handful of really big names who come at the end of their career, everyone has this label that they put on.
“I mean, David Beckham was 31. He went to Milan and PSG after.
“Yet nobody was saying to Zlatan when he left LA and then he played for Milan for two years and was leading scorer for a while that AC Milan is a retirement club.
“So, I think that’s what all you international pundits like to say but we actually feel really good about the dynamic of our player rosters.
“This concept of a designated player – someone who is outside the (wage) cap who is internationally renowned – that you do need someone who has a legacy of popularity.”
The designated player rule was brought in when Beckham arrived in MLS, with his unique deal allowing him the option to purchase an expansion club at a discounted price.
That team was Miami and the England great looked emotional when Messi made his debut 16 years to the day after he stepped out for his Galaxy bow.
“It fulfilled a dream that he had to really make an impact and follow up on his commitment from the earliest press conference in 2014,” Garber said of the Inter co-owner.
“David stood up there and said ‘I’m going to bring the best players in the world here to Miami – this is a city I love, it’s a team that I’m going to build, I’m going to make it great and I love the league’.
“It’s just not often that things align, and you sort of deliver on the things you say you’re going to deliver. I think that’s cool.
“David is a special guy. People don’t understand how smart David Beckham is, how thoughtful he is and how hard working he is.
“Obviously, you know that he’s very accessible and he’s very humble, but he had a laser focus from the very beginning when he walked off the field: ‘this is what I want to do and this is what it’s going to look like’.
“And it isn’t often where it all aligns and I was emotional with him when I saw him on Sunday night (at Messi’s unveiling).
“Very happy for him and really proud of him. It’s cool.”
Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record
Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record after scoring twice in Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, though he knows he needs "to get a move on".
Kane scored in both halves on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, also reaching the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.
The striker scored 280 of those goals for Tottenham, holding the honour of being the club's all-time leading scorer, while he is also the most prolific player in England history with 62 goals for the Three Lions.
With 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, Kane now has his eyes set on another piece of history.
Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign, netting 41 times in 2020-21.
Asked about the possibility of breaking that record with just three games remaining in Bayern's league campaign, Kane said: "It's possible, but obviously I have to get a move on!
"I've got to maybe score a few goals next week. It's there, it's in touching distance.
"It depends on the last few games of course, but it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team."
Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face Stuttgart on Saturday.
Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win
Mauricio Pochettino claimed VAR is "damaging" English football after Chelsea saw a potential winning goal chalked off at the end of their 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
Despite a bright performance, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on Saturday with Marc Cucurella putting through his own net before Morgan Rogers added Villa's second.
Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher dragged Chelsea level as they penned Villa back after the break, but the Blues were enraged in stoppage time when Axel Disasi saw a potential winner ruled out.
Disasi headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations among the visiting Chelsea fans, only for referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal following a pitchside VAR review, ruling Benoit Badiashile pushed Diego Carlos in the build-up.
With that incident coming just one week after Chelsea were denied a penalty in their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City despite Jack Grealish appearing to handle Cole Palmer's free-kick, Pochettino has had enough.
"Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed. The referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal after going to the VAR to confirm," he told TNT Sports.
"The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things. In the semi-final it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee didn't check it.
"It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.
"They said it was a foul and if you see the challenge… if we go into every single challenge like this and it is going to be a foul, we wouldn't finish the game with 11 players.
"We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game."
Pochettino had no complaints about Chelsea's performance, though, as they avoided defeat for just the fourth time in 51 Premier League games when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.
The Blues previously achieved that feat in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham in 2016 and another 3-3 draw with West Brom in 2020.
Chelsea racked up 21 shots to Villa's nine and put up 1.57 expected goals (xG) to the hosts' 1.1, with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer spurning glorious chances in either half.
"The performance was very good," Pochettino said. "We played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded too easily.
"To play Villa, who are fighting for the top four, I am pleased with the team. Now, we have to move on and the headlines will be about the disallowed goal."
New England Revolution 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi at the double as Herons run riot
Lionel Messi scored twice and laid on a goal for Luis Suarez as Inter Miami retained their three-point lead at the Eastern Conference summit with a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution.
A franchise-record crowd of 65,612 people witnessed a flying start from the Revs as they took the lead within just 37 seconds at Gillette Stadium. Carles Gil pounced on some sloppy play from Miami to tee up Tomas Chancalay, who lobbed Drake Callender for the opener.
However, Miami roared back with Messi leading from the front. They had a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark, Messi slotting home after latching onto Robert Taylor's throughball.
Messi had his second after 67 minutes, producing another composed finish after former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets split the New England backline.
Messi was involved in another two goals as Miami added some gloss to the scoreline late on; his first-time shot was saved by Henrich Ravas but Benjamin Cremaschi was on hand to score on the rebound after 83 minutes, then the Argentine teed up Suarez for a curled finish five minutes later.
Miami stay three points clear of Supporters' Shield holders FC Cincinnati at the top of the East, with the Orange and Blue keeping pace by beating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Messi rolls back the years
Ahead of Saturday's game, some feared Miami boss Gerardo Martino would opt to rest Messi after speaking of the risks of fielding the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner on New England's artificial pitch.
However, Messi came through 90 minutes with another mesmerising performance. He has now recorded a goal involvement in 10 straight club matches for the seventh time in his glittering career, last doing so for Barcelona between September and December in 2018.
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