Inter Miami’s loss is sobering signpost for progress of MLS
- The San Juan Daily Star
- Jul 3
- 5 min read
By FELIPE CARDENAS / THE ATHLETIC
Inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Inter Miami defender Jordi Alba described what it had been like to face the European champion Paris St.-Germain.
“They make you doubt yourself because they control the match and have a lot of players around you — it’s really tough,” Alba said. It was an admission that anyone who watched PSG dismantle Miami, 4-0, last Sunday would agree with. What Alba said next, however, was certainly debatable.
Alba claimed that Miami had controlled the second half after PSG had grown tired. But Miami was never in control of a match that could not have been more one-sided. PSG players showed the MLS team mercy, and perhaps some respect for Lionel Messi, their former teammate, by taking their foot off the gas in the second half.
The French champion coasted past Miami and will face Bayern Munich in Atlanta in a Club World Cup quarterfinal Saturday.
Now, there is no shame in losing to PSG. This is a team that thumped Atlético Madrid, 4-0, in the group stage after routing Inter Milan, 5-0, in the Champions League final in May.
But if Inter Miami was meant to fly the MLS flag on Sunday against PSG, the message the world received was one of surrender.
Before what Miami coach Javier Mascherano would later describe as a blood bath, MLS Commissioner Don Garber called Sunday “a historic day” in a post on the social platform X. “For everyone who’s believed in our league and this sport, this is a moment to celebrate.”
Garber knew that Miami had less than a slim chance to get a win against PSG. After all, he runs a league that celebrates parity. On Sunday, the flaws and limitations of MLS were on display for the world to see. Miami and MLS have Messi, and that should be celebrated. But there is little evidence to suggest that MLS can compete shoulder to shoulder with elite leagues from around the world.
In 2015, Garber predicted quite the opposite. “I do believe in 10 years’ time or less, people will think of us like Serie A, La Liga, and hopefully the way they think about the Premier League,” Garber said. “If we continue to do things right and stay to our plan.”
Over the past decade, MLS has made considerable progress on and off the field. To land Messi was an accomplishment that shook the soccer world, putting the league on the map. Messi delivered upon his arrival, and the buzz and media fascination with the Argentine’s U.S. adventure went mainstream.
But the Club World Cup didn’t sneak up on MLS. The league knew that FIFA’s ambitious 32-team tournament would be hosted in the United States and that Messi would be the key to its launch.
Miami spent millions of dollars to sign Messi. The team had to cut corners and challenge the league’s strict financial rules to sign Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez. On a good night, like what Suárez showed against Palmeiras on June 23, former elite players can still produce a highlight-worthy performance. It makes for a good story, but MLS cannot continue to rely on splashy signings to make headlines.
The players around Messi may be good enough to rout the Columbus Crew, but they withered under the bright lights against PSG. Miami’s goalkeeper, 38-year-old Oscar Ustari, was working with the Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo before he joined the side in 2024.
After the match, longtime superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who spent two seasons in MLS with the Los Angeles Galaxy, referred to Messi’s teammates as “statues” and said that Messi is “surrounded by players who run as if they were carrying sacks of cement,” according to Foot Mercato.
In that assessment are some truths, a byproduct of a league that restricts its clubs from filling its rosters with players who can elevate an MLS team beyond its domestic requirements. Miami’s beatdown in Atlanta was preceded by the Vancouver Whitecaps’ 5-0 loss to Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final June 1. A decade after Garber’s bold prediction that his league would compete with the Premier League, the strongest teams in MLS are not even consistently breaking through in their own region.
PSG is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, and the squad is certainly built like a team with limitless funds. It has young and exciting talent across the back line, in midfield, on the wide channels and on the bench. Against Miami on Sunday, PSG attackers Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, 24, and Désiré Doué, 20, toyed with Marcelo Weigandt. Midfielder Vitinha, 25, dizzied Busquets and Federico Redondo with his exquisite touches and pristine passing. Busquets’ turnover in the 39th minute led to PSG’s second goal, and the rout went on from there.
Mascherano was diplomatic when asked what MLS could do to better compete the next time the Club World Cup is played.
“I’m not the proper person to talk about this,” he said. “I think the people who are involved in the MLS know better than me what they have to do to make the league progress.”
At the start of the competition, though, Mascherano lambasted Miami’s inability to strengthen the squad.
“I’ve been saying this for a while now: I’m in charge of preparing the team and to train the players that I’m given,” he said. “I would’ve liked to have new signings, clearly, especially considering this competition. We’re possibly in the most important tournament in this club’s history. It’s a club with little history, but this is the most important tournament they’ve been in.”
Miami advanced from its group against the odds and even claimed a win over Porto. The team overachieved and set the bar low. After the loss to PSG, Messi told DSports Argentina that the 2-2 draw against Palmeiras, which locked Miami in a round-of-16 duel with his former team, remains a point of frustration. The loss to PSG wasn’t a surprise. The goal was to qualify for the second round.
“The game played out as expected,” he said, adding that PSG “is a great team.”
Messi added: “We tried to do our best, and I think we left a positive impression at this Club World Cup. We competed and that’s that. It’s over, and we have to focus on our competition and nothing else.”
It’s quite subjective whether Miami truly impressed, though. Positive spells of play and an upset win over a poor Porto team will soon be forgotten. For the rest of the world, the indelible memory of Miami at this Club World Cup will be the 4-0 loss to PSG, and how constrained MLS clubs are against their free-spending international opponents. Is that really worth celebrating?
“Sooner or later, reality will hit you,” Mascherano said. “But we met our expectations.”
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