Sports
Lionel Messi And Inter Miami Are In Saudi Arabia To Continue Their Around-The-World Preseason Tour
Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Inter Miami played six preseason games last season. Most were held behind closed doors with few people present, all in Florida. The biggest headlines probably came when several supporters prematurely blew off fireworks and were expelled from the exhibition season opening.
This season has been very different.
This is life in Lionel Messi’s world.
The soccer legend and Inter Miami are on a two-game tour of Saudi Arabia this week, with the first match against Al-Hilal on Monday and the second against Al Nassr on Thursday. Messi may share the pitch with longtime rival and fellow great Cristiano Ronaldo, assuming the Portugal star has recovered enough from a calf injury to play.
The club has already played two exhibitions this year, one in El Salvador and one at Dallas’ Cotton Bowl, with matches in Hong Kong and Japan scheduled when the Saudi trip is completed. It’s an all-around-the-world, big-crowd, big-money, bright-spotlight set of preseason games for Inter Miami, which quickly became a global brand after Messi announced his signing with the Major League Soccer side last summer.
Lionel Messi And Inter Miami Are In Saudi Arabia To Continue Their Around-The-World Preseason Tour
“It’s incredible,” said Inter Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin, captain before Messi arrived. “Obviously, it’s not just one individual, but I believe the majority of the attention is on Leo. So that just shows how much influence he has had on the game. People want to know what he’s doing. People want to know what he’s involved in and what’s going on. It’s fantastic for the league. It’s excellent for us.”
Said Messi is the reason Inter Miami is in Saudi Arabia. There is no larger brand in the game than the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and captain of reigning World Cup champion Argentina, Lionel Messi, who turned down a chance to play in Saudi Arabia to join MLS and Inter Miami, is a Saudi ambassador to promote tourism.
He was once suspended by one of his former clubs, Paris Saint-Germain, following an unauthorised journey to the nation. Inter Miami not only appreciates the value of having Messi but also embraces this massive preseason stretch ahead of the MLS season, which begins on February 21.
“Having the possibility of seeing Messi up close in this circumstance is really very valuable,” Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino remarked in Spanish last week before the club left on its 13 1/2-hour charter flight to Riyadh. “You have to see how many times these people are going to have this possibility.”
Lionel Messi And Inter Miami Are In Saudi Arabia To Continue Their Around-The-World Preseason Tour
The financial benefit of Inter Miami and Messi playing in Saudi Arabia has not been disclosed. It’s logical to believe it’s a large sum, enough to help the MLS club offset at least some of Messi’s salary — he’s on a two-and-a-half-year contract for around $150 million — as well as what the team spent to bring in players like Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suarez to play alongside him.
The Saudis have made it apparent that they are willing to spend a lot of money to get what they want; some have used the phrase “sportswashing” to describe how the kingdom has spent billions of dollars to fund LIV Golf and lure Formula One, boxing, horse racing, BMX racing, and professional wrestling. Much of this is met with strong criticism. Messi’s popularity has remained strong due to his relationship with Saudi Arabia. Such is his power.
“What I love about Saudi,” Messi says in a commercial campaign promoting the kingdom, “is that I always discover things I never expected.”
The journey itself demonstrates how different everything has become for Inter Miami. Last season, the team met Florida International University with no supporters allowed in one of its preseason games; this season, it faces Ronaldo, with the soccer world watching for a meaningless outcome. The team had fewer than 1 million Instagram followers when it started; now it has 16 million, many of whom are undoubtedly Messi’s half-billion Instagram followers.
Lionel Messi And Inter Miami Are In Saudi Arabia To Continue Their Around-The-World Preseason Tour
A voyage around the world to experience a completely different world is logical.
“It’s a little different, and I think the upside is that we get to see some different teams and types of competition,” Inter Miami goalie Drake Callender said Sunday. “We see it as a challenge to evolve as a squad by exposing ourselves to different teams and competitions. So, while it’s still new to us, everyone has a positive attitude towards it.
SOURCE – (AP)
Sports
Conor McGregor Vows to Appeal Civil Rape Case
Conor McGregor, an Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, has announced that he will appeal a £206,000 judgment after a woman accusing him of rape won a legal action against him for damages.
McGregor had already faced a criminal inquiry in his home nation of Ireland concerning the claims, but he was not charged.
In a post on X on Friday evening, McGregor said he would appeal against the verdict and thanked “all my support worldwide”.
“I am with my family now, focused on my future,” he added.
Speaking outside the court on Friday, Nikita Hand expressed her hope that the verdict will encourage victims of sexual assault to “speak up.”
The jury at the High Court in Dublin deliberated for a day before concluding that McGregor assaulted Ms Hand.
She also filed a complaint against James Lawrence, 35, of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, Dublin. She said he abused her by having sex with her without her consent at the Beacon Hotel.
Both men refuted the 35-year-old hair colorist’s charges, saying they had consensual intercourse with Ms Hand at the hotel nearly six years ago.
After eight days of testimony and three days of listening to closing arguments and the judge’s comments, the jury of eight women and four men deliberated for six hours and ten minutes before concluding.
Conor McGregor shook his head as the jury announced that Ms Hand had won her case against him.
His partner, Dee Devlin, his parents, his sister, and his brother-in-law were all with him. He sat in the rear row of the court, between his girlfriend and his mother, Margaret.
Conor McGregor, who also testified during the two-week trial, repeatedly denied the charges of assault.
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Sports
The Utah Hockey Club’s Net Scores The Opening Goal.
(VOR News) – The Utah Hockey Club did not begin the season in the manner that they had planned to, despite the fact that they were playing their first game of the preseason on the ice.
The first goal that they scored at the beginning of the season was not the way that they had anticipated the season to begin.
Des Moines, Iowa, which is located in the state of Iowa, was the location of the first game played by the organisation that was once known as the Arizona Coyotes.
Specifically, the game will take place in the state of Iowa. Specifically, the game was developed in the state of Iowa, which was also the location where it was manufactured. The St. Louis Blues, who were the team that was competing for the championship.
We represented Utah in this particular game.
The penalty call was delayed, which resulted in Utah being required to remove their custodian in order to make room for an additional attacker. This was done in order to provide space for the additional attacker.
It was necessary to do this step in order to clear space for the attacker to move about a bit. Because of this, St. Louis was able to take the lead in the game with a score of 1-0 at the beginning of the second quarter.
This allowed them to gain control of the game. As the puck made its way down the ice and into the empty net of the opposition, the winger for Utah, Dylan Guenther, was unable to gain hold of it at the point, and he was also unable to catch up to it in time while it was falling. The disaster took place at this particular instant in time, which was the ideal time for it to take place that it did.
A defenseman with the Blues named Anton Malmstrom was given official credit for scoring the goal, and St. Louis “congratulated” Utah on scoring its first goal in the history of the team.
Malmstrom was given credit for Utah Scoring the goal.
The individual who was identified as the player who scored the goal was Malmstrom. It has been determined that Malmstrom is the individual who was responsible for scoring the goal. At the conclusion of the official investigation, it was determined that Malmstrom was the individual who was responsible for scoring the goal.
On the flip side, it would appear that yet another case of trolling was directed at the Blues. After the actual opening goal for Utah, which was scored by Michael Carcone a little more than six minutes later, Kevin Connauton added another goal later in the quarter to bring the score to a draw.
This brought the score to a tie. As a consequence of this, the score stayed tied. As a consequence of this turn of events, the score ended up being something like 2-2.
Guenther also made atonement for his prior transgressions by scoring a power-play marker that put Utah in the lead by a score of 3-2. This was a significant accomplishment for Guenther. As a consequence for his earlier misdeeds, Guenther was given this sentence.
Due to the fact that this achievement was achieved, Utah is currently in the position of being in the lead. It was on Friday that a signing took place, which ultimately led to the extension of Guenther’s contract for an additional eight years into the future. We have completed this extension.
Carcone scored his second goal of the game into an empty net, this time into the Blues’ net, during the final minute of the game. This would be his second goal of the game. Ultimately, this goal was the deciding factor in Utah’s victory, which was officially recorded as a 5-3 score.
It was generally agreed that Carcone’s goal was the one that clinched the victory. The final goal of the contest was scored by Carcone, who scored the game’s decisive goal. Utah was able to win the game and take home the victory as a result of Carcone’s goal, which was the goal that ultimately decided the outcome of the game.
However, despite the fact that the situation had already beyond the point of no return, the social administrator for the Blues was still able to successfully extract the last laugh from it. His efforts were successful.
SOURCE: SN
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No Panic for Patrick Mahomes and The Chiefs After Another Quiet Travis Kelce game.
Sports
No Panic for Patrick Mahomes and The Chiefs After Another Quiet Travis Kelce game.
(VOR News) – Nine times in the passing game was Travis Kelce, a tight end with the Kansas City Chiefs, targeted when he debuted in the 2023 season.
He did, however, only finish with four receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown overall. He responded the next week with seven receptions for 69 yards, the Chiefs adding another score to his record and thus allaying some of the worries of some who were on the sidelines looking in.
Kelce’s third consecutive week of poor performance marked the end of his third game of the 2024–25 season.
Two days before the year ended, this Chiefs event occurred.
Although his four receptions and thirty yards are all season highs, if they had been attained concurrently they would have been among his worst efforts from the previous season.
Once more on Sunday’s triumph over the Atlanta Falcons, a sluggish effort from the offense was evident; Kelce was not an exception to this rule. While this is the case, quarterback for Chiefs Patrick Mahomes thinks the most important symbol of respect is Kelce’s receiving less than a month away from his 35th birthday.
“I mean it’s crazy since teams are still… the respect factor Travis has is just unreal,” Mahomes said to reporters. “It is well-deserved, but we are calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it seems like just two or three people are going to him,” the spokesman added. He understands this clearly.
His desire to win at the end of the day is, in my view, the most admirable trait about him; he is not simply interested in having an impact on the game. I shall give it top attention in the future to keep giving him the ball whenever he is there and on the pitch.
At the conclusion of Week 3, Kelce ranked second only to Rashee Rice in terms of targets, receptions, and yards by the pass among all Chiefs pass catchers. This shows Kelce has made notable advancements on the right path. The other man merely had 12 receptions and 14 targets; Rice had 14 targets and 12 receptions for 110 yards.
Their differences were quite considerable. As of right now this season, three games have been played; Kelce has not yet found the end zone. He had two outstanding catches in the second half.
One was a third-quarter 17-yard gain that put the Chiefs in red zone.
The head coach and Mahomes both expressed hope that Kelce would finally reach his big-time goals after the weekend’s victory. Although this is the new normal for one of the league’s best tight ends, nobody seemed to be worried about it.
This is still the case after a week; yet, the longer Chiefs games pass without a vintage Kelce effort – or anything that even loosely resembles one – the more attention will be paid to his specific stats.
Though he has lost a lot of agility compared to his prime, Kelce is still able to get open. Besides, his head is still clear, hence he is obviously capable of writing correctly.
For a different set of factors, he is not getting targets or catches inside the rhythm of the offensive, though. Maybe we could have opened that window if our sample size had been larger.
Mahomes believes that everything else will take care of itself if other guys start (or, in Rice’s case, keep going) and Kelce keeps on going.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes stated, “The more plays Rashee makes, the more effectively we can run the football, which allows us to involve (Xavier) Worthy, thereby increasing Travis’s opportunities to be open.” “Individuals are genuinely concerned about attempting to remove him, which is facilitating opportunities for other players.”
SOUREC: SI
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