The Herons received a thrashing against European champions Paris Saint-Germain, and Messi and his side were eliminated.
Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami from the Club World Cup, and fans quickly shared their thoughts on social media.
Lionel Messi played in the Round of 16 match five days after his 38th birthday and faced an outstanding performance from his former team, which was comfortable from start to finish in Atlanta.
Inter Miami qualified for the knockout stage with a win over Porto and draws against Palmeiras and Al Ahly, finishing second in Group A and reaching the last 16 of Gianni Infantino’s contentious competition.
The Herons were invited to compete despite not having won anything to earn the opportunity, but supporters had liked Messi’s efforts in the US tournament.
That was still the case in Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Parisians, with social media users performing some stunning logical gymnastics to absolve Argentina’s captain of any responsibility for Inter Miami’s CWC exit.
True to style, Messi has largely been much like his old self since transferring to MLS, with the exception of one or two injury difficulties. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner stood out from the rest of the men in pink as they bowed out in tame fashion.
“Messi’s STILL somehow making things happen lol,” one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter, probably laughing aloud. “If he even had 2/3 proper outlets, Inter Miami would be 10x better.”
“Man… if only they signed good players instead of his friends… the attackers they let go are ten times better than today’s Suarez,” remarked another, complete with dramatic pauses for emphasis.
“Bro Messi should deadass return to Europe. “He’s playing so well as an individual despite losing 4-0 as a team,” remarked one slightly generous supporter.
“These haters would never understand it,” claimed another user who doesn’t realize how correct he is.
“Like I said that grandpa [Luis] Suarez has no place in this team, and then some useless defenders he has,” a another person commented.
Joao Neves scored twice before an own goal and Achraf Hakimi’s stoppage-time strike gave the European champions a 4-0 halftime lead from which they could not recover.
Even with Messi in their ranks, Javier Mascherano’s Herons were decimated, which shocked no one.
On Saturday, PSG will face either Flamengo or Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals in Atlanta.
xz
