Messi, Suarez blanked in preseason loss to Dallas FC
Defender Vines returns to MLS’ Rapids after stint with Belgium’s Antwerp
DALLAS — Lionel Messi had three shots on goal before exiting early in the second half in Inter Miami’s 1-0 loss to FC Dallas in an MLS preseason game at the Cotton Bowl on Monday ight.
Messi took three shots in the first half and left the game about 15 minutes into the second half with Inter Miami trailing in front of an announced crowd of 32,221 in a game played in a drizzle and 40 degrees (4.4 Celsius). The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had scored scored twice in Inter Miami’s comeback win over FC Dallas on Aug. 6 at Toyota Stadium.
Forward Jesús Ferreira scored on an uncontested shot three minutes into the match to give FC Dallas an early lead that held up.
After the early goal, Inter Miami controlled play for the balance of the first half, with eight shots on goal against three for FC Dallas. Messi’s first two shots were saved by goalkeeper Michael Collodi, who dove to his left to deflect Messi’s second shot in the 12th minute. Messi’s third shot was wide left in the 27th minute.
Uruguayan star Luis Suárez, who teamed with Messi at FC Barcelona from 2014-20, played in his first match on American soil after joining Inter Miami in December. Suárez had two shots on goal in the first half, the first saved by Collodi. The second sailed wide right in the 44th minute.
Inter Miami failed to score in its second straight preseason game after a 0-0 draw against El Salvador on Friday.
FC Dallas, which played at the Cotton Bowl until 2009, held off a flurry of shots early in the second half shots on goal behind keeper Antonio Carrera.
“To get to play against Lionel Messi is an unbelievable opportunity,” FC Dallas president Dan Hunt said prior to the match. “For most people, it’s a never. Most markets never get to bring him … you have the greatest probably of all time, with maybe the exception of Pele, and you get to have him twice in your market — once we hosted at our home, and then we get to share with a different part of the community in Dallas.”
The 36-year-old Messi arrived in Miami last July and scored 10 goals in seven games. He led the club to its first-ever trophy by winning the Leagues Cup final on Aug. 19.
Inter Miami will travel to Saudi Arabia to face Al Hilal next Monday and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr on Feb. 2.
MLS: Defender Sam Vines returned to the Colorado Rapids on Monday after 2½ seasons with Belgium’s Antwerp.
The 24-year-old left back agreed to a four-year contract.
Vines joined the Rapids’ academy when he was 13, was signed as a hometown player at 18 and made his first-team debut later that year. He had two goals and four assists in 53 Major League Soccer matches and was part of the U.S. team that won the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Vines transferred to Antwerp in August 2021 and scored two goals in 58 appearances that included league games, Champions League and Europa League qualifiers and cup matches. He appeared in just five league games this season, three of them starts.
Vines has one goal in nine appearances for the U.S., scoring against Haiti in the Gold Cup.
NWSL: Christine Sinclair, the world’s top international goal scorer among both women and men, will play one more season for her club team, the Portland Thorns.
The team announced Monday it had signed the free agent forward to a one-year deal. Sinclair, 40, is one of just three active players in the National Women’s Soccer League who have played for the same team since the league launched in 2013.
“Are you ready for one more year, Portland?” Sinclair announced on social media, posing with the NWSL trophies she won with the Thorns in 2013, 2017 and 2022.
She leads the Thorns with 62 goals — third most in league history — in 176 appearances over 11 seasons. She scored Portland’s first-ever goal in a match against FC Kansas City on April 13, 2013.
GUINEA: The Guinea soccer team has appealed to fans to “celebrate carefully” after several supporters were killed in traffic accidents back home following the team’s win over Gambia at the Africa Cup of Nations.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of some of our supporters during the celebrations of the win over Gambia. Celebrate carefully and take care of yourselves,” the Guinea soccer federation said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, late Sunday.
The federation shared a video of the team’s coach and players appealing for calm.
Federation spokesman Amadou Makadji told BBC Sport Africa that six people died while several others were injured after fans spilled out into the streets across Guinea to celebrate in cars and on motorcycles after Friday’s game.
Guinea defeated Gambia 1-0 in Ivory Coast’s capital Yamoussoukro to take a big step toward reaching the Africa Cup’s last 16.