MESSI DOES IT YET AGAIN WITH NINTH MIAMI GOAL
Lionel Messi keeps scoring goals, and Inter Miami keeps winning games.
Messi ripped a shot from 30 yards past three Philadelphia defenders in the 20th minute that made fans who paid a record price for soccer tickets in the Philly area rejoice, and Inter Miami beat the Union 4-1 in a Leagues Cup semifinal on Tuesday night.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner scored his ninth goal in six Major League Soccer matches with his new team in front of a crowd that pushed 20,000 fans, with ticket prices soaring past $1,000 on the secondary market.
Fans erupted when Messi was introduced and went wild again when he scored past diving goalkeeper Andre Blake. Messi ran with his arms extended and then punched his fist in the air as he leapt in celebration.
Afterward, Messi exchanged jerseys with fellow Argentinian and Union forward Julián Carranza, then skipped out on the traditional postgame interview and instead saved his message for his 483 million Instagram followers.
“We worked our way to the finals and we made it!!! We're still on the last step," he wrote.
More soccer
Neymar became the latest superstar soccer player to take the riches on offer from the Saudi Pro League, completing a move to Al Hilal on Tuesday after six seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.
The clubs reached an agreement on the transfer of the Brazil forward for a reported 90 million euros ($98 million), a record for a league that is now financially backed by the oilrich state.
Al Hilal, a record 18-time national champion, is one of four Saudi clubs effectively nationalized by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund that claims assets of about $700 billion.
Neymar, 31, signed a two-year contract that is expected to earn him an annual salary of about $100 million. That would be around half of the reported salary being taken home by Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Al Nassr and whose move to Saudi in January sparked a slew of transfers to the kingdom by players like Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jordan Henderson.
• Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts is leading a group that has agreed to purchase the National Women's Soccer League's Chicago Red Stars.
Ricketts said in a statement she is “honored” to lead a group comprised mostly of female Chicago business leaders purchasing the team. The deal is pending approval of the NWSL Board of Governors.
Ricketts is part of a group that purchased a roughly 10 percent stake in the WNBA's Chicago Sky in June.
• Manchester City midfielder
Kevin De Bruyne will be sidelined potentially for up to four months because of a recurrence of his hamstring injury, a huge blow to the team's ambitions of retaining the Premier League.
• Longtime Sheffield forward
Billy Sharp has joined the LA Galaxy for the rest of the Major League Soccer season. The Galaxy announced the signing of the 37-yearold Sharp on Tuesday. The deal includes a club option for 2024.
NBA
Boston Celtics forward Kristaps Porzingis will not play for Latvia in the FIBA World Cup because of plantar fasciitis.
Porzingis announced on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, that he made the decision after an MRI in consultation with the Celtics and Latvian staffs about the foot issue.
“Such a decision is not easy to make, but I promise that I will be there and support the team as much as I can,” Porzingis wrote in Latvian.
NHL
Montreal General Manager Kent Hughes gave Jeff Petry and family his word he'd find another destination for the veteran defenseman after the Erik Karlsson trade earlier this month brought him back to the Canadiens.
Hughes followed through on that promise Tuesday, trading Petry to his hometown Detroit Red Wings for 24-year-old defenseman Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick.
Tennis
Novak Djokovic fell in his first match in the United States since 2021, losing in doubles in the Western & Southern Open.
Djokovic and Nikola Cacic lost 6-4, 6-2 to Jamie Murray and Michael Venus in the Serbian star's return to the country after missing events because of COVID-19 vaccine restrictions.
Djokovic is set to open singles play tonight against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Reilly Opelka of the United States and Zhang Shuai of China have pulled out of the U.S. Open.