Cristiano Ronaldo missed his appearance in a club-friendly game; however, his team made sure to do its job. Against Al-Nassr, Inter Miami suffered a severe defeat of 6-0. Fans believe that Messi’s late appearance had something to do with it. An early entry could have boosted morale and picked up the game for the better. Ronaldo stayed out due to a calf injury. Messi probably wanted to see how things would work out in his absence.
While nothing happened for his team, Al-Nassr bagged early nets in the first 12 minutes. Otavio, Talisca, and Aymeric—three different players—scored all of them.
Talisca went on to register two more goals in the 90-minute run, with the remaining two nets coming in the second half of the game. Maran made an exceptional contribution in the 68th minute before Laporte nailed the final bite against Inter Miami. Possession, more or less, played a two-sided game. Both teams had equal chances of claiming the edge at every moment. One aspect where Al-Nassr outplayed their opponent is the number of shots.
Al-Nassr went all aggressive with 21 shots, 14 of them on target. Messi’s side attempted 12 shots, with three of them on target. Kingdom Arena may have potentially missed its chance to see Ronaldo versus Messi action for the last time, but the venue did a great job in hosting a football game where Messi tasted a heavy defeat.
Gonzalo Castro’s efforts were more than visible as Martino struggled to keep up with developments.
The last time Ronaldo and Messi met on the field was in January 2023. Messi was able to win that game 5-4. The current loss does not necessarily signify any harm to his reputation or a significant gain for Ronaldo, considering both players have rocked the game with their respective skills.
Messi holds the crown for the FIFA World Cup, won in Qatar in December 2022. Ronaldo, on the other hand, is credited with putting Portugal on the global map in football.
Messi reportedly entered the field in the 83rd minute, coinciding with Campana leaving the game. It had gotten late because Talisca had done his job. That went for a VAR review, but then the goal was rewarded to them. Telles assisted in getting that score on the board, attracting attention from online football betting platforms.
One shot that could have been saved was the one in the 51st minute, a penalty shootout. Talisca took on the task of fooling Callander, and he successfully executed that task.
Inter Miami is now down to three consecutive losses in the last three games. Previous losses came against FC Dallas and Al-Hilal. Inter Miami is next scheduled to play against Hong Kong XI and then against Vissel Kobe. Al-Nassr will meet Al-Hilal next week, riding high on his former wins against Al-Taawoun and Al-Ittihad in football friendly games.
