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In case you weren’t convinced that Lionel Messi is having a profound impact on American soccer culture, just take a look at the celebrities that were at the LAFC vs. Inter Miami match on Sunday night.
Not only were the ultra-famous likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Selena Gomez (the 4th most followed person in the world on Instagram, behind only the company itself, Cristiano Ronaldo, and… Messi!) in attendance, but so were Dwyane Wade Owen Wilson, Prine Hrry, Tyra, David Beckham, Will Ferrell, Mario Lopez, and more.
Gomez’s appearance made headlines in particular as the 31-year-old Only Murders in the Building star had an insanely relatable reaction to watching LAFC’s keeper actually save one of Messi’s shots.
Selena Gomez was all of us watching John McCarthy deny Messi! 😱 https://t.co/A3a564uUSB pic.twitter.com/7likNsWPJD
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 4, 2023
After the match, Gomez was asked (in Spanish) about Messi and if she wanted to say something to him, to which she said “Te amo mucho”: “I love you very much.”
While Messi didn’t get on the scoresheet in the match, he led Inter Miami to a 3-1 over LAFC with two assists.
https://twitter.com/ESPNFutbolArg/status/1698561538133540885
While Messi has been with Inter Miami all summer, Sunday’s game against LAFC was just his third official MLS match for Inter Miami. In those games, Inter Miami has two wins and one draw. Prior to Messi’s arrival — and the arrival of fellow former Barcelona stars Jordi Alba and SergioSergio Busquets — Inter Miami was the worst team in the Eastern Conference.
With nine matches remaining in the MLS season — they’ll also be taking on the Houston Dynamo in the U.S. Open Cup on September 28 — Inter Miami is going to have to move up in the standings from 14th to 9th place in order to qualify for the postseason.