Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami have been held to a scoreless draw by Egypt’s Al Ahly on Saturday, as FIFA’s expanded 32-team event kicked off easily earlier than a crowd of 60,927 in Florida.
Messi was denied a storybook stoppage-time winner when he noticed his curling shot from 20 yards out tipped onto the bar by Mohamed el Shenawy as Miami piled on the strain within the ultimate minutes of the sport.
Al Ahly, who have been cheered on by over 10,000 of their supporters, have been left to rue a first-half penalty from Egypt worldwide Trezeguet which was saved by Miami’s Argentine keeper Oscar Ustari.
But the Egyptians additionally had el Shenawy to thank for an additional effective save within the dying seconds to maintain out a header from Maxi Falcon as Miami pushed for 3 factors within the Group A conflict.
For organizers FIFA, who’ve confronted heavy skepticism over the need for the event, the absence of a objective was the one disappointment on an evening that delivered all the things else that their President Gianni Infantino had hoped for from the opening night time.
Fears of a low crowd for the opener eased because the seats within the 64,000 venue started to refill, with the stadium nearly full at kickoff.
Thousands of followers of Al Ahly, report 12-time African Champions League winners and 45-time league champions of Egypt, arrived at Hard Rock Stadium effectively forward of kickoff and made their presence felt with singing and chanting.
The stadium, dwelling to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, witnessed chaotic scenes final yr on the ultimate of the Copa America between Argentina and Colombia the place followers broke into the bottom after lengthy delays to enter.
Penalty drama
But there was an environment friendly filter system arrange for ticket and safety checks effectively away from the stadium perimeter and there have been no indicators of any issues.
Nor was there any indication of the controversial crackdown on unlawful immigrants from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration having any impression on the sport within the closely Hispanic South Florida group.
While there have been no objectives to have a good time, the sport was removed from boring, with Al Ahly having fun with the higher of the primary half earlier than Miami improved considerably after the break.
Al Ahly opened up Miami’s protection with ease within the opening minutes of the sport and Emam Ashour was denied by Ustari after being put by way of by Trezeguet.
Palestine worldwide striker Wessam Abou Ali had an effort dominated out for offside within the thirty first minute after which the Denmark-born ahead had a fierce strike tipped over by Ustari.
The penalty got here when Telasco Segovia bundled over Zizo, however Trezeguet’s spot kick was weak and parried out with the previous Aston Villa ahead unable to react quick sufficient to the rebound.
Miami have been stronger after the break with Messi going shut within the sixty fourth minute with a free kick which grazed the publish earlier than hitting the side-netting, tricking a part of the group into considering he had scored.
He almost did in stoppage time, after a well-worked short-corner however the outstretched fingertip of el Shenawy was to disclaim him.
Miami face Porto in Atlanta on Thursday earlier than returning dwelling to face Brazil’s Palmeiras on Monday and whereas these ought to be more durable checks, their Argentina coach Javier Mascherano was upbeat.
“The truth is we leave with the feeling that we could have won it in the second half. Going forward, we have to do what we did in the second half, not have any fear, shed whatever baggage we had, because when we play like that, we can play even with any team,” he mentioned.
Al Ahly’s Spanish coach Jose Riveiro, who solely took cost of the workforce for this event, mentioned his workforce ought to have completed the sport off within the first half.
“It’s a game of mistakes. We had a decent amount of chances in the first half to put the game in a different space,” he mentioned earlier than praising the workforce’s followers.
“It was like we were playing in Cairo and that was a surprise for me in my first official match with Al Ahly. To be here in the States and have it like you were playing at home is something that can probably only happen in this club,” he mentioned.
Source: www.dailysabah.com