Lionel Messi dumped out of the Club World Cup by his former team
By ROBERT SUMMERSCALES
Lionel Messi and David Beckham's reunion with Paris Saint-Germain ended with their Inter Miami side being emphatically dumped out of the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday.
PSG thrashed Miami 4-0 in Atlanta, with all four goals arriving during a one-sided first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Miami, who were given a special invite to the Club World Cup by FIFA after winning Major League Soccer's Supporters' Shield earlier this year, had made an impressive start to the tournament in the United States.
Messi and Co qualified from Group A without losing once. They drew 0-0 with Al Ahly before beating Porto 2-1. Miami then played out a 2-2 draw with Palmeiras. That game against Palmeiras had seen Miami make a brilliant start by taking a 2-0 lead.
However, they made a terrible start against the champions of Europe in Sunday's round of 16 contest. There were just six minutes on the clock when Joao Neves opened the scoring.
The American outfit then managed to hold out until the 39th minute when Neves doubled his tally. That opened the floodgates, with Tomas Aviles scoring an own goal moments later before Achraf Hakimi added a fourth in first-half added time.
Lionel Messi's Inter Miami conceded four goals in the first half of Sunday's game against PSG
Messi saw his current team emphatically beaten by the club he represented from 2021 to 2023
Inter Miami president David Beckham, pictured in a sling, saw his team exit the Club World Cup
Messi looked exasperated as the goals continued to flow. The 38-year-old, who spent two seasons with PSG between 2021 and 2023, touched the ball just 14 times in the first half, with many of those coming from kick-offs.
Messi's former Barcelona co-stars — 37-year-old Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, 36, and Jordi Alba, also 36 — endured a torrid time too.
With Messi struggling on the world stage, he unsurprisingly became a trending topic on X (formerly Twitter).
One negative comment read: 'Messi once again proving that he can't do it outside of Barcelona and Argentina, I genuinely respect Ronaldo so much cause he did it with different clubs and countries. My goat.'
There were also countless memes posted gleefully taunting Messi. One depicted him as a lone lion surrounded by a pack of hyenas.
But another comment read: 'You're a sick man if you're enjoying this Messi downfall'.
Another fan also jumped to his defence, adding: 'I see a lot of people laughing at Messi right now. But let's get one thing straight. Messi has nothing left to prove. He's achieved everything and I mean EVERYTHING there is to achieve in football.'
Achraf Hakimi (centre) was among the scorers for PSG as they cruised into the quarter-finals
Midfielder Joao Neves (right) scored two goals in a game for the first time in his PSG career
Messi touched the ball 14 times in the first half, including those from Miami's many kick-offs
The widespread criticism of Messi was perhaps a little harsh, considering the relative standard of the opposition and his team-mates.
Speaking before kick-off, Inter Miami president Beckham — who was wearing a sling around his right arm after undergoing surgery earlier in the week — had described PSG as 'probably the best team in the world right now'. They certainly lived up to that billing in the first half, although the second period was much more even.
PSG will now play either Bayern Munich or Brazilian side Flamengo in the quarter-finals.
Beckham ended his playing days at PSG in 2013 and he still holds a lot of affection for the French club. In a pre-match interview with DAZN, he added: 'For me to have finished my career in Paris the way I did with this club was very special. I only spent six months there but it felt like 16 years. It's a real family, a real special club, owned by special people, run by a special man.
'We're very proud of this moment, to be stood here knowing that we are playing against PSG — as owners, as friends, as partners, it is very special.'
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