{"id":44768,"date":"2026-09-06T11:14:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T09:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=44768"},"modified":"2026-09-06T11:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T09:14:31","slug":"messi-sets-up-miami-goal-in-first-game-since-argentina-retirement","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/messi-sets-up-miami-goal-in-first-game-since-argentina-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi sets up Miami goal in first game since Argentina retirement \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi provided an assist in Inter Miami\u2019s 2-2 draw with Atlanta United in Florida on Saturday in the Argentine\u2019s first appearance \u200csince retiring from international duty earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Messi, who captained Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022 and a runners-up finish in 2026, started for Miami in a match that kicked off more than 90 minutes \u2060late due to heavy rain and lightning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The 39-year-old whipped in a corner that midfielder Casemiro headed past Atlanta goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos to put Miami ahead in the 32nd minute.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Miami\u2019s lead lasted only three minutes, however, as a sliding Casemiro blocked a cross that bounced off his keeper Dayne St. Clair and landed at the \u200cfeet \u2060of Atlanta\u2019s Miguel Almiron, who guided it home to level.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Luis Suarez restored Miami\u2019s lead just before halftime, only for Breel Embolo to convert an 87th-minute penalty and earn Atlanta \u2060a point.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Messi, who scored four goals and set up another in last weekend\u2019s 7-1 rout of CF Montreal, is joint top \u2060of the MLS scoring charts with 18 goals this season.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He had previously expressed doubts about continuing his playing \u2060career following the death of his father, Jorge, on August 8.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14870,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-44768","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Lionel Messi provided an assist in Inter Miami\u2019s 2-2 draw with Atlanta United in Florida","published_date":"2026-09-06 11:02:48","news_description":"Lionel Messi provided an assist in Inter Miami\u2019s 2-2 draw with Atlanta United in Florida","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44769,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44768\/revisions\/44769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=44768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}