Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi inspires bright second half in Club World Cup opener, but Egypt’s Al Ahly hold on for 0-0 draw.
Lionel Messi led a strong second-half resurgence from Inter Miami in a surprisingly thrilling 0-0 draw with Al Ahly in Group A to open the FIFA Club World Cup in Florida.
The Argentinian forward, much like the rest of his teammates, had a quiet first half at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Saturday.
Egyptian giants Al Ahly dominated the play and the chances in the opening 45 minutes but were denied on numerous occasions by Inter keeper Oscar Ustari.
It appeared that the 39-year-old’s efforts were going to be in vain going in at the break, when Trezeguet stepped up from the spot in the 43rd minute, but Ustari was equal to the Al Ahly threat once more.
The second period was a vastly improved performance by the Major League Soccer side, and ended with Messi thumping a long-range effort off the bar.
Al Ahly keeper Mohamed El Shenawy managed to get fingertips onto Messi’s late left-footed curler.
The stopper had to be just as alert from the resulting corner – deep into stoppage time – to deny Maximiliano Falcon’s header.
It was his opposite number, Ustari, who kept his side in the contest at the break, leading Inter manager Javier Mascherano to reflect that his side were only “alive” thanks to their keeper.
Wessam Abou Ali and Emam Ashour were both denied from close-range chances, but the big moment came after Zizo cut into the box before being clipped from behind by Telasco Segovia.
Former Premier League player with Aston Villa, Trezeguet, stepped up from the spot and sent his kick to his left – the keeper guessed correctly and made the save.
“I’m happy with the performance. It was much better in the second half,” Mascherano continued in conversation with broadcaster DAZN after the full-time whistle.
“In the first period, we lost some balls and some transitions, where they are very dangerous.
“We dominated the second half and had the chances to win the game.”
Inter’s first big chance came just a few minutes after the break, when Tadeo Allende was denied with a similarly smothering save from Al Ahly keeper El Shenawy as had been seen by his opposite number early in the piece.
The possession and pressure had clearly switched to the home side, who looked a vastly different side to the showing in the opening 45 minutes.
Messi hit the side netting with a free kick, and was a constant thorn in the side of the Egyptians, who, with 155 trophies, are the most successful side in the world.
It was late in the game, though, that a short corner taken by Messi was rolled back to him on the right and he whipped a shot to the far post, only for the keeper to tip it onto the bar and over.
The recovery by the home side was even more impressive given the extraordinary turnout of Egyptian fans, who made themselves heard from start to finish.
Their team, however, could not do the same with their performance on the field.
“It’s not about what went wrong. We had a decent amount of chances in the first half to put the game into a different space. We couldn’t,” Al Ahly’s new manager, Jose Riviera, told DAZN after the match.
“In the second half, we had a time where we were suffering, but a lot of positives and things to correct to do better next time.
“It seems like we were playing in Cairo. It was a big surprise for me in my first match. Hopefully, next time, we can give them a victory.”
The second match of the group is played on Sunday between Palmeiras of Brazil and Porto of Portugal.
Inter then face Porto, while Al Ahly face Palmeiras in the next round of fixtures on Thursday.
