It’s a new start. Canadian Inter Miami CF defender Kamal Miller could just as well talk about North American soccer as his team’s disappointing season so far. Because if the arrival of Lionel Messi is likely to be felt quickly in Miami, it will not go unnoticed either anywhere else on the continent.
Inter Miami CF is not having a very good 2023 season. Only five wins in 22 games. It may not have been the ideal scenario for ex-CF Montreal defender Kamal Miller, who was sent to Florida early in the season with US$1.3m in general allocation money against Bryce. Duke and Ariel Lassiter.
But Miller suspected when he landed in Miami in the spring that it was probably in anticipation of Lionel Messi’s arrival in Major League Soccer (MLS). What he sees now is that all of North American soccer could be transformed by the one we call “the Pulga”. “His impact on each of the cities where he will play is going to be immense,” he said. People who have never had an interest in North American soccer will stretch the greenbacks to come and see him play. »
In French, we would call Lionel Messi “the aphid”, given his modest size and the ability of his feints to irritate opposing players. The fact that Inter Miami CF will be able to include Lionel Messi and his good friend Sergio Busquets in their starting XI this week and for the next two years signals a forced uplift in the caliber of play in MLS, which should lead to any further North American soccer.
Defenders from the other 28 MLS teams will want to put that reputation to the test. Messi’s Miami teammates had better do the same because he came to North America to win, assures Kamal Miller, his new teammate from Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto.
“A lot of people think he came here to settle down peacefully with his family, but that’s not what he told us in the locker room. He came here to win and he wants us all to give our best on the pitch. “And already, during a first team training session on Tuesday morning, the players seemed to want to give a little more than usual, notes the Canadian international.
Europe is getting closer
Call it the trickle down effect applied to the development of soccer in North America. With a bit of luck, Canada and Quebec will also be affected by the Messi phenomenon. After all, CF Montreal will also have to step up their game the day they face Inter Miami.
Whether or not Messi will be on the pitch when it happens, somewhere in 2024, remains up in the air. Like most of his colleagues, the Argentinian player is not fond of synthetic turf. And if he were to come and play in Montreal, it’s hard to imagine how we could welcome him other than by opening the doors of the Olympic Stadium. The 19,619 seats at Stade Saputo will probably be too few to contain all the interest Leo and his gang are generating.
Whether he plays in Montreal or not, the former FC Barcelona player will still have an impact on the youngest soccer players, in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. Many of them dream of a professional career in Europe. Suddenly, Europe is coming, so to speak, to them. In context, dreaming of breaking into MLS becomes a bit more glorious than it was just a week ago.
The North American professional soccer league is even becoming a more credible springboard for those Canadian players who have enough talent to play in European leagues.
Kamal Miller also dreams again and again of a transfer to the Old Continent. Rubbing shoulders with what many call the best soccer player in the world should not harm his project, on the contrary. “Europe is still in my plans. I see my Canadian national team mates playing there and I want to do the same. Maybe all the attention we’re getting now will push things in the right direction. »
It’s good for MLS. It’s good for Kamal Miller. It’s certainly good for all of North American soccer as well.
Journalist Alain McKenna is in Fort Lauderdale at the invitation of MLS
and Apple.