World-class talents always have a winning attitude. It doesn’t matter which stage you are competing in, there’s always an unrelinquished desire to win. Lionel Messi showcased the same desire and attitude when he arrived at Inter Miami, leading the Herons to a Leagues Cup victory. However, a day after winning the Ballon d’Or, a former player turned pundit explains how moving to the USA could’ve been detrimental to the Argentine’s hope to win his eighth title.

Meanwhile, Inter Miami has faced a setback with their upcoming Asia tour. Gerardo Martino’s men were scheduled to play a few matches in China but citing unforeseeable reasons the matches have now been cancelled.

Messi’s Leagues Cup run claimed to have played no part in Ballon d’Or win

The soccer realm witnessed a high level of competition in this year’s Ballon d’Or. On one side it’s Lionel Messi, who led his team to World Cup glory, and on the other side is Erling Haaland, who has been consistent in raking up goals in most of the games he has played in last season. With such an intense battle to be named the world’s best, Messi’s move to Miami could have backfired. ESPN pundit Sebastian Salazar shares more on the same context.

Former Colombian international and Santa Fe player, Salazar, was not sure why there’s so much doubt over Messi’s legitimacy for the Ballon d’Or title. Sharing his opinion on the same, he said, “He (Messi) definitely didn’t win this award for what he did in Major League Soccer but I think there’s a lot of people out there that would say what he did in MLS was 0% of why he won this award.”

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Adding to his statement, Salazar said, “That may well be true but I think coming to MLS could have hurt him in this vote. Let’s not forget that there was serious competition, Erling Haaland had about as good of a year as you could have and not win this award and did it at the highest level consistently in club. So, there was very serious competition.”

With the award night done and dusted, Lionel Messi will now be looking back to get on the pitch again to rake in some more trophies. But it seems like the Argentinean will have to take a break as Inter Miami’s upcoming tour has been canceled.

Lionel Messi can now focus solely on Argentina

With Inter Miami’s upcoming Asia tour canceled, Lionel Messi can now shift his focus entirely to the national team. The international tour was initially intended to strengthen the squad’s global presence but it has now faced setbacks due to bureaucratic and commercial issues. As a result, the team will stay in the United States as they concentrate on their training at the Florida Blue Training Center until mid-November.

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The tour’s cancellation involves the scrapping of two friendly matches against Qingdao Hainiu and Chengdu Rongcheng which were initially scheduled for November 5 and 8. Now with the change in plans, Messi has an opportunity to maintain his fitness levels for Argentina’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil. The upcoming matches will be very competitive for Messi and his teammates. Apart from winning the World Cup, what were the other factors that boosted Lionel Messi’s chances to win the Ballon d’Or?

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