‘We love all things soccer:' Fans fill the Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Club World Cup and Messi
Thousands of soccer fans poured into Mercedes-Benz Stadium Sunday for a FIFA Club World Cup match featuring soccer superstar Lionel Messi.
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Raya Saffold flew with her 12-year-old Sevan from Phoenix, Ariz., to watch the noon match between Inter Miami and Paris Saint-Germain, or PSG. Sevan called Messi his 'idol.'
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'We figured this would be the perfect match to come see him, and it just happens to work out where I could bring him,' Saffold said.
They arrived Sunday morning and booked a flight back home Sunday evening. They weren't the only ones traveling across the country to watch Sunday's game.
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Colbie Corrales flew from Vancouver, Wash., with his 10-year-old daughter, Lehua. 'I'm just excited to see Messi and PSG,' Colbie said.
He decided just two days ago to come and snag some airline tickets.
'We had some miles from the airlines, and we just decided to come,' he said. 'We had some good tickets,' Corrales told Channel 2's Bryan Mims.
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When he told his daughter they were traveling all the way to Atlanta to see Messi, 'I didn't think it was real,' Lehua Corrales said. 'But then he was like showing me the tickets and I was like, oh my God.'
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Jess Martinez brought her 11-year-old, Jeffrey, from Clover, SC, in hopes of getting Messi's signature.
'We love Miami, and we love all things soccer and PSG. Why not come?' Martinez said.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium is hosting six matches of the FIFA Club World Cup, with the next match set for July 5.
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