Messi, Inter Miami trail Porto 1-0 in Club World Cup game after controversial PK
Lionel Messi fans in pink No. 10 shirts, and some in Argentina's iconic striped jerseys, showed up at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday afternoon for a chance to see their idol and his Inter Miami teammates play in a pivotal game against Portuguese club FC Porto in the Club World Cup.
Plenty of Porto fans in royal blue and white shirts were also there for the occasion, and though they were outnumbered, they roared when their team took an early lead with a penalty kick by Spaniard Samu Omorodion at the eight-minute mark.
Head referee Cristian Garay called for the controversial PK after going to VAR and the ruling was that Noah Allen made contact with Porto's Joao Mario in the penalty area. The Miami fans booed the decision, but the Porto faithful cheered for the result.
After the opening Group A games over the weekend, Miami and the 30-time Portuguese champion Dragons were tied on points with Al Ahly and Palmeiras after earning one point with scoreless draws.
Palmeiras took control of the group Thursday afternoon with a 2-0 win over Al Ahly at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. The game was suspended temporarily due to a thunderstorm, but it finished just before the Miami vs Porto game started.
There was also bad weather in the Atlanta area in the hours before kickoff, dampening some of the pre-game celebrations outside the stadium, but it did not affect the game because the stadium roof was closed.
The Miami Starting XI included Messi, goalkeeper Oscar Ustari (who had a brilliant game in the tournament opener), right back Marcelo Weigandt, center back Ian Fray, center back Maxi Falcon, left back Noah Allen, winger Tadeo Allende, midfielder Benja Cremaschi, midfielder Sergio Busquets, midfielder Telasco Segovia, and forward Luis Suarez.
Jordi Alba was on the game roster for the first time in three weeks after recovering from a hamstring injury, but he was not in the starting lineup.
Joining Alba on the bench were Rocco Rios Novo, Will Yarbrough, Ryan Sailor, Toto Aviles, David Martinez, Fede Redondo, Baltisar Rodriguez, Santi Morales, Fafa Picault, Leo Afonso and Allen Obando.
Porto's starters were: Claudio Ramos (in place of injured captain and goalkeeper Diogo Costa), Ze Pedro, Ivan Marcano, Martim Fernandes, Alan Varela, Rodrigo Mora, Moura, Joao Mario, Samu Omorodion, Gabri Veiga, and Fabio Vieira.
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