Lionel’s eldest son makes debut for Herons in Newell’s Cup; national team captain not on pitch despite high hopes.

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People were waiting for Lionel Messi at Newell’s business in Bella Vista, a suburb of Rosario, on Monday afternoon. But he never made it to witness his son Thiago’s first game in Argentina for Inter Miami, which happened to be against the club where his father took his first steps as a footballer and of which he is a fan. The context? Matchday one of Group A of the 10th edition of the Newell’s Cup in 2012.

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The star had stayed in the country after featuring in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Peru at La Bombonera in South American qualifying and had started his vacation having finished his participation in the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) season with Atlanta United has eliminated Las Garzas in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Having heard that the US U13 team were participating in the tournament organised by Leprosy with his son on the team, he settled in with his family in his hometown to closely watch his grandchildren’s first time on that first pitch. witnessing him shine with a ball at his feet.

At the Jorge Griffa house, there were many children and adults preparing to receive autographs or photos from the world champion. They were eager to meet him and the only certainty was that ’10’ had been there last weekend to watch Thiago train with Inter Miami. But the “price of fame” and glory prevented him from accompanying his son on the family’s special day. Of course, with just his single appearance at the sports complex, he would overshadow the tournament, and that was probably what he wanted to avoid, at least at the start of the tournament with the parade of delegations in it.

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Other family members did the same: his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, and his youngest son, Ciro, along with Lionel’s parents, Jorge and Celia Cuccittini. Everyone watched the entertaining match from the box area of ​​one of the soccer fields that the sports center has, along with Sofía Balbi, partner of Uruguayan Luis Suárez, because her son Benjamín is also a member of the U.S. National Team’s U13 North team.

Thiago Messi, 12, played in midfield, in a pair of 5s with Manuel Yarur, but looser. His performance was on par with his team’s. For most of the first half, Rojinegro monopolized, they dominated every aspect of the game and Inter Miami did not even cross half the field. With a noticeable physical difference, the local team created many openings and always clashed with goalkeeper Paxton Jakymec. But the visitors had the most obvious option: Yarur recovered the ball after a foul and faced goalkeeper Santino Vojvoda -son of former Newell defender and current Brazilian coach of Fortaleza-, who took the shot.

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Gradually the match became balanced, although Newell’s always prevailed thanks to the physical advantage of the players. Thiago, who until then had to run to the opponent to touch the ball, spared no effort, distributing the ball to his teammates and doing so with caution until he was substituted in the 11th minute of the second half – two halves of play. half an hour-.

The one who stayed on the pitch a little longer was Benjamín Suárez. Positioned as a central striker like his father, he was also absent like Lionel Messi despite the fact that a few days ago the stadium was on site; he had to face the size of the opposing defenders and fought more than he could play, especially in the early stages, when his team could not get the ball.

Without Thiago and Benjamín, the Argentine team found what they had long deserved: a goal. After a cross from the right wing, the ball flew into the area between several players. None of the Inter Miami defenders could clear the ball and Tomás Fantín finished it successfully. The ball hits the opponent, goes past goalkeeper Jakymec and goes into the net.

Inter Miami will play again this Tuesday at 9:30 vs. Peñarol ’91. They will then do it on Wednesday at 6pm against Montevideo City Torque. All matches are broadcast live on the Newell’s Cup YouTube channel and it is not ruled out that Lionel Messi will be present at some point, supported by the fact that expectations for his presence will not be as high as this Monday due to his absence.

The Newell’s Cup is a traditional tournament for the lower divisions organized by the Rosario organization, through which, since its inception, thousands of children from Argentina and other countries have passed. The current edition has eight teams divided into two groups. In Group A, in addition to the hosts and Inter Miami, there are Peñarol ’91 and Montevideo City Torque, both from Uruguay. In zone B, Peñarol ’09, Universitario de Perú, Colón de Santa Fe and Estudiantes de Río Cuarto compete. The top two from each side will advance to the semi-finals and then to the finals scheduled for next Friday 29th.