Ahead of another final, Muller shows respect to Messi
Inter Miami and Vancouver Whitecaps step into an unprecedented Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup final on Saturday, each chasing its first Philip F. Anschutz trophy in a spectacle fuelled by the renewed rivalry between Lionel Messi and Thomas Müller. Ahead of the final, Muller had respect in his words for Messi as he stated, “This is a final I wanted. The good thing is not only playing against the best player who has ever played our sport and who continues to do so, but I think when you have a match like this, more people see you.” The 36-year-old striker continued, “Perhaps they rely on him a little more than this team relies on me.” “If you play with these great players and names, then it’s a little more exciting for more people around the world. It’s a perfect situation for everyone involved,” added German legend. With ticket prices at record highs, the free global broadcast will reach more than 100 countries, while the MLS is rolling out its most ambitious production yet for a final featuring two of Europe’s stars. At 38, Messi produced the season Inter Miami had hoped for when it brought the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner to Florida, with him steering the club to its first MLS Cup final and setting an all-time assist record of 405 along the way. The Argentine captain had 29 goals and 19 assists in the regular campaign, plus six goals and seven assists in the postseason. Longtime Bayern Munich talisman Muller, who arrived in Vancouver in August, was instrumental in driving the campaign of the CONCACAF Champions Cup runner-up, delivering seven goals and three assists across seven regular-season matches. The head-to-head between the two veterans tilts the contest in favour of the German, with him winning seven of their 10 meetings, including two Bayern thrashings of Barcelona in the Champions League in 2013 and 2020, as well as Argentina’s painful defeat in the 2014 World Cup final. As Muller suggested, the match-up’s profile has lifted the entire event, driving record demand and the most ambitious broadcast MLS has ever assembled.
Telangana Chief Minister starts training at midnight to face Messi on 13th December!
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is known for his ability to maintain strong public relationships. One of the most entertaining personalities in South Indian politics, Revanth Reddy, is also an ardent fan of football. Even during the intense 2023 election campaign, Revanth played a game of football in the old city area despite the business. Nowadays, after becoming the Chief Minister of Telangana, Revanth, still passionate for the game, hardly gets time to enter the pitch wearing a jersey. But Reddy finally got time to prepare himself for a football match despite the business, and this will be the first time he will play after becoming the Chief Minister of Telangana. According to a state ministry source, the C has even started training seriously at midnight, around 11:30 PM, after completing a demanding schedule of official duties. The late-night regimen is in preparation for arguably the most anticipated sports event in the state’s calendar: a friendly exhibition match on 13th December against the Argentine legend Lionel Messi as part of the “G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025. It is going to be a clash of nines and tens as Revanth Reddy will wear the number nine jersey, leading the Team-RR9 against a team captained by Messi, who will don his iconic number 10. The match, set to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, is being informally billed as ‘RR9 vs. LM-10’. The chief minister will be playing alongside selected young students from government schools who have demonstrated exceptional football talents. The event is designed to be a lifetime inspiration for these emerging athletes. The exhibition match will serve as the culmination of the Telangana government’s two-year anniversary celebrations (1st December to 13th December), and specifically, the grand unveiling of the Telangana Rising Vision Document 2047 on 9th December.
