Leo Messi, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, made his debut in the United States of America. He will wear the Inter Miami shirt in the game, which will be played on Friday in America, but on Saturday at 3:00 in Romania (you can watch the match live here). Messi comes to the USA almost 50 years apart from another great legend, Pele, who at the end of his career also decided to choose the “land of the free”. Betano’s infographic traces the arc in time between the greats Messi and Pele.

Messi (born 24 June 1987) made his debut for FC Barcelona on 16 November 2003 in a friendly match against FC Porto. The Argentinian was wearing number 14 on his shirt and entered the field in the 71st minute in place of Fernando Navarro Corbacho, about whom nobody knows anything.

He made history at the Catalan club, for which he scored 474 goals in 520 matches, won 10 La Liga titles (the first in 2005 and the last in 2019), 7 Spanish Cups and 7 Super Cups, 4 Champions League trophies (the last in 2015) , 3 European Super Cups and 3 Club World Championships. He added two more French championship titles to PSG.

The icing on the cake was 2022, when he led Argentina to the finals and won the FIFA World Cup.

Messi has 7 “Golden Balls”, 6 “Golden Boots” of Europe, as well as titles such as the best FIFA player in the world, the winner of the “Golden Ball”, the best player of the Spanish championship (7 times), the best player of the Copa America and 15 times the best Argentine player between 2005 and 2022.

He rejected an astronomical offer from Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia worth 363 million euros per year and decided to sign a contract with American Inter Miami, where he will make his official debut on July 21, 2023.

The way to the USA was opened by Pele in “Cosmos”.

Messi is not the first big name, not the first South American legend to set foot in the USA. The road was opened in 1975 by Edson Arantes do Nascimento “Pele”, who also won three World Cup trophies.

He played “all his life” in Brazil for FC Santos between 1956-1974, for whom he scored 569 goals in 583 matches. At the end of his career, Pele played in America for the New York Cosmos from 1975 to 1977, for which he scored 37 goals in 64 games.

Pele arrived in America in 1975 at the age of 35 and Leo Messi was playing in the First American Soccer League (MLS) at the age of 36.

Pele, carried on a stretcher, from the street among American fans

Pele’s move to the US had a huge impact. The press conference generated tremendous interest, with Cosmos officials saying at the time that “the U.S. has had superstars in the past, but never the caliber of Pele.”

During his first public appearance in the city of Boston, Pele was mobbed, surrounded by hundreds of people and evacuated on a stretcher!

Other legends followed Pele and preceded Messi

Pele opened the door not only for Messi to end his career in the USA beautifully, but also for other big names such as Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Eusebio or Bobby Moore.

Records of the audience in the USA

The legendary Brazilian led the Cosmos to the league title in 1977, in his third and final season. In June 1977, the Cosmos drew no less than 62,394 spectators at Giant Stadium, which at the time was an all-time American League record. It was a fairytale match, won by the Cosmos 3-0, all goals scored by the great Pele.

Kissinger, 1977: “The atmosphere so overwhelming”

On his way to the title, Pele also brought 77,691 people to the stadium, an all-time record for the United States of America and Canada for a soccer match. Writer Henry Kissinger, then US Secretary of State, described the atmosphere as “so overwhelming” – according to the August 15, 1977 issue of The New York Times.

Goal from 27 meters

On 1 October 1977, Pele played his last match, an exhibition match between the only club teams he played for in his senior career, Santos and Cosmos. He played one half for the Brazilians and one for the Americans. Before the match, he addressed the audience with a message: “Love is more important than anything else in life.” In this game, he scored the last goal of his career, a free kick from 27 yards.

He will die on December 29, 2022. However, Messi continues to live. Sports fans can enjoy him where he is now at Inter Miami, just as sports fans back then enjoyed legend Pele in Cosmos at the same venue nearly 50 years ago.