Club World Cup: Lionel Messi and Inter Miami stumble in opener as Egypt's Al Ahly steals the show - Yahoo Sports

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Lionel Messi and Inter Miami came to Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday as the Club World Cup’s handpicked opening act, but left with a laborious 0-0 draw, and with waning hopes that they can compete on this first-of-its-kind global stage.

They got exposed at times by the champions of Egypt, Al Ahly, and were fortunate to come away with a point.

They entered the tournament publicly doubting whether they could measure up to what head coach Javier Mascherano call a "level higher than what we've faced in CONCACAF and MLS," and almost instantly, their worries were realized.

In the months and weeks building up to the opener, they were the headliners, supposedly the main attraction. But they were quickly overwhelmed by Al Ahly — by its players, who were organized and sharp; and by its fans, who paraded into the stadium hours before kickoff and made Miami a quasi-road team at home.

For much of the first 45 minutes, the Herons played at an MLS pace, which they soon learned was nowhere near fast enough. They played with MLS intensity, which everyone soon realized was no match for African Champions League intensity.

They were sloppy. And nearly every time they lost the ball, there were gaping holes in their midfield. Al Ahly would break, sometimes 2-v-2 or 3-v-3. Less than eight minutes in, Trézéguet and Emam Ashour created the first of several chances, but Miami goalkeeper Óscar Ustari made his first of several big saves.

The pattern continued throughout the first half. Inter seemed discombobulated, and tactically inferior against a team that has spent only two weeks with Jose Riveiro, its new coach. Miami’s Tomás Avilés and Federico Redondo both took yellow cards to hack down counterattacks. Avilés was lucky not to be sent off for a second hard foul on the edge of the penalty box 14 minutes after his first.

The one-way traffic rolled on and on until, finally, in the 41st minute, it yielded a penalty. Red-clad fans rose, expectantly, ready to explode, both in celebration and relief. This, surely, they thought, would be the moment all the pressure paid off.

But Trézéguet’s spot-kick was saved by a diving Ustari, the man of the match.

And with that — after an acrobatic clearance at the other end denied Miami its best chance of the half in stoppage time — the two teams retreated to their locker rooms still level at 0-0. There was little doubt, though, which one had been better.

“We have to improve in transition,” Mascherano told DAZN at halftime. “We are losing the ball, sometimes we are not well-organized. … They are very dangerous.”

Coming out of halftime, the game flipped. Miami’s passes began to connect. Messi began to dictate the game a bit. He tested Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy. He whipped a low free kick just past the post. (The back side of the back of the net rippled; thousands of fans thought they'd finally witnessed the breakthrough.)

The breakthrough, though, never came. Not even in final minutes of second-half stoppage time, when Messi floated a curling shot over El Shenawy, seemingly into the top corner — only for the Egyptian keeper to tip it onto and over the crossbar.

And the two sides settled for a stalemate that suits neither in a group also featuring Portugal’s FC Porto and Brazil’s Palmeiras.

Miami is not only in a shallow hole, though. Saturday's opening act turned into evidence that the stars have aged and the collective is strained.

Messi, though still the most potent player on the pitch, was largely neutralized by a tough Al Ahly midfield. He was crowded out in his favorite spaces, and chased down in transition. He and Luis Suarez had balls poked away from them and passes cut out. They enjoyed far less time, and far fewer defensive mistakes, than they do in MLS.

And their teammates couldn't lift them.

Inter, like every MLS club, is constrained by convoluted roster rules and spending limits. But it has also been constrained by a front-office mess. Despite Mascherano's pleas, the sporting department made no new signings in the special pre-Club World Cup transfer window.

So, they were inferior on Saturday, even though their owners are richer and their brand more glamorous.

"The Club World Cup has a very high level, and it's a level we clearly don't have," Mascherano said before the tournament began. "We have to be honest about it, and there's no shame in saying so."

The first 90 minutes of the tournament seemed to prove him right.