Despite the return of Lionel Messi to the starting line-up, after he missed the 0-0 draw at Orlando on Wednesday, Miami struggled to create chances against a very well organized D.C. defense.

The napkin on which Barcelona promised to sign Lionel Messi when he was a 13-year-old has been sold for 762,400 pounds ($969,000, auction house Bonhams said on Friday.

Lionel Messi's record $20.45 million annual salary from Inter Miami makes him by far the best paid player in Major League Soccer but also puts him ahead of the entire squads of 25 of the league's clubs, according to data released by the MLS Players Association on Thursday.

Inter Miami's five-match winning run came to an end on Wednesday as, without the injured Lionel Messi, they were held to a 0-0 draw at Orlando City.

Messi briefly left the field for attention after a heavy challenge and while the Argentine was on the sidelines, his team won a free-kick in the area -- where the World Cup winner can be so deadly.

Menotti led Argentina to their first World Cup triumph in 1978 in home soil and coached the national team from 1974 to 1982.

Messi's five assists, which all came in the second half, are a new record for an MLS game and he now has 10 goals and 12 assists in eight league appearances so far this season.

Without Messi, Miami had fallen to a 4-0 defeat to the Red Bulls in New York in March, but they more than avenged that loss with their merciless second half demolition job.

A crowd over 65,612 turned up at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the stadium the Revolution share with the NFL's New England Patriots, to see the Argentine World Cup winner.

Argentina midfielder Exequiel Palacios wants Lionel Messi to be an eternal part of the national team and cannot bear the thought of playing for his country without the inspirational forward.

Nazmul Hassan Papon, the youth and sports minister of Bangladesh, sought assistance from Argentina for developing the country's football and promised to extend Bangladesh’s help to develop Argentina’s cricket during a courtesy meeting at the Sports Ministry today with Marcelo C. Cesa, the ambassador to Bangladesh.

The crowd was more than 20,000 larger than the 52,424 that saw the then-Kansas City Wizards defeat Manchester United 2-1 at Arrowhead in an exhibition match in July 2010.

“To me, Leo is the greatest player of all time, I did not mean to offend anyone, I just gave an honest opinion,” Ortiz said

Mexican side Monterrey sent Lionel Messi and Inter Miami crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday after completing a 5-2 aggregate victory in their quarter-final clash.

“The dwarf was possessed, he had the face of the devil,” Sánchez said referring to Messi.

The Argentine had been out of action for almost a month with a hamstring injury, missing the last four games, but was named among the substitutes for the home game.

“I love Messi. Messi is Messi; I love [Gabriel] Batistuta as well, I met him once in Argentina and got his t-shirt signed, but yeah, I love Messi,” Salah told ESPN Argentina

Having sat out for almost a month due to a hamstring injury, superstar Lionel Messi could return to action when Inter Miami host Colorado Rapids in the Major League Soccer (MLS) at Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.

World champions Argentina maintained their position at the top of FIFA rankings, while arch-rivals Brazil were stationed at fifth and Belgium displacing England to occupy third place, as per the rankings updated on Thursday.

Inter Miami, without Lionel Messi, lost 2-1 at home to Mexico's Monterrey in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final on Wednesday with Argentine Jorge Rodriguez scoring a superb 89th-minute winner.