{"id":366601,"date":"2026-08-09T02:42:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T02:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/366601\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T02:42:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T02:42:38","slug":"inter-miami-honors-messis-late-father-jorge-with-pregame-tribute-de-paul-goal-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/366601\/","title":{"rendered":"Inter Miami honors Messi\u2019s late father, Jorge, with pregame tribute, De Paul goal celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Inter Miami paid tribute to Lionel Messi\u2019s father, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7500338\/2026\/08\/08\/jorge-messi-lionel-father-dies\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jorge Messi, after his death following an illness was announced on Saturday<\/a>. He was 68.<\/p>\n<p>Miami was hosting Liga MX\u2019s Monterrey at Nu Stadium in the Leagues Cup, with Lionel Messi absent as he traveled home to Rosario, Argentina, to be with his family. Messi had been training with the team as recently as Friday. During the World Cup, Messi\u2019s family had indicated in a statement that Jorge was undergoing treatment for a \u201chealth situation.\u201d Lionel was visibly emotional at times during Argentina\u2019s run to the World Cup final, saying after his hat trick in his team\u2019s opening match versus Algeria that his tears were due to \u201csomething unrelated to football\u201d after \u201ca few difficult, complicated days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Messi\u2019s MLS club held a minute of silence before Saturday\u2019s match for Jorge, who also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7501034\/2026\/08\/08\/jorge-messi-lionel\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">served as Lionel\u2019s agent and business manager and confidant<\/a> throughout his career and helped oversee his move from PSG to Miami in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Miami players wore black armbands to honor their captain and his family. Messi\u2019s close friend and international teammate, Rodrigo De Paul, captained the squad in his absence.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">Minuto de silencio en memoria de Jorge Messi, padre de Leo Messi. <\/p>\n<p>Descanse en paz. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/assxDP4P6J\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/assxDP4P6J<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLS Espa\u00f1ol (@MLSes) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MLSes\/status\/2086243411246387628?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">August 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Naturally, it was De Paul who scored Miami\u2019s opening goal in the 32nd minute, and he wasted little time in taking off his shirt to reveal he was wearing a Messi No. 10 kit underneath it as a nod to his grieving teammate.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rodrigo De Paul strikes from distance for the opener and honors his friend Leo Messi and his family \u2764\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/96GEG7XpMh\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/96GEG7XpMh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MLS\/status\/2086252696231669907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">August 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Around Nu Stadium, fans held messages and signs of support for Messi as well.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7501635 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2288943810-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Messi fans hold a sign of support\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>\n      Fans at Nu Stadium offer their support for Lionel Messi after the death of his father (Chandan Khanna \/ AFP \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for Miami, it could not maintain its lead and fell to Monterrey 2-1 on goals from two recently acquired attacking stars from MLS. Hugo Cuypers (Chicago) and Diego Rossi (Columbus) scored in the 47th and 90th minutes, respectively, to secure all three points and deal the hosts a big blow in their hopes of getting out of the Leagues Cup\u2019s opening phase.<\/p>\n<p>But the result was largely secondary on a day when tributes for the Messi family poured in throughout the day from around the soccer world, with clubs \u2014 including Messi\u2019s Argentine youth team, Newell\u2019s Old Boys, and Barcelona, where he rose to prominence \u2014 the Argentina federation and the South American confederation among the many writing messages and offering condolences.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona, which faced Nottingham Forest in a preseason friendly Saturday, also observed a prematch moment of silence out of respect.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">An emotional moment of silence for Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi&#8217;s father and longtime agent, ahead of Barcelona&#8217;s friendly against Nottingham Forest \u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa Stream free on CBS Sports Golazo Network <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PQOUMSAfBp\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/PQOUMSAfBp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CBS Sports Golazo \u26bd\ufe0f (@CBSSportsGolazo) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CBSSportsGolazo\/status\/2086172054068318481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">August 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>MLS commissioner Don Garber shared a statement of condolence, writing, \u201cWe are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Jorge Messi. Jorge will be remembered for his quiet strength, kindness and unwavering devotion to his family. On behalf of Major League Soccer, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Lionel, the entire Messi family and all who loved Jorge. We are keeping them in our thoughts during this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear when Messi, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7495861\/2026\/08\/06\/lionel-messi-goals-inter-miami-san-luis-leagues-cup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">scored his first two goals since the World Cup<\/a> and added an assist in Miami\u2019s Leagues Cup win over Atl\u00e9tico San Luis on Wednesday night, will return to the club. Entering Saturday, he was the all-time leading scorer in the Leagues Cup (14 goals; tied with LAFC\u2019s Denis Bouanga) and the two-time reigning MLS MVP. After leading Miami to an MLS Cup title last season, he\u2019s one off the league\u2019s golden boot pace with 12 goals, and, just over halfway into the regular season, has Miami in contention for the Supporters\u2019 Shield, awarded to the team with the league\u2019s best record.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inter Miami paid tribute to Lionel Messi\u2019s father, Jorge Messi, after his death following an illness was announced&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4101,17157,17159,5008,17160,10151,17143,17153,17145,17147,17158,17149,17152,5429,46922,17156,17148,123,125,124,17155,5692,16076,17144,17142,17146,4788,15267,14193,14240,14243,17162,17150,17154,2062,17151,17161,8005,4798],"class_list":["post-366601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-argentina","tag-atlanta-united-fc","tag-austin-fc","tag-barcelona","tag-charlotte-fc","tag-chicago-fire","tag-club-de-foot-montreal","tag-colorado-rapids","tag-columbus-crew","tag-dc-united","tag-fc-cincinnati","tag-fc-dallas","tag-houston-dynamo","tag-inter-miami-cf","tag-liga-mx","tag-los-angeles-fc","tag-los-angeles-galaxy","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-minnesota-united-fc","tag-mls","tag-nashville-soccer-club","tag-new-england-revolution","tag-new-york-city-fc","tag-new-york-red-bulls","tag-orlando-city-sc","tag-paris-saint-germain","tag-philadelphia-union","tag-portland-timbers","tag-real-salt-lake","tag-san-diego-fc","tag-san-jose-earthquakes","tag-seattle-sounders-fc","tag-soccer","tag-sporting-kc","tag-st-louis-city-sc","tag-toronto-fc","tag-vancouver-whitecaps-fc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}