MLS
Messi, Suárez and Matías Rojas make MLS team of the matchday: which players made the XI?
The three Inter Miami stars led the team of the week in MLS after Miami’s 6-2 win over NYRB.
After a spectacular match against New York RB, Inter Miami’s stars were not going to be absent from the Team of the Matchday for Week 12 in Major League Soccer 2024.
For obvious reasons, Messi and Suárez are present in the attacking line of the star-studded side, but the player whose name stands out the most is Matías Rojas.
The Paraguayan had his first minutes at Chase Stadium in the Las Garzas kit, but his impact was immediate in helping Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s side turn around the scoreline in the opening moments of the second half. With a left-footed shot into the left corner and the second a delightful chip, the number ‘7′ knocked down the door in South Florida and got the comeback fully rolling.
Alongside Rojas was the legendary Uruguayan striker, Luis Suárez, who scored a hat-trick to climb to the top of the scoring charts along with Messi (10G). Finally, the Argentine once again demonstrated his ability to create play and entered into MLS history as the first player to reach 6 goal participations in a match (1G and 5A).
On other fronts, the striker accompanying Messi and Suárez in attack is Englishman Sam Surridge, who also scored a hat-trick in Week 12 and helped Nashville SC beat CF Montréal (4-1). What is interesting is that the Canadians are Inter Miami’s next opponents and with the Fort Lauderdale side’s attacking power, they could well be up against a huge challenge.
Other players that made the team in the most recent round of the North American league were Federico Bernardeschi, Cole Bassett and Cristian Espinoza in the midfield. The Italian scored a brace and provided an assist (Toronto 3-1 FC Dallas), the American scored and registered an assist (NYCFC 0-2 Colorado) and the Argentine signed off a pair of assists (SJ Earthquakes 3-1 LAFC).
The best goalkeeper of Week 12 in MLS 2024 was Roman Bürki, who saved St. Louis City SC from losing to Houston Dynamo by completing 7 saves (stopping a 1.72 xGA, according to SofaScore), two of which were from huge chances inside the box. Finally, the defenders are Bryan Vera (Real Salt Lake), Antônio Josenildo Rodrigues (SJ Earthquakes) and Kervin Arriaga (Minnesota United).