‘Messi Meets America’ Details Soccer King’s Awesome Rise

Like it or not, there is probably nothing more American in 2023 than reality television—or the reality of streaming your favorite show on-demand. Not long since the first throes of MTV’s The Real World back in the 1990s, sports fans knew that the “behind the scenes” bug would eventually make its way deep into sports.

It’s why shows like HBO’s “Hard Knocks” has been covering almost every angle of NFL life, since its since 2001 launch. Meanwhile, there’s been a growing appetite for sports programing with the success of both long-running shows like ESPN’s “30 For 30” as well as limited series features like “The Last Dance.”

Now there’s something special for both die hard soccer fans and recent converts to “the beautiful game” that “Ted Lasso” has perhaps bought cultivated. Enter soccer superstar Lionel Messi.

Starting next week on October 11, Apple TV+ will air the first of three episodes of “Messi Meets America,” part reality TV, part up close and personal documentary series that covers Messi’s move to the United States as a part of Major League Soccer.

Produced in conjunction with production company Smuggler Entertainment, the six-part documentary series will feature a day in the life of Messi, the 36-year-old Argentine forward, who recently signed on with MLS club Inter Miami CF.

The series also features commentary from fellow and past players, including ex-England star David Beckham Inter Miami, who calls Messi, “one of the best players in the world.”

Viewers will get what Apple TV+ and Smuggler called “exclusive behind-the-scenes access to Lionel Messi, the greatest-of-all-time,” as the 2022 World Cup winner makes a splash in American soccer, while navigating fame and hordes of USA-based soccer fans.

Apple TV released the official “Messi Meets America” trailer today.

The new series is executive produced by Tim Pastore, an Emmy Award winner who previously produced “Free Solo” and “Jane” along with Emmy and Tony Award winners Patrick Milling Smith and Brian Carmody, and Emmy Award winner Matt Renner. The team worked in association with Major League Soccer, to feature some of Messi’s best plays and scoring highlights while in pink.

“Messi Meets America” will be available for viewing in more than 100 countries across the world. It shows the first glimpse of Messi, the longtime Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain star, taking the pitch with Inter Miami.

Also on the radar this month for soccer fans is the Netflix
NFLX
four-part series titled “Beckham” to be released October 4.

All Messi, no hype

Much has been made already of Inter Miami’s foothold in the MLS, with the establishment of the club in 2018 generating immediate press, thanks to the workings of its key owner Beckham. Inter Miami plays its first match in 2020.

Rumors first surfaced about Messi coming to America last year after the conclusion of his final season with PSG. Messi’s agreement to join the MLS and Inter Miami were confirmed this summer by Forbes and other sources.

Upon joining the South Florida club, Messi was reunited with Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, both ex-Barcelona teammate and Spanish internationals.

So far, Messi’s foray into stateside soccer with Inter Miami has been nothing short of stratospheric.

One big name in soccer, soccer commentator and U.S. Women’s National Team legend Brandi Chastain, says that Messi’s unmatched skills and game-awareness combine to make him something special.

“Messi is a force of nature, an anomaly—which is to say, you think you can explain it but truth be told you cannot as the unpredictability is mind blowing,” said Chastain, a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, when I asked her her thoughts today.

“What happens on the field, in the stands and around the world when he steps foot onto the pitch creates such energy and electricity, and that’s before he has even done anything.”

Chastain adds that Messi’s wizardry is reminiscent of some of the other greatest of the greats, particular fellow countryman Diego Maradona.

“Like a former diminutive Argentinian before him, even Messi’s warm up gives you goose bumps. His magical touch, catlike agility and 360-degree awareness afford the viewer a look into the matrix where the best in the world resides.”

Upon Messi’s debut, Inter Miami went unbeaten in the first 11 games (in all competitions), with Messi’s presence on-field helping them bag 10 wins.

With Messi out because of an injury, Miami currently sits in 13th place league standings in the MLS’s Eastern Conference, with a record of 9-6-15, on 33 points.

Messi’s flow and scoring abilities in the latter half of his thirties are nothing short of remarkable. Especially when compared to the short-lived return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United in August 2021, which failed to live up to fans’ expectations.

Despite finishing the 2021 EPL season with 18 league goals, the Portuguese international who is also considered on the the game’s best ever players, left Man United under tense circumstances join Saudi Arabian club Al Nassri.

Messi has been sidelined for the last five matches but is expected to come back for Inter Miami this week.

Chastain said also that she thinks Messi does not look like a player at the end of his career, nor one who has come to the USA to play a less demanding style of soccer. In contrast, she thinks Messi is more likely to raise the level of the game.

“What he has done for the game, the players and the world is deliver creativity, imagination, and hope that anything can happen at any given moment,” Chastain said. “The MLS, the USA sports scene, and the world is better for him having decided to don a pair of boots and knock the ball around.”