Napoli wins opener, Messi lifts Inter Miami to Leagues Cup glory and Spain captures WWC
Kick off your week with all the action from this past weekend
Another weekend and two more of Europe’s top leagues — Serie A and Bundesliga — returned to action.
At the same time, MLS returned after its month-long hiatus, while Inter Miami won Leagues Cup. At the same time, Spain captured the Women’s World Cup, capping off a great run and a sign of a power shift in the game.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s three biggest stories:
3. Napoli wins in season debut
Defending Serie A champions Napoli won its first game of the season on Saturday, downing newly-promoted Frosinone 3-1. Victor Osimhen, last season’s Serie A top scorer, tallied twice in the away win.
The victory was also marked a positive start for new manager Rudi Garcia.
“From an offensive point of view, [Osimhen] was very good. He scored two goals and I have nothing to say to him. From a defensive point of view, however, I didn’t like him at all and I told him so during the interval,” Garcia told reporters afterwards. “In the past. he pressed more and defended better. We corrected this thing in the second half and we played with a lot of quality.”
Players and fans marked a moment of silence before the start of the season following the death of Carlo Mazzone at age of 86. Mazzone is famous for coaching a number of Serie A sides, including most notably Roma led by Francesco Totti and Brescia with Roberto Baggio.
In other results from the league’s opening weekend: Inter Milan downed Monza 2-0 at home, Juventus defeated Udinese 3-0 on the road and Roma and Salernitana played to a 2-2 draw.
2. Inter Miami’s historic turnaround
Lionel Messi scored and later converted the first shot during a penalty-kick shootout as Inter Miami beat Nashville SC 10-9 at Geodis Park in the Leagues Cup final.
The win highlighted an historic turnaround for a team that had been winless in its last 11 MLS matches. Messi’s arrival — along with former Barcelona stars Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets — ahead of the Leagues Cup allowed the team to improve dramatically in such a short span of time.
After Messi scored a stunning game-winner in his debut, Inter Miami remained undefeated, winning a club record seven straight games in the Leagues Cup culminating with Saturday’s trophy.
“We had to incorporate a lot of new players but I’m very impressed how it came together,” Inter Miami manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino said.
Messi finished the tournament with 10 goals in seven games. The team returns to MLS action this coming Saturday when they travel to New York to take on the Red Bulls.
1. All hail Spain!
What we witnessed over the past four weeks was largest Women’s World Cup in history: Number of entrants, depth of talent, number of fans and incredible impact.
A new champion was crowned on Sunday when Spain edged England, the defending European champions, 1-0 at Sydney’s Stadium Australia in a game that represents the advent of Europe as the game’s preeminent force.
Olga Carmona scored after 29 minutes and Spain held on to win its country’s first World Cup title. Carmona’s triumph, however, was tinged with sadness after learning of her father’s death. The Spanish FA issued a statement after the match to confirm Carmona’s father had died, without giving specific details.
Spain’s win came despite a near-mutiny by players last year. Fifteen players said they were stepping away from the national team for their mental health while also calling for a more professional environment. Three of those players — Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey — reconciled with the federation and played at the World Cup.
“We’ve suffered a lot throughout the past 12 months, but I think everything has a reason to be. This has made us a stronger team,” Carmona said after the game. “It’s really incredible. I don’t know just why Spain is the world champions — but I think that we deserved it.”
On Saturday, Sweden defeated co-hosts Australia 2-0 in Brisbane to take third place.
In other news: The Italian FA announced Friday that Luciano Spalletti will be Italy’s new coach after Roberto Mancini’s surprise resignation. … Harry Kane scored a goal and assisted on another on Saturday as Bayern Munich routed Werder Bremen 4-0 away to open the Bundesliga season. … Kylian Mbappe put to rest — at least for now — that he may leave PSG by playing in a 1-1 road draw on Saturday against Toulouse. Mbappe came off the bench and scored his team’s only goal on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute.