The Messi Cup has a new champion. Palmeiras beat River Plate 1-0 in Sunday's Copa Oro final in Fort Lauderdale to win the second edition of Lionel Messi's under-16 tournament and end River's hold on the title.
The final
Miguel Alves Messias scored from a corner inside the first 10 minutes, his fifth goal of the tournament. River goalkeeper Rodolfo Durante made three key saves to keep the final close, but River couldn't find an equalizer.
Standing water on the grass fields moved the finals to the synthetic field at Inter Miami's Florida Blue Training Center. Messi wasn't there to hand out the trophy. He was in Foxborough, playing for Inter Miami against the New England Revolution.
How they got there
Palmeiras won Group B, reached the semifinals past Benfica, then beat Ajax 3-2. Palmeiras teammate Gabriel Bueno finished as the tournament's top scorer with six goals.
River drew 0-0 with Chelsea, beat Ajax 2-0 and beat Inter Milan 3-1 in the group stage. They got past Flamengo 2-1 in the quarterfinals and won a penalty shootout against Atlético Madrid in the semifinals, but fell one game short of back-to-back titles.
In the Copa Plata final, the bracket for teams that didn't reach the quarterfinals, Newell's Old Boys beat UE Cornellà 2-0.
The host academy
Inter Miami's U-16s opened with a 2-1 win over Independiente del Valle, then lost 3-0 to both Benfica and Atlético Madrid. They went out of the Copa Plata with a 1-0 loss to Arsenal, Frankie Wyatt scoring off a Jaden Maghoma assist.
The first edition had eight clubs. This one had 16, from nine countries, and South American academies led the way again.
Sources: UNANIMO Deportes, Infobae/EFE, Daily Cannon
