Inter Miami CF head coach Javier Mascherano confirmed Lionel Messi will be available to feature in the Major League Soccer season opener against Los Angeles FC on Saturday night.

“Messi is fine; he’s been training at the same level as the rest of the team all week,” said Mascherano on Friday. “He’s been doing well and has had very positive feelings. So, he’s going away well prepared, just like the rest of the team.”

The forward’s participation in this match was originally in doubt after suffering a muscle strain in his left hamstring during the preseason game against Barcelona SC on February 7. Though Messi started the friendly, he left the pitch in the 58th minute to watch from the sidelines.

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Inter Miami subsequently chose to reschedule the final preseason friendly against Independiente del Valle in Puerto Rico to Feb. 26, instead of the original date of Feb. 13.

Messi has returned to training with the rest of the squad since suffering the strain.

The coach later emphasized that “all players who traveled with the team” to California will be available for selection, including newly signed Designated Player Germán Berterame and now-permanent Inter Miami figure Tadeo Allende.

Mascherano went on to admit that the team expects a difficult game against LAFC, given the caliber of players on both sides of the field.

“It’s clear, though, that they are two great teams, and of course, given the caliber of their players and what they represent in the league, they are two teams that, on paper, should be contenders,” said Mascherano.

“You always imagine the ideal game, and the ideal game for us would be the complete opposite of that, a back-and-forth affair. It would be about controlling the game, having long spells of possession, and preventing Los Angeles from making transitions because they need to get forward quickly.”

Inter Miami enters the 2026 campaign as the reigning MLS champions, having lifted the 2025 MLS Cup by defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps. The team will now compete in the Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup in addition to the MLS regular season.

The Seattle Seahawks returned to the headlines this week after news surfaced that Paul Allen’s estate — which is overseen by the late owner’s sister, Jody Allen — has initiated the process to sell the franchise.

The eventual transaction aligns with Allen’s final wishes and comes less than two weeks after the Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX to capture the franchise’s second Vince Lombardi Trophy.

After a decade away, the big game returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2026. Events throughout the week were split between the heart of San Francisco and Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, about 40 miles away. Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin cited the week’s apparent logistical issues and deemed Super Bowl LX as the “worst ever.”

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“Literally, you could not go anywhere on the streets,” he said. “It took forever to get right down the street because traffic was so bad.” Irvin also expressed his hope that future Super Bowls are not awarded to the region.

“This was a horrible Super Bowl,” the former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver declared. “They should never ever, ever, ever bring the Super Bowl back to San Francisco. … It was ‘blah’ in the city, you know what I mean? It just wasn’t jumping.” 

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Irvin attended several high-profile pregame events before, but ultimately determined the host city failed to deliver a festive atmosphere.

“The people, ‘blah.’ The buildings out here looked ‘blah.’ When you go into events, it was ‘blah,’” Irvin said in a video shared on his YouTube channel, continuing his review of the week. “I’m thinking there should be so much money out here because the tech is out here, right? But it all looks so ‘blah.’”

Michael Irvin attends The FanDuel Party Powered by Spotify 2026 on Feb. 06, 2026 in San Francisco, California.   (Anna Webber/Getty Images for Spotify)

Irvin said he waited until well after the events and the game to voice his criticism.

“I didn’t want to dampen anybody’s thoughts or hopes about a Super Bowl during the Super Bowl, so I said ‘Imma wait.’ But I couldn’t wait ‘till this moment came to tell you,” he explained. “Damn! It’s, I believe, the worst Super Bowl I’ve ever gone to, and I’m talking about just seeing how the city rocks and everything.”

Irvin won three Super Bowls during his tenure with the Cowboys.

Former Miami Hurricanes football player Michael Irvin looks on the 2026 Fiesta Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with the Mississippi Rebels at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 8, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

Irvin’s comments differ sharply from those of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s and running back Christian McCaffrey’s comments, who took a more positive view of the host city.

“It’s a historic city with so much character. The food, the hills, the homes, the water, the bridge, the whole thing. It’s just such a great city, too, and it’s really cool to see it come to life even more than it already is,” Christian McCaffrey told Fox News Digital on radio row in the days leading up to kickoff.

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“Man, I think San Francisco has so much to offer,” Purdy added. “Just, obviously, with the restaurants, the experiences, just how pretty it is out here with the Golden Gate Bridge and the ocean. It’s a great city, great people. So to have the Super Bowl out here is really cool.”

Next year’s Super Bowl heads back to the Los Angeles area, with Atlanta set to host in 2028.

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Nick Goepper risked it all on his final Olympic run.

The 35-year-old American skier was in the bronze medal spot when he began his last run in the men’s halfpipe freestyle skiing competition Friday in Milan with a chance at the gold medal, but it ended in a crushing blow on his final trick.

Goepper landed everything successfully until his fifth and final jump, when he didn’t get enough height on his leap and landed hard on the halfpipe ledge.

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He lay on the snow for several minutes, and for as hard as he crashed, everyone held their collective breath as he was tended to by medical staff, who seemed ready to pull him away on a stretcher.

However, Goepper stood up on his own two feet, gave a thumbs-up and a smile, and walked off under his own power.

Unfortunately, insult was added to injury as Canada’s Brendan MacKay bested Goepper’s score to push him off the podium and take the bronze.

USA’s Nick Goepper on his final run during the Men’s Freeski Halfpipe Final at the Livigno Snow Park, on day 14 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. (David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)

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It was not all bad news for the Americans, though, as Goepper’s teammate, Alex Ferreira, took home the gold medal.

Goepper entered this year’s Games with three other medals — one each from Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing — but none of them gold.

The broadcast said the trick Goepper attempted had never been done in competition.

USA’s Nick Goepper receives medical assistance after crashing while competing in the freestyle skiing men’s freeski halfpipe final run 3 during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park, in Livigno (Valtellina), on Feb. 20, 2026.  (Jeff Pachoud / AFP via Getty Images)

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“I have no regrets,” he appeared to say as he walked off the mountain.

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