Monday AM: Messi’s Inter Miami sent packing. Also: Poch’s take on USMNT roster; Big crowds for NWSL playoffs.

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Good morning! On the eve of the 2024 MLS playoffs, David Beckham, the Inter Miami co-owner, said the record-setting Herons would be ready. But they looked anything but dominant in their Round One series, falling to No. 9 seed (!) Atlanta United in three games. Beckham knows how hard it is to win in MLS. It wasn’t until the fifth and final year of his contract with the LA Galaxy in 2011 that it won MLS Cup. (He later extended his contract one more season, and the Galaxy won again in 2012.) Lionel Messi will get one more chance to win MLS Cup in 2025, the final year of his three-year contract. (Whether Messi sticks around for 2026 and the opening of Miami’s Freedom Park stadium is a matter of speculation.)

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