Messi’s new Argentinian partner in Inter Miami’s attack: ‘I’ve been watching him’

(from Miami) “It’s nice to be back on the pitch and score a goal,” he commented. Nicholas Stefanelli Smiling in the mixed zone after scoring for your team inter miami in a home season-ending game against Charlotte FC. It has not been an easy year for the Argentine as he has missed a lot of games due to injury.

Appear in defense and justiceand passed through the Swedish, Greek, and Chilean leagues, he landed in Major League Soccer in early 2023: “I am in Sweden (AIK), where I spent 3 years of my career, and last year negotiations started and in “We Second The month is already here,” he said while speaking with database.

Stefanelli is a highly deployable player who can adapt to any role along the offensive line, but where he does the most damage is on the left, where the goal against Charlotte came from, and where he can be alongside Messi Tata Martino’s Choice. Next season for Inter Miami.

-Despite the time change, do you still follow MLS matches? (Sweden is 6 hours longer)

-I watched the highlights of Inter Miami because I had an ex-teammate, a friend who played there, Finnish Robert Taylor (they were teammates at AIK), so I followed him and talked to him about the team, about Travel, what league, I asked him questions, that’s been the league I’m focused on, and it happened.

-Did Robert give you any advice?

-When I started looking for a place to live, since the negotiations were more or less over and we were about to sign, you start looking for apartments, areas, and he helped me, I chose the building where he lived, and he introduced me to people who were going to be my teammates Someone who started to understand the mentality of the coach who was there (Englishman Phil Neville) and helped give me what I needed. It’s nice that we go to the pool together sometimes, but he doesn’t drink yerba mate.

-You didn’t put it in your mate?

-No, many people tried it but didn’t. Some of us do drink, like Leo Campana (Ecuadorian), and his partner Víctor Ulloa (Mexican) sometimes joins us. It takes a lot, and there are two or three dunkers on the team.

-Do Argentinians often get together to drink yerba mate?

-Yes, Faku (Farias), Toto (Aviles), Paraguay (Diego Gomez) also come to drink yerba mate, yes, almost always in the morning, in After concentrating or eating, we get together and disconnect from our partners if we don’t sleep during the nap.

After spending time in the World League in South America and Europe, Stefanelli realized that life in the United States was quiet, MLS was different and many people came to enjoy it as a tournament, but Inter Miami The fans are different from most fans in that they are “super passionate”. Although the pressure is different, his goal is clear: “We want to win, and people who play football are always preparing to play and never stop doing that.”

-Has Inter Milan changed a lot with the arrival of Messi?

– Everything changed, everything changed completely, the day the news broke, we just came to visit and we couldn’t believe it, it’s crazy, it’s beautiful. Now the venues are almost always packed, everything is “sold out” and when they bring Messi out a lot of people leave because they are actually there to see him. The fact is that everything we have experienced on a personal level has been very good and I think on an institutional level as a club we are experiencing a good start to the new Messi era by winning the title (League Cup).

-How did you know Messi was coming?

-There were some rumors that I couldn’t believe until one of them was signed. This happened while we were focusing on a match with Franco Negri (an Argentinian footballer who was out with a torn cruciate ligament in his knee). We were playing for the U.S. Open and the note came out and he said he was coming here, to Miami, with Franco, and we looked at each other and he told me, “This can’t be happening.” Franco Started saying he had chest pains and we were going to take a nap and we didn’t even take a nap and we couldn’t sleep and our heads were anywhere and then we played and we won and it was crazy because from that point on, huge things happened to the club. The changes, we had to make some adjustments in terms of security to try to protect it because they knew something crazy was coming.

-It must be incredible to have it every day…

-I would look at him all the time and his head would hurt from everything I looked at him (laughs). I like him, I try to watch him and enjoy seeing what he does on the field and also try to appreciate him as a person, whether it’s outside or in the locker room, to see what he’s like, what he’s like is a great guy who is twice as good as he is. As a player. He’s just another guy, he drinks yerba mate, he laughs, he jokes, and the fact is it’s good and we enjoy it and I think he enjoys being here too.

-What surprised you about him?

-One of the things that surprised me the most is that he has a winning mentality, he doesn’t want to lose anything. For example, when we played Dallas, as the away team, and we lost 3-1, he scored a goal to make it 3-3, and you saw his image, he wasn’t celebrating. Game, but celebrate the game. Look for the ball to score. 4-3, 3 minutes left in the game. The message it gives you as a teammate is, if this guy is going to get the ball, let’s win it, and it changes your mentality and creates an atmosphere within the team that makes it a winner.

-Has the mentality of the team changed?

– In general, now other clubs respect us, we play football, we give twice as much as we give and that brings out something extra inside you that you often find hard to get rid of, but with him there There, you know you do that even if you have cramps

-Due to injuries, you had to see a lot of off-field games…

-It was difficult because I got injured in a game before Messi arrived and started training, so three months after the injury, they were training and I looked at it from the outside and if your mind is not healthy and strong, I think that It’s messed up. But I loved watching him out there training, seeing every control he made, how he hit the bow, the action, how he worked the court, watching everything.

Stefanelli ended his speech by looking back at what is to come and how they are preparing for next season: “If we are 100 per cent in terms of injuries, we can be candidates and that will be the difference between us and Towers Tower’s (Martino) first preseason, we go to “understand more about the philosophy of the game we’ve been developing, but on a name level, the team that’s being created is important. “

Inter Miami will end the regular season as a visiting team against Charlotte next Saturday before heading to China for a tour, where they will face Qingdao Hainiu on November 5 and Chengdu Rongcheng three days later.