WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 05: (L-R) Lionel Messi of Inter Miami CF shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump as Inter Miami CF CEO and Managing Owner Jorge Mas looks on during an event celebrating the 2025 MLS Cup Champions Inter Miami CF in the East Room of the White House on March 05, 2026 in Washington, DC. Inter Miami defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 to win their first MLS Cup championship. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano had a Zoom interview with the media Friday morning ahead of Saturday’s game against D.C. United in Baltimore, and predictably, the opening question was about the team’s White House visit on Thursday.
Lionel Messi and his teammates were received by President Donald Trump and many dignitaries in the East Room of the White House Thursday afternoon to celebrate the club’s 2025 MLS Cup title, a visit that made headlines around the world.
“I thought we were going to talk football,” Mascherano said, and then he proceeded to answer the question.
“We complied with a protocol that is a tradition to come to the White House for being the championship team,” he said. “It was planned a long time ago for the week we would play here in Washington. We were there a few hours, got to see a little bit of the White House, not much, what we could. The contact with President Trump was what was seen on TV, not much more than that.”
The defending MLS champions have had a complicated few weeks so far as the MLS season got underway. The team played matches in Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, and Orlando and then visited the White House. Saturday, they will play in front of another big crowd at M&T Stadium in Baltimore, where more than 60,000 tickets had been sold as of Friday afternoon.
Asked how he and the team are managing all the travel and distractions, which are obstacles other teams don’t have to deal with, Mascherano replied:
“We are mature enough to understand that one thing has nothing to do with the other. We knew start of the league season would be complicated for having to play the first five matches on the road. The White House visit was planned between a month a half and two months ago. Maybe the Puerto Rico trip got in the way a little bit because it was supposed to be in the preseason but we had to fulfill the obligation, but the reality is other than yesterday, which has nothing to do with our sporting side, the rest is travel.”
Mascherano said the time on the road helps with team bonding and may be a benefit in the long run.
“I choose to see the trips as a positive because the players are together more; we can share more things that in the day-to-day in Miami we don’t get to do,” he said. “That helps us have a good atmosphere within the team and at the end of the day, if we can take advantage of that, it will be very good.
“We know that not only these past two weeks but the next two will be the same way with a lot of travel, minus the return leg against Nashville in the Conca Champions, but we try to go game by game. Tomorrow is a great opportunity to keep growing as a team and build on the good result we had in Orlando and keep gaining points in the season.”
Inter Miami opened the season with a 3-0 loss at LAFC before rallying for a dramatic 4-2 comeback win at Orlando City on Sunday night. Messi scored twice in the second half against Orlando, including a free kick in the 90th minute. Telasco Segovia added a goal and two assists and Mateo Silvetti had the other goal.
With that brace, Messi has 52 goals in 55 MLS regular-season games and his career goal total reached 898 over his time at Barcelona, PSG and Inter Miami. He is two goals from reaching 900, a milestone held only by Cristiano Ronaldo.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – MARCH 01: Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF takes a free kick to score his team’s fourth goal during the MLS match between Orlando City SC and Inter Miami CF at Inter&Co Stadium on March 01, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Dustin Markland/Getty Images) Dustin Markland Getty Images
Ronaldo scored his 900th goal on September 5, 2024, during Portugal’s match against Croatia in the UEFA Nations League. He was 39 years and 7 months old at the time, and he needed 1,238 matches for club and country to reach the mark.
Messi is 38 years, 8 months old and has played 1,149 matches.
“The numbers that you mention are incredible, he’s unbelievable,” Mascherano said of the Argentine legend, which whom the coach played at Barcelona and with the Argentina national team. “I’m just a privileged spectator. I get to watch him closer than you from the sidelines.”
If Messi scores twice against D.C. United, he reaches 900. If not, he could do it March 11 in the Concacaf Champions Cup against Nashville SC at Geodis Park.
D.C. United won its season opener 1-0 over the Philadelphia Union and lost last weekend 1-0 to Austin FC. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson had eight saves in that game and Christian Ramirez scored. Another D.C. player to watch is newcomer Louis Munteanu, a 23-year-old forward and member of the Romanian national team, who joined the club this season.
The game Saturday kicks off at 4:30 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. It will be shown on Apple TV.
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 10:55 AM.
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Michelle Kaufman
Miami Herald
Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NBA Playoffs, Super Bowls and has been the soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years. She was born in Frederick, Md., and grew up in Miami.
