Tag: Thiago Almada

Argentina calls up nearly as many MLS players as USMNT

A record three MLS players will be joining Argentina ahead of World Cup qualifiers

Argentina has called in a record three MLS players for its upcoming World Cup qualifiers, with Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United) and Alan Velasco (FC Dallas) all getting the call.

The world champions will play Ecuador on September 7 and Bolivia on September 12 as they begin their qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup in North America.

With three call-ups, Argentina is only one short of the four MLS players the U.S. national team called in for its upcoming friendlies against Uzbekistan and Oman.

Ironically, one of those USMNT call-ups — Inter Miami midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi — is still eligible to play for Argentina. The other three MLS players called in by Gregg Berhalter are Drake Callender (Inter Miami), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United) and Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes).

Almada and Messi were teammates on Argentina’s 2022 World Cup winning squad. Almada, who played six minutes total in the tournament, became the first active MLS player to win the World Cup.

Messi, of course, played a considerably bigger role, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player as he finally lifted the game’s biggest international prize with Argentina.

For Velasco, the call-up represents the first time he’s been invited to join Argentina’s senior national team. The 21-year-old winger has been previously called into the Albiceleste’s U-17 side.

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Atlanta United played without Thiago Almada. It didn’t go well.

Without Almada, Atlanta had a rough night at the office

Thiago Almada is arguably the best player in MLS, and is pretty much inarguably having the highest-caliber start to the season of any individual player in the league.

Unfortunately for Atlanta United, they had to play without the World Cup winner Saturday night. You’d expect them to have a harder time creating chances, and maybe attempt a more cagey approach without their 21-year-old attacking dynamo.

What you might not expect is for them to get completely obliterated, but that’s just what happened. The Crew stormed to a 6-1 win over an utterly hapless Atlanta, blowing things wide open after halftime.

A rocky start saw Columbus take a 14th minute lead, with some stagnant Atlanta defensive work and a bad bounce allowing the home side to capitalize. Alexandru Mățan attempted a low diagonal ball to the back post that was deflected…right into the path of Aidan Morris.

Atlanta struggled on from there, but at halftime it was just 1-0. That’s salvageable, right?

Not so much. About 90 seconds after the break, Christian Ramirez finished off a low cross from Jacen Russell-Rowe after Atlanta’s Noah Cobb missed his clearance attempt.

That’s about when the wheels fell off. Atlanta couldn’t get anyone on Philip Quinton for a 51st minute corner kick, which resulted in the Crew defender powering home a header.

Ramirez grabbed a brace, and it’s not a goal Atlanta’s going to want to see back. Steven Moreira walked forward into the midfield and, under no pressure, looked to play Ramirez through.

The big striker was also left completely unmarked, and just strolled into the box before shooting low past Brad Guzan.

Atlanta’s nightmare continued at the back, with Crew players making the game look like a training ground exercise. Mohamed Farsi got into acres of space along the right, and his low cutback found Russell-Rowe so open that the only problem he had was calling Ramirez off of it before finishing the move past Guzan.

Brooks Lennon picked up a late goal to at least spare Atlanta the embarrassment of being shut out, but even then, they found the Crew unstoppable at the other end.

Once again it was easy work: Will Sands saw some hesitation from defenders around him, waltzing out of token pressure along the touchline before crossing for Max Arfsten. Yet another open look ended with yet another goal, with Arfsten side-footing home in stoppage time as an exclamation point.

The only saving grace for Atlanta? When the New York Red Bulls come to Georgia on April 1, there’s at least a chance they’ll have Almada available.

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Atlanta United’s Almada, Wiley are both appointment viewing

These Atlanta kids might be good

There are at least two good reasons to watch Atlanta United every week right now.

The Five Stripes demolished the Portland Timbers 5-1 on Saturday, with Caleb Wiley and Thiago Almada both putting on stellar performances.

First up was 18-year-old homegrown winger Wiley, who followed up last week’s brace with another goal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Yes, it took some help from Portland a) being caught with everyone in the Atlanta half following a set piece and b) for the retreating Timbers defenders to engage in some kind of Three Stooges routine by running into one another.

But nonetheless, Wiley made the smart run early, turning on the jets with the hope that someone would be able to find him. Almada is one of the very best players in MLS at finding someone, and from there Wiley just calmly dispatched with his breakaway, giving Aljaž Ivačič no chance to make a stop.

That brings us to Almada. The World Cup winner opened the season by scoring two ridiculous goals against the San Jose Earthquakes, and followed that up with an assist in each of Atlanta’s next two games. Pretty good, right? The performance of an active Argentine international in MLS.

Well, sadly for the Timbers, Almada decided to up the ante against them. He stood over a 32-yard free kick in the 47th minute, with Luiz Araújo the left-footed option to compliment him.

However, few people really believed anyone other than Almada was going to strike the ball. The odds are still long, even for a player of his level, but Almada is in incredible form at the moment.

The result? A shot into the furthest reaches of the far corner, kissing the post and setting off delirium at the Benz.

There’s not a lot Wiley or anyone else could do to top that, but the kid sure did try. With Portland stretched in the 59th minute, Wiley received a crossfield ball and served up an absolute dime of a cross for Giorgos Giakoumakis, with the new striker making no mistake to notch his first MLS goal.

Almada’s battle with Wiley continued tit-for-tat, much to the chagrin of the visitors. Atlanta made it 4-0 in the 75th minute, with Almada casually scooping the ball from midfield in behind for Araújo to finish things off. A big win was officially a rout.

Portland pulled one back, but Almada wouldn’t let them leave without one more highlight-reel moment. This time, the 21-year-old received a pass from Derrick Etienne Jr., spinning around Larrys Mabiala before passing the ball out of the reach of a helpless Ivačič.

You should go ahead and schedule a window to watch Atlanta United at 7:30pm Eastern next Saturday, when they head north to face the Columbus Crew.

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Almada blows the roof off Mercedes-Benz Stadium with two late bangers

The World Cup winner put his team on his back

Let’s all enjoy Thiago Almada in MLS while we can.

On MLS opening day, Atlanta United entered stoppage time trailing 1-0 to San Jose as a crowd of 67,538 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was set to go home disappointed.

Jeremy Ebobisse gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute and despite a number of chances, Atlanta could not find the back of the net.

But then Almada lighting struck twice, as the recently crowned World Cup winner scored not one, but two incredible goals to give the Five Stripes a dramatic 2-1 win.

In the 93rd minute, the 21-year-old was played a short corner and with some time at the top of the box, he fired home a stunning effort off the underside of the crossbar.

But Almada was far from done. In the 99th minute Atlanta United was given a free kick, setting the stage for the Argentine to curl home the winner.

Per Opta, it was only the second time in MLS history a player had scored a match-tying and match-winning goal in stoppage time of a single match.

Almada has been widely tipped to depart Atlanta United in the near future, with clubs in Europe lining up for his signature. He may have earned his club a couple extra dollars with his match-winning heroics on Saturday.

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Hey, is that a MLS player on Argentina’s World Cup roster?

Atlanta United’s Thiago Almada will be joining Lionel Messi and co. in Qatar

By most accounts, Argentina is the favorite, or at least co-favorite to win the World Cup.

And now, in something of a milestone for MLS, the league will feature a player on said World Cup favorite: Atlanta United midfielder Thiago Almada.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni called Almada into his World Cup squad on Thursday as an injury replacement, with the 21-year-old joining Ángel Correa as the pair replacing Nicolás González and Joaquín Correa.

Almada joined Atlanta United from from Vélez Sarsfield prior to the 2022 season for a reported league-record transfer fee of $16 million.

In his debut MLS campaign, Almada put up six goals and 12 assists en route to being named the MLS Newcomer of the Year.

That form earned Almada his first Argentina cap in September and although he did not make the country’s initial 26-man roster, he was named as an alternate and got the nod after two players went down injured.

After making his international debut, Almada was praised by none other than his teammate Lionel Messi.

“Thiago is very fresh,” Messi said. “He’s a very fast player who can play one-v-one. He’s clever and isn’t afraid of anything.”

Almada is the first active Atlanta United player to represent his country at a World Cup, and the first MLS player to represent Argentina at the tournament.

For MLS, Almada is one of a league-high 37 players who are on World Cup rosters. Canada (11) and the United States (9) make up over half that amount, but there is also representation from Australia, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Poland, Switzerland, Uruguay, and now, Argentina.

No active MLS player has ever won a World Cup. Almada is clearly the strongest candidate the league has ever had to break that streak.

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