Diego Valeri is arguably Major League Soccer’s first true Argentine star. His resume speaks for itself: a bona fide legend not just with the Portland Timbers - the club he called home for nearly a decade- but across the league as a whole. Few foreign players have reached Valeri’s level in MLS, and even fewer sustained it as long as he did.
Valeri's own stardom, though, doesn't exempt him from marveling at MLS' current star Argentine, Lionel Messi. As a man who has worn that No. 10 shirt himself, Valeri, too, often finds himself mystified at what Messi can do, and, as the Club World Cup looms, Valeri is as excited as everyone to see Inter Miami's star lead his side against some of the game's best once again.
"It's insane still," Valeri tells GOAL. "It's the best player in history, and he's won everything, the World Cup, and he shows the mentality it takes to compete, to lead the team, to win more trophies. That's how you make a league better, right? That's what I like most."
The Club World Cup, ultimately, is a tournament that the now-Apple TV+ analyst finds himself gravitating towards, largely because it unites so many parts of his own fandom. There are the MLS sides, of course, including the Seattle Sounders, his once-hated rival whom he now finds himself begrudgingly pulling for this summer. There are the European heavy-hitters, including Porto, a club that he played for once upon a time. And then, of course, there are the Argentinian powerhouses, Boca Juniors and River Plate, two clubs that have long set the tone for the South American game.
Valeri talks about the brilliance of Messi, the Argentina-USA connection, his expectations for the Club World Cup and more in the latest edition of Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.
NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
