Inter Miami CF was well represented and shone at the 2024 MLS All-Star Week in Columbus, Ohio. Club defender Jordi Alba and midfielder Sergio Busquets were part of the 2024 All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T and the 2024 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target, Academy standout Cai McLean featured in the MLS NEXT All-Star Game presented by Allstate, and Special Olympic Athlete Alain Figueroa and Unified Partner Kenny Goul-Papili competed in the 2024 Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star Game.
Let’s take a look at how our Club representative fared in the thrilling 2024 MLS All-Star Week festivities.
2024 MLS NEXT All-Star Game presented by Allstate
Prior to flying out to Columbus to represent the Club in MLS All-Star Week festivities, Inter Miami surprised McLean to inform him about his selection for the MLS NEXT All-Star Game presented by Allstate.
The Inter Miami Academy U-16 defender then started for the East in the third edition of the MLX NEXT All-Star Game on Tuesday morning. The matchup between the East and West squads at Historic Crew Stadium featured a thriller, with the East squad coming back from a two-goal deficit to claim a 4-2. Notably, McLean contributed an assist for the East in the big comeback win!
Additionally, McLean met up with First Team stars Alba and Busquets at the MLS All-Stars hotel to wish them luck ahead of their participation in the 2024 MLS All-Star Game.
2024 All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T
Up next, on Tuesday night Alba and Busquets were in action for the MLS-All-Stars against the LIGA MX All-Stars in the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T. The evening presented an even matchup with a dramatic finale giving the LIGA MX All-Stars a narrow 3-2 win. Despite the result, both Alba and Busquets starred at the event. First, Alba and LA Galaxy midfielder and former Barcelona teammate Riqui Puig teamed up as one of the two participating duos from the MLS All-Stars in the touch challenge presented by Crest to help lead the win for MLS in the challenge.
Then, Busquets put on a masterclass in the passing challenge presented by Old Spice to for the MLS All-Stars to claim the point in the challenge.
2024 Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star Game
Wednesday morning then kicked off with the action of the ninth edition of the Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star Game at the Historic Crew Stadium. Inter Miami had two representatives on the pitch, with Special Olympic Athlete Figueroa and Unified Partner Goul-Papili defending the East squad. It was a memorable match for them, as the East All-Stars cruised to a resounding 5-0 win.
Following their win in the Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star Game, Figueroa and Goul-Papili also linked up with Alba and Busquets to share their best wishes ahead of the MLS All-Star Game.
2024 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target
Lastly, Alba and Busquets, the third and fourth All-Stars in Club history, were starters on Wednesday night at 2024 MLS All-Star Week festivities came to a close with the matchup between the MLS All-Stars and the LIGA MX All-Stars in the MLS All-Star Game presented by Target.
Both Inter Miami stars featured throughout the first 45 minutes with the match tied 1-1 at the half. Busquets dished out the secondary assist for the MLS All-Stars sole goal on the night with a sublime line-splitting through ball to find Diego Rossi on the right wing, before the decisive low cross for Cucho Hernández inside the box. The match subsequently finished 1-4 in favor of the LIGA MX All-Stars, with the visitors scoring three times in the second half.
