By: Evie Willer ’26

My brother, Myles, has been a big soccer fan since he first stepped on the playing field around the age of three. He has nonstop begged my parents to let him go to a professional soccer game. When we saw that his favorite player, Lionel Messi, was coming to play the New England Revolutions in Boston, we were quick to get the tickets. After the two hour drive to Boston in stop and go traffic, we made it to Gillette Stadium. Once we were there and found our seats, everyone started piling in. Over 65,000 fans packed the stands. Everyone had Messi jerseys on. Unlike concerts I’ve been to at Gillette, this crowd was mostly young kids and their families who were all excited to see the famous Lionel Messi.

I’ve never seen a crowd so loud and full of joy as when Messi made his way out to the field. Many people had no doubt that the inter – Miami team would win, as they are the number one team in the league. However, once the game started, New England Revolutions scored their goal in the first minute. Everyone was in shock and Messi and inter miami stepped up their game after noticing the Revolutions wanted the win. Messi played the full game, which was unexpected, and he ended up scoring two goals and had one assist. Miami ended up winning four to one. This game was the most competitive soccer game I had seen. It was interesting to see how the players were able to make quick decisions and work as a team to win the game. My favorite part of the game wasn’t watching the actual game, but hearing all the five to ten year olds yelling and getting mad at the teams and refs for calls they did not agree with.