WASHINGTON: Second-half goals by Argentine strikers Juan Brunetta and Maximiliano Meza gave Mexico’s Liga MX a 4-1 victory over Major League Soccer in Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game.

Argentine striker German Berterame and Moroccan winger Oussama Idrissi also scored for the Mexican league’s elite squad in the triumph at Columbus, Ohio.

MLS had won both prior All-Star meetings with Mexican league rivals, playing to a 1-1 draw and winning 3-2 on penalty kicks in 2021 and taking a 2-1 triumph in 2022.

Berterame, a 25-year-old forward for Mexico’s CF Monterrey, opened the scoring in the 16th minute.

Cucho Hernandez, a Colombian winger for the Columbus Crew, equalized for MLS in the 17th minute.

Idrissi answered for Liga MX in the 41st minute to give his squad a 2-1 lead at halftime.

Reserve Brunetta, a striker for Tigres UANL, boosted Liga MX’s lead in the 68th minute and Meza, a winger for Monterrey who also came off the bench to start the second half, added another goal in the 69th for the final margin.

Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi did not play for MLS due to a right ankle injury suffered in Argentina’s victory over Colombia in the Copa America final.

Messi, who also missed two MLS games last week, is uncertain for Miami’s home game Saturday against Puebla as Inter begin defending the Leagues Cup, a second-year tournament involving MLS and Liga MX clubs that begins on Friday.
 

PARIS: Egypt and the Dominican Republic battled their way to a scoreless draw on Wednesday in their opening Group C match on the first day of the men’s soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics.
The Dominicans, who are playing for the first time ever in the football competition at the Games, had the ball in their opponents’ net in the 13th minute, courtesy of Peter Gonzalez, but the referee ruled it out over a foul Egyptian defender Hossam Abdelmajeed.
Both teams had chances throughout the match, which took place at Nantes’ Stade de la Beaujoire, but goalkeepers Xavier Valdez and Hamza Alaa were not to be beaten on the day. Alaa made a great save to tip away a Gonzalez free-kick in the 70th minute, and his Egyptian teammates worked hard to grab a winner late on but the Dominican defense refused to yield.
Egypt are competing in the Olympics football contest for the 13th time, the most of any African nation, but has never finished higher than fourth place, which it achieved in Amsterdam in 1928 and Tokyo in 1964. The team made reached the quarter-finals at Tokyo 2020, losing 1-0 to Brazil.
It had been hoped that Mohammed Salah might join the Egyptian side as a senior player at the Olympics but he declined to do so, opting instead to focus on Liverpool’s preseason preparations. Former Arsenal midfielder Mohammed Elneny captained Egypt.
Earlier, Spain, silver medalists in Tokyo three years ago, kicked off their Group C campaign with a 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan at the Parc des Princes. Their squad included two members of their Euro 2024-winning squad: Alex Baena and Fermin Lopez.