Argentine rising star Mateo Silvetti delivers for Inter Miami with Suarez out
Mateo Silvetti was born in Lionel Messi’s hometown of Rosario in Argentina.
He played for the same club Messi did, Newell’s Old Boys.
And it’s easy to see that Silvetti is on track to soon become an impactful player for their home country’s national team.
But these days, Silvetti is enjoying his chance to make big plays alongside his boyhood idol as he did on Saturday night at Chase Stadium.
Streaking downfield toward the opposing goal, Silvetti delivered a perfect cross to Messi that resulted in his second goal of the match and contributed to a 4-0 blowout victory for Inter Miami over Nashville SC, which advanced their club to the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals.
“Maybe right now one doesn’t realize it, but tomorrow, it will hit me [that I assisted Messi for a goal],” Silvetti said. “It’s an honor already to share the day to day with Messi, to have moments, share the field and add minutes with him and all my other teammates that are elite.”
Silvetti’s assist and overall performance during his 74 minutes on the pitch wasn’t just a mental keepsake for the budding 19-year-old who recently starred in the Under-20 World Cup.
It was clutch for Inter Miami as the club trusted Silvetti by inserting him into its starting XI to make up for the absence of superstar Luis Suarez, who was suspended for the game.
Suarez, who watched the game from the stands, was suspended for an incident involving Nashville defender Andy Najar in Game 2 of the series when Suarez kicked his right leg backwards into Najar’s midsection.
“I’ve worked hard to be in good shape to help the team,” Silvetti said. “Losing Luis hurts because we know what kind of player he is and it could have been a negative, but we worked around it.”
Silvetti, who was signed by Inter Miami in late August, had already played key minutes in last week’s 2-1 loss to Nashville in Game 2. On Saturday, Silvetti looked fluid with and without the ball on Miami’s attack alongside Messi and Tadeo Allende, who each finished with a pair of goals. Silvetti picked up a yellow card in the 69th minute and was later substituted for by Yannick Bright in the 74th minute as Miami looked to bolster its defense for the final stretch of the game.
“Toto (Silvetti’s nickname) played a great game,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said. “He was very, very important in the high pressure. But it would be unjust to single out one player tonight. When the team plays at this level, you have to name the entire team. Not just the 11 starters, but the entire roster because all week they worked hard and had their heads on what happened in Nashville and how to turn that around, so this was their prize.”
Mascherano knew how high Silvetti’s potential was even before becoming Inter Miami’s coach, having coached him on the Argentine U20 team. Silvetti recently helped that squad advance to the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup final, scoring the game-winner against Colombia in the semifinals.
Silvetti made 37 appearances for Newell’s, scoring six goals and assisting on two others.
Silvetti joined the club as part of the MLS U-22 initiative and his contract runs through 2029, with an option for 2030.
On Saturday, Silvetti made his sixth appearance for Inter Miami and soaked in the experience of winning and advancing in pursuit of a championship with players he looked up to growing up like Messi.
“(Messi) just kept encouraging us to keep up the intensity and keep going,” Silvetti said. “I think he showed again that Leo is Leo. Everything he does makes things easier for the whole team.
“We started planning how we’d approach this especially against an opponent we’ve faced so many times so we knew little details would affect the match. It’s a result we all love and it reflects the work we put in to achieve it.”
