Sporting KC, the 13th-best team in a 14-team Western Conference last season, has hitched its ride to the partnership between Joveljic, its new striker to replace Alan Pulido, and Garcia, an attacking midfielder who replaces, well, no one, really.

Lionel Messi scored from the right side of the box in the 56th minute to lift Inter Miami past Sporting Kansas City 1-0 on a bitterly cold Wednesday night in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup's first round.

The temperature at kickoff was seven degrees Fahrenheit while the feel-like temperature dropped to nine below zero.