Tadeo Allende, the Cordoban who is living "a dream" by playing with Messi at Inter Miami and is excited about the Club World Cup: "We're going to give it our all."

From Mina Clavero to the Club World Cup . At 25 years old, Tadeo Allende is hours away from fulfilling a dream, another one in reality. His first was to play alongside Lionel Messi ; his second was to be part of the inaugural tournament featuring the 32 best teams in the world. Inter Miami is participating as a guest and will be hosting the opening match this Saturday the 14th at 10 p.m. against Al Ahly of Egypt.

Emerging from Instituto and with a great season at Godoy Cruz , where he caught the attention of Celta de Vigo , his disappointing spell in LaLiga in Spain in 2024, where he could not establish himself, found an exit that became a balm: this year he joined Javier Mascherano 's team and in a duo with Leo, Luis Suárez and company he emerged as one of Las Garzas' top scorers, with 8 goals in 20 games.

"We've had a few tough months," the Cordoba native begins, candidly speaking at a press conference for Argentine media organized by MLS. Inter Miami started the season with a string of unbeaten matches that lasted until March, then suffered a six-match winless streak, which they only managed to turn around in the last two matches, with two braces from the number 10.

The team looked stronger, more focused, which is what we'd been struggling with. But we put in the work and the results came at just the right time, right before the World Cup, which has me very excited, eager to get out there and play.

-What do you know about your rivals?

-Well, Palmeiras is a very tough team, one of the toughest on the continent, with great players, and we've seen them in the Copa Libertadores. I'm not as keen on the other teams, to be honest. Porto has an Argentine coach like Martín Anselmi, but we'll have time to analyze him. It's a tough group, but we're focused on our team, on becoming stronger, and believing in our potential. But, well, as I said before, we're focused on ourselves.

-What was it like going from having Messi as an idol to playing alongside him, and how did you see him in the weeks leading up to the competition?

I had him as an idol growing up, and actually, I still do... and now having him as a teammate is incredible. Seeing him playing so close, training with him, him giving you a pass, giving it to him. It's a dream come true. I see him as very involved, like all my teammates; that's what he conveys to all of us. We still have a few days left, but the idea is to arrive in the best possible shape. We're fine-tuning the final details, but we're doing very well. We've been preparing for this tournament for a while now. We're focused and connected to face the first match, which will be none other than the opening match.

There's been a lot of talk about reinforcements. How does that affect the squad that was already preparing for its Club World Cup debut?

"I don't get involved in reinforcements, I don't really think about that. We're focused on ourselves. If new players come in, that's great, and if they push forward, even better. The idea is to go out and play on Saturday, take it game by game, and see what we're up to. This is football, and it's ever-changing, very difficult. There's a lot of competition, and we're here to fight."

-Inter Miami has a lot of Argentinians. Is that competitive spirit evident in the team?

Yes, we Argentinians have that drive to live football, and not just football, with a lot of competition. I think that's the soul of the team, right? But we also have teammates who aren't Argentinian and who contribute in other ways, and that's also very good, because they help us grow a lot. We're here to compete, to fight, and to battle. We won't give up; we'll give everything we have in every play.

- What was the transition from Argentina to Europe and from there to the United States like? How did you experience that process?

It's very difficult to get to Europe from Argentina, at least it was for me. And having to leave so quickly after having barely played for a year was tough too. But it's what I needed, to get playing time, and that's what I found at Inter. I came because I was interested in playing with Leo, Luis, Sergio (Busquets), Jordi (Alba)... Also, because of the amount of competition we were going to have here, and I'm enjoying it.

-Regarding the move from Argentina to Europe, how do you see Mastantuono's move to Real Madrid? Would you give him any advice?

-No, I wouldn't recommend anything... Obviously, I've been following him, and I think it's incredible. It's a source of pride for us Argentines, to see another Argentine footballer go to the best club in the world; it's historic. I say it's something to be proud of because it shows the quality of players we produce. A kid so young, who has a lot of quality, it's great that he has the opportunity to play for a team like that. I would tell him to take advantage of it, to learn a lot of things, and to achieve many goals and dreams. I wouldn't recommend anything to him, just to work hard on his mental side; for me, that's fundamental; the head is key.

-Lastly, what prediction do you have for the Club World Cup?

-I don't know if it's a prognosis, but I do know that we're going to fight hard and give it our all.