Drake Callender is flourishing as the last line of defense for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Drake Callender is the answer to a pretty strong trivia question.

Years from now, it’s likely that some folks — when guessing who scored the goal that gave Inter Miami its first-ever trophy in the summer of 2023 — will choose Lionel Messi, for obvious reasons. The greatest player of his generation, probably the greatest player ever, would be the logical pick.

Spoiler alert: It wasn’t Messi.

“I did what had to be done,” Callender said.

Indeed, it was Inter Miami’s goalie — in the 11th round of a penalty-shot shootout — who scored what became the winner of that Leagues Cup final last year against Nashville SC. He scored, then saved Nashville goalie Elliot Panicco's attempt to tie the game and extend the shootout to finish off the win. It’s a moment that forever will live in Inter Miami lore.

It's also a reminder that in big moments, Callender is already proven. Major League Soccer's playoffs start in about a month-and-a-half, and Callender — the go-to goalie for the best team in the league right now — can’t help but think about what it’s going to be like to challenge for the next trophy. The MLS Cup is very much on his mind, and with the way Inter Miami is playing and with Messi now back after a two-month absence because of an ankle injury, everything is looking good in his world.

“I think anytime you have opportunity to win a trophy and you do win that trophy, it makes you believe," Callender said. “Now we know we can. We all believe and know we can win games, but part of playing the game is finding out if you can win trophies. And the group knows we can do this.”

It has been, to this point, the best season of Callender's career. The goalie who turns 27 next month not only is the backstop for the best team in MLS but also has set a career-high for wins (19, against three losses and five ties), has tied a career best with five shutouts in MLS play this year and has the best goals-per-90-minutes average of his career at 1.37.

Put another way, the highest-scoring team in MLS — with Messi and Luis Suarez leading the way there — has one of the best goalies in MLS. It's obviously a winning combination, as proven by how Inter Miami had a 10-point lead over Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference standings entering Sunday and a seven-point lead in the league's overall standings over the LA Galaxy with a match in hand.

Inter Miami defender Julian Gressel had a simple way to describe Callender's secret. “Resiliency,” Gressel said.

And that was on display Saturday.

Inter Miami surrendered a goal to the Philadelphia Union less than two minutes into the contest. Maybe Callender was sleep-deprived; he and his wife became parents for the first time a few days earlier. But with the match on the line, Callender was locked in — with Inter Miami protecting a 2-1 lead in the 85th minute, Sergio Busquets inexplicably lost control of the ball near the goal mouth. Callender made a point-blank stop to preserve the lead and Inter Miami would add a late goal to win 3-1.

“He’s bouncing back and gone through a lot the last few days, obviously,” Gressel said. "It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind for him but awesome to see him kind of step in like that and come up big when we need him. And that’s what he’s done for the whole season. I’m really happy for him.”

It's hard not to be happy for Callender, who always seems to be one of the team's happiest players.

When Messi arrived and joined Inter Miami in the summer of 2023, everything for everyone involved with the club immediately changed — Callender included. It's a huge deal when Inter Miami plays now, which means more fans, more attention and more pressure.

“I’m good at blocking out the world," Callender said. “All the noise and all the haters and the doubters and the media, sometimes it fuels me and sometimes I need a break from it. But it takes time to adjust to all the changes. I mean, I was watching this guy in Champions League a few years ago, and now I’m playing on the same team with him.”

Inter Miami didn't get to the playoffs last year. Injuries took a toll and even Messi's arrival wasn't enough to pull the team from the bottom tier of the MLS standings. This season, not only will Inter Miami make the playoffs, it will be favored to win it all.

And that means another trophy moment may await the team's goalie.

“Getting to the playoffs was one goal of ours,” Callender said. “But it's just one step toward the big goal.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender (1) makes a save during the second half of an MLS soccer match against Orlando City, May 15, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

FILE - The ball bounces off the post behind Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender and stays out of the net on a Vancouver Whitecaps shot during the second half of an MLS soccer match May 25, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender, center, lunges to block a shot by Nashville SC midfielder Hany Mukhtar, left, during the first half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament soccer match March 7, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski, File)

Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender gestures during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Philadelphia Union, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

FILE - Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender, center, deflects a corner kick during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Philadelphia Union, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)

Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender stops a kick on goal during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Philadelphia Union, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender prepares to work out at the MLS soccer team's training facility, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender (1) is unable to catch a goal by Philadelphia Union forward Mikael Uhre (7) during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender (1) deflects a corner kick during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Philadelphia Union, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

NEW YORK (AP) — Commemorations and protests unfolded across the world on Monday to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, an assault that sparked a war that has devastated the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip, fueled hostilities and bloodshed in other Mideast lands and ignited protests and divisions in farflung countries.

Those divisions were visible in New York, where a crowd gathered for an evening remembrance ceremony in Central Park even as a blocks-long column of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through midtown Manhattan.

Hamas militants' surprise cross-border attack last year killed about 1,200 people. Another 250 were taken hostage; around 100 remain in captivity, with many of them feared dead. The attack, on a major Jewish holiday, shattered Israelis’ sense of security and left the world facing the prospect of a major conflict in the Middle East.

Israel responded by waging a war against the Hamas militants in Gaza, where the fighting has killed over 41,000 people and displaced around 1.9 million. The conflict has spread in the region, where Israel now also is fighting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, facing escalating threats from Yemen's Houthi rebels and contending with a mounting conflict with Iran, which backs Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

The Hamas-Israel war also has spurred demonstrations and stirred tensions in many U.S. locales, including college campuses and major cities.

In New York, protesters spread a large Palestinian flag on a street near the New York Stock Exchange early Monday afternoon, while a smaller group of counterprotesters held an Israeli flag. The pro-Palestinian group grew as it marched through Manhattan streets, avenues and landmarks, at one point holding a banner that read “war begets war” on the steps of the New York Public Library.

Associated Press journalists saw several people being taken into police custody at various points in the march. Police said multiple arrests were made; no further information was immediately available.

Meanwhile, New York’s mayor and governor were among those expected to attend the remembrance ceremony in Central Park.

At Philadelphia's Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, Ellie Solomon was among a group of high school students who viewed an exhibition about the Tribe of Nova music festival in Re’im, Israel, where hundreds were killed.

“I feel like that really could have been me there,” said Solomon, who attends The Pingry School in New Jersey. Many festival attendees were close to her age, she noted.

“They all had very full lives, like lots of life ahead of them, just like we do," she said, adding that “it’s important for us to remember them and honor them because they didn’t deserve anything that happened to them.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also toured the exhibition, saying that he hoped it gave visitors “an understanding of what really happened.”

“I think that in some segments of our society, we don’t have that knowledge,” said Shapiro, a Democrat. He added that he hoped visitors emerged “more tolerant, a bit more understanding and more committed to finding peace in our society and peace across the globe.”

The nations of Europe, home to many Jewish and Muslim communities, have sought to tamp down both antisemitic and anti-Muslim sentiment.

The German chancellery in Berlin was adorned Monday with a yellow ribbon commemorating the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, around 100 of whom remain in captivity, with many of them feared dead. The names of the people killed and kidnapped in the attack on Israel were read out in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said to Germany’s “dear friends in Israel” that “we feel with you … we stand beside you.” Speaking to a conference in Hamburg, Scholz also pointed to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

In Italy, Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has voiced strong support for Israel, visited the main synagogue in Rome. She reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, while insisting that the country respect international law and lamenting the devastation unleashed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

She denounced what she called “latent and rampant antisemitism,” pointing to pro-Palestinian protests that sometimes turned violent in Italy this weekend.

French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris with relatives of hostages and of people killed in the Oct. 7 attacks. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot attended a memorial service at the site of the Nova music festival.

The Vatican marked the anniversary by taking up a collection for the people of Gaza and publishing a letter from Pope Francis to Catholics in the region, expressing his solidarity.

In Poland's capital of Warsaw, the Jewish community paid tribute to Alex Dancyg, a Polish-born Holocaust educator and historian who was abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7. Israel believes he died in captivity.

In Australia, thousands of people remembered the Oct. 7 dead by attending vigils in Sydney and Melbourne, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joining the latter event. Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters had rallied across Australia’s cities on Sunday, and hundreds gathered amid a heavy police presence Monday night at Sydney town hall for a vigil for Palestinian lives lost in the conflict.

In Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, schoolchildren took part in a pro-Palestinian rally organized by the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League party.

Japanese officials demanded the immediate release of all hostages and expressed condolences to Israelis who lost family members in the Hamas attacks.

Vejpongsa reported from Philadelphia and Spike from Budapest, Hungary. Associated Press journalists Jennifer Peltz, John Minchillo and Ted Shaffrey in New York, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Diane Jeantet in Paris, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw and Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - People take part in a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Activist Greta Thunberg, left, attends a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Attendees march during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the anniversary of a Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, in Montreal, Canada, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Police watch as attendees march near McGill University campus during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the anniversary of a Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, in Montreal, Canada, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

People take part in a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Pro-Palestinian protesters spread a Palestinian flag while demonstrating outside City Hall, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside City Hall, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Pro-Palestinian Orthodox Jews demonstrate during a protest, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

People cross a bridge with the date 7.10, marking the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A woman views photos of Palestinian victims who were killed during the Israel war against Hamas, at a photo exhibition, (Gaza Habibti), Gaza my love, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the war in the Gaza Strip, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Thousands of Houthi supporters raise Hezbollah flags and posters of late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a rally to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the war in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

An activist holds a picture of the hostage during a commemoration to mark the one-year anniversary of the Israel Hamas war in Madrid, Spain, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

The Brandenburg Gate is illuminated in solidarity with Israel, marking the first anniversary of the Hamas spearheaded attacks on Israel, in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The Brandenburg Gate is illuminated in solidarity with Israel, marking the first anniversary of the Hamas spearheaded attacks on Israel, in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The Brandenburg Gate is illuminated in solidarity with Israel, marking the first anniversary of the Hamas spearheaded attacks on Israel, in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Attendees react during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the anniversary of a Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza in front of Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

People hold pictures of hostages as they attend a pro-Israel vigil on the anniversary of a Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza in front of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

People light 1200 candles in front of the synagogue in Duesseldorf, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, marking the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The Brandenburg Gate is illuminated with the flag of Israel in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, to mark the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

Yuval Danzig, right, the son of a Polish-Israeli man kidnapped and killed by Hamas, helps to unveil a plaque honoring his father, Alex Dancyg, in the Jewish cemetery on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack, in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Yuval Danzig, left, the son of a Polish-Israeli man kidnapped and killed by Hamas, and Poland's chief rabbi Michael Schudrich unveil a plaque honoring his father, Alex Dancyg, in the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Yuval Danzig, right, the son of a Polish-Israeli man kidnapped and killed by Hamas, helps to unveil a plaque honoring his father, Alex Dancyg, in the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A wreath is brought to a plaque honoring Alex Dancyg, a Polish-Israeli man who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and later killed, in Warsaw's Jewish cemetery on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack, in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

School children take part in a rally organized by Pakistan Markazi Muslim League party, to protest against Israeli airstrikes and to show solidarity with Palestinian people living in Gaza and Lebanon, in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

School children take part in a rally organized by Pakistan Markazi Muslim League party, to protest against Israeli airstrikes and to show solidarity with Palestinian people living in Gaza and Lebanon, in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Members of the Jewish community gather at a park in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Members of the Jewish community wave electronic candles as they gather at a park in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Members of the Jewish community gather at a park in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Two women console each other after making a makeshift memorial as members of the Jewish community gather at a park to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Sydney, Australia, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Rabi Yehuda Teichtal speaks at the synagogue of the Chabad community in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Survivor Alon Gat, Rabi Yehuda Teichtal and Berlin mayor Kai Wegner, centre from left, hold a candle-lighting ceremony marking the first anniversary of the Hamas spearheaded attacks on Israel, at the synagogue of the Chabad community in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People embrace after lightning candles at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the Hamas spearheaded attacks on Israel, at the synagogue of the Chabad community in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People light candles at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the Hamas spearheaded attacks on Israel, at the synagogue of the Chabad community in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A Yellow Ribbon displayed as the facade of the German Chancellor to show solidarity with Israel marking the first anniversary of the Hamas spearheaded attacks on Israel, in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People attend the reading the names of the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel during a commemoration to mark the first anniversary of the attack, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Candles and flowers are laid at the entrance of the synagogue to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Candles and flowers are laid at the entrance of the synagogue to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

A man embraces a women at they attend the reading the names of the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel, during a commemoration to mark the first anniversary of the attack, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)