MIAMI – Leo Messi, who made his debut less than a month ago with Inter Miami, culminated on Saturday the miracle of the Florida team by beating Nashville in a penalty shootout to win the Leagues Cup (1-1, 9 -10 in the penalty shootout)
The Argentinian star, who shone with a new goal tonight, landed in a sunken team, aimlessly and bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference with eleven consecutive games without winning.
But the magic of Rosario’s genius has totally revolutionized the Miami team, which, further reinforced by the signings of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, sealed the first title in its history on Saturday night after a very exciting game.
Messi not only won his first title with Inter Miami on Saturday but, with 44 trophies, he equaled Dani Alves as the footballer with the most titles in history.
The 10 for the albiceleste also finished as the top scorer in the Leagues Cup with an extraordinary mark of 10 goals in just seven games.
Messi’s arrival in the MLS has been experienced in Miami, the MLS and the US with extraordinary passion and the first edition of the Leagues Cup, a new tournament in which all the MLS and Liga MX teams face each other, sealed a final ‘made in Hollywood’ for the landing of the Argentine on US soil.
There are four teams remaining in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup that will compete in the semifinals at the end of August. Lionel Messi makes his USOC debut after joining Inter Miami FC.
MESSI TO THE RESCUE
With a fantastic atmosphere at Geodis Park to support the team from the country’s capital, Nashville started with a very compact block and with solid pressure in which the visitors got stuck.
The local team was not surprised, totally devoted to looking for gold on the counterattack and in what the unruly Hany Mukhtar (MVP and top scorer in the MLS in 2022) could invent between the lines.
It was difficult for the team in pink to respond, with a lot of possession without depth, but Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s men did not lose patience despite the fact that Messi went practically unnoticed in the first 20 minutes.
These are the nine goals that Lionel Messi has scored in his first six games with Inter Miami.
In fact, the first chances came for Nashville, first on a deflected shot by Shaq Moore and then on a Walker Zimmerman header that was caught by Drake Callender.
Little by little, Inter Miami found some cracks in the Nashville wall, especially on the left flank where Jordi Alba gave his teammates a lot of oxygen.
Precisely from the left side, Robert Taylor tested the local goalkeeper with a dry shot from outside the area in the 21st minute.
The girl was run over and her coach tried to help the family by raffling off their tickets to see the Argentine star.
But the equality of the duel flew through the air with the umpteenth genius of Messi.
The Argentine, who had gone down to midfield several times in search of the ball, appeared out of nowhere to hunt a rebound in the Nashville front, cut Zimmerman and connected a beautiful shot direct to the top corner.
With the score in favor, the slow -albeit intense- pace of the match further favored Inter Miami while Nashville, still in ‘shock’ from that magical flash of Messi, only found timid traces of danger in some high balls.
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NASHVILLE ANSWERS BUT PENALTIES DECIDE
The script did not change at the restart, with an Inter Miami very comfortable with the ball in their possession and who brushed the second with a shot from Josef Martínez to a pass from Alba that was blocked by Zimmerman.
But Nashville suddenly woke up at 57 thanks to a corner.
Mukhtar served it to the near post in search of Sam Surridge and the ball ended up falling into the small area, where Fafà Picault headed it in and the ball ended up bouncing off Benjamin Cremaschi and Drake Callender.
The goal ignited Nashville and its fans while Inter Miami, which seemed to have controlled the final, was touched somewhat and became entangled in inaccuracies.
That was when the best moments of the yellow and black team arrived, with inertia in their favor, with an extra point of energy to take the divided balls and eager for the game to open definitively.
Inter Miami found the answer in the usual, a Messi who caressed the double in minute 71, crashing a cross shot off the post.
The Argentine coach will direct Messi, just as he already did in the selection of his country.
Nashville was not scared, which finally found its very clear opportunity on the counterattack with a double option that neither Surridge nor Mukhtar could materialize.
Nashville finished the game better, much more dynamic and won with reinforcements like Costa Rican Randall Leal coming into attack, against an Inter Miami that reached the denouement with the right forces and physicality to the limit.
Mukhtar tried it in all possible ways (direct free kick, counterattack, shot from a angle…) and Surridge also had a header in minute 92.
And yet, Inter Miami came within inches of taking the final in an incredible and crazy last play of the game. The Ecuadorian Leonardo Campana won a long ball, planted himself in front of Elliot Panicco, chipped it in front of the goalkeeper and still had time to reach his faulty shot with no one around him, but his last attempt diving to the ground ended up on the post.
Leo Messi debuted as an actor in an Argentine series broadcast by streaming, “Los protectores”, in which he plays himself in front of a trio of representatives of soccer players.
Already in the penalty shootout, the two teams showed an excellent success and, after the failures of Leal and Ulloa, luck was decided in the goalkeepers’ shots, where Callender guessed Panicco’s shot and thus closed Messi’s first trophy In U.S.A.
– Data sheet:
1. Nashville: Panicco; Moore, Zimmerman, MacNaughton, Lovitz; Muyl (Leal, m. 82), McCarty (Davis, m. 72), Godoy, Fafà (Shaffelburg, m. 72); Mukhtar and Surridge.
Coach: Gary Smith.
1. Inter Miami: Callender, Yedlin, Kryvtsov, Miller, Alba, Busquets, Arroyo (Ulloa, m. 80), Cremaschi (Gómez, m. 68), Messi, Martínez (Campana, m. 68) and Taylor (Ruíz, m. 80).
Andrés Cantor explains why the arrival of Lionel Messi in the US Major League Soccer is an unprecedented event.
Coach: Gerardo Martino.
Goals: 0-1, m. 23: Messi; 1-1, m. 57: Callender (own goal).
Penalties: Messi (goal, 0-1); Mukhtar (goal, 1-1); Busquets (goal, 1-2); Loyal (miss, 1-2); Bell (goal, 1-3); Godoy (goal, 2-3); Miller (goal, 2-4); Zimmerman (goal, 3-4); Ulloa (misses, 3-4); Surridge (goal, 4-4); Kryvtsov (goal, 4-5); Moore (goal, 5-5); Alba (goal, 5-6); Lovitz (goal, 6-6); Gomez (goal, 6-7); MacNaughton (goal, 7-7); Ruíz (goal, 7-8); Davis (goal, 8-8); Yedlin (goal, 8-9); Shaffelburg (goal, 9-9); Callender (goal, 9-10); Panicco (misses, 9-10).
Referee: Ismail Elfath. He admonished Godoy at Nashville and Ulloa at Inter Miami.
Incidents: Final of the first edition of the Leagues Cup played at Geodis Park in Nashville.
