Football: “It was thrilling”… Lionel Messi leads Inter Miami to the first trophy in its history

2023-08-20 13:27:33

And one more trophy in Lionel Messi’s already well-stocked cabinet. A 44th exactly, which places him in the first rank of the most successful footballers in history. It’s not the most prestigious for him, far from it, but it crowns an almost perfect start to his experience in the United States.

In the 24th minute of this Leagues Cup final between Inter Miami and Nashville, the Argentine world champion had given the advantage to Floridians with a sumptuous strike. But in the second half, Nashville striker Fafa Picault allowed his team to come back up.

Leonardo Campana then missed a last opportunity to offer the title to Miami in regulation time. The outcome was then decided on penalties. Messi opened the session with a penalty, with his former Barça team-mate, Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets, doing the same.

After a failure on each side, it was not until the duel between the goalkeepers to know the identity of the winner: the Florida goalkeeper Drake Callender scored his shot on goal then stopped that of his Nashville counterpart, Elliott Panicco.

Letting their joy burst, the seven-time Ballon d’Or and his teammates immediately rushed towards Callender, who had made several decisive saves late in the game. This Leagues Cup is the first trophy for the Argentine world champion with his new American club, and the very first for Inter Miami since its creation three years ago.

“Courage, just conviction and what we are capable of. It’s really something special and I’m happy to be part of it, ”savored Messi. “It was thrilling. The (match) draw was a fair result and on penalties, it was the luck of the champion that worked in our favor,” Busquets said.

And now the United States Cup final?

“I am very happy to win our first title in just a month, the first for the club. The team is progressing by leaps and bounds and we are very happy,” he said. “We transmitted to the team our spirit, our work, our character and our experience. We are a solid team (…) And then we have Leo, who makes the difference because he is the best in the world”.

The Floridians had started the Leagues Cup, a summer tournament organized jointly by Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Mexican Football Federation, being dead last in their Eastern Conference and worst team in the American D1.

But since the arrival of the Argentine star, Inter Miami has been transformed and has won all its matches in this competition. On Wednesday, Messi and his team will be able to continue and qualify for a second straight final, if they manage to defeat Cincinnati in the United States Cup semi-finals, by far the best team in MLS this season.