Messi makes his debut with Inter Miami scoring the winning goal in ’94

‘La Pulga’ came on as a substitute in the second half and signed the goal that made it 1-2 for his team with a great goal from a direct free kick

Leo Messi made his debut in the second half and led Inter Miami’s 1-2 win against Cruz Azul this Friday with an impressive free-kick goal, a house brand, in the 94th minute. It was the dream debut for the Argentine, surrounded by his new fans, surrounded by celebrities and remembering that despite the inactivity he continues to be an absolutely differential player. Along with him, his teammate and friend Sergio Busquets also made his Miami debut, the only one who knew how to find him with guarantees on the pitch.

For this first day of the Leagues Cup, the new tournament in which all the MLS and Liga MX teams compete, coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino decided that neither Messi nor Busquets would be in the starting eleven, and Inter Miami, until that magnificent final flash by the Argentine, suffered from the same problems that it had already shown for the rest of the season: a worrying defensive fragility that originates in the very center of the field.

haunting first half

The Argentine Carlos Rotondi was the first to put the Inter Miami defense on alert with an attack from the left for a center that found no response. She was not the only one. The midfield of the Florida team left many spaces that the Mexicans knew how to take advantage of to reach the area with some clarity. In fact, Drake Callender had to show off a couple of times in the first five minutes with Brazilian Moisés Vieira lamenting the clearest. The Ecuadorian Leonardo Campana gave the first warning for those in pink and the Mexican Andrés Gudiño grew under the sticks, but this time it did not mean a change of direction in the match because, just a few seconds later, Rotondi crashed the ball to the post and the Colombian Diber Cambindo missed the rebound almost at will.

In the 24th minute, Ian Fray’s left knee, totally fortuitously, twisted and led to gestures of enormous pain from the Jamaican, forcing him to leave the match. After the final victory Messi, in statements at the foot of the field, dedicated the victory to his injured teammate probably seriously. Neither could the other right-back, Cruz Azul’s, Rodrigo Huescas who was also injured on his own and was replaced by Paraguayan Juan Escobar.

These stoppages benefited Inter Miami, which in the last stretch of the first half managed to control the game to a certain extent, their players combined better and thus came the Finn Robert Taylor’s goal in minute 44, with a magnificent overflow from the left wing to shoot at the long post with his right foot and score despite Gudiño’s immense stretch. Messi’s worried face on the bench changed with the goal, celebrating it along with the rest of his substitute teammates. Without taking over the reins of the game, his team paved the way for his debut in the pink shirt.

Messi and Busquets change the game

Messi and Busquets came onto the field of play in the 53rd minute and they didn’t take long to awaken the first spirits of the stands in a great play that took the Argentine combining with his teammates to the bottom line. The game was different in terms of the environment and football. The spectators remained standing for many minutes and Messi took the lead, beginning by donning the captain’s armband from his first minute on the pitch.

A stopped ball executed by Messi enabled the Venezuelan Josef Martínez inside the area, who also entered the exchange with the two former Barça players. The forward of the red wine crashed it against the goalkeeper.

The Colombian Kevin Castaño entered in an interesting tactical movement by Cruz Azul and the result was immediate, with the equalizing goal for the Mexicans in the 64th minute. Uriel Antuna received the ball inside the area and, with a quick turn and cross shot, beat Callender before the look and passivity of the local defense.

Inter Miami continued playing at the pace set by Messi, again with a ball served deep to Martínez, which he was unable to specify. The ten also looked for the shot from outside the area, but hit the back of the Mexican Carlos Salcedo. The Cement Machine gained confidence and began to attack more and better, returning Inter Miami to the ghosts of the first half.

Messi’s associations were very different if he did it with Busquets or with another teammate. That connection of La Masía had a clear opportunity when the midfielder gave him the ball high and the Argentine fell down and claimed a penalty, but it was not awarded. And in 1985 Messi had it again, again with a gift from Busquets that left him alone. The Mexican Rafa Guerrero took the ball from him when he was already shooting on goal.

Messi and Martínez combined and had two great actions, one of them even got into the goal, but both were canceled for offside.

Already in added time, the Argentine star received a ball on the edge of the area and was clearly knocked down. He had the golden opportunity to shine from set pieces and that’s how it was, with a masterful execution of Rosario’s genius that slipped through the entire squad. His first goal with Inter Miami came full of epic and he delivered the victory to his club at the buzzer.

Messi celebrated in style before a stadium that shouted and celebrated, with a bench that jumped onto the pitch to join his new idol and later melting into a hug with his family, present in the front row next to the bench. Nobody wanted to miss Messi’s debut with Inter Miami, and so it was possible to see athletes like LeBron James, Tom Brady or Serena Williams and celebrities and artists like Becky G, Kim Kardashian or Marc Anthony.