The match, which was held in Fort Lauderdale in front of 20,000 spectators and was attended by sports and art stars, including LeBron James, Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian, who took pictures from their mobile phones, brought together Inter Miami and Cross Asoul, the League Cup “organised by the American and Mexican federations.”
Messi sat on the benches of the reserve players because he was not fully ready to play 90 minutes, but the crowd began chanting his name, “Messi, Messi” from the 20th minute, calling for Argentine coach Gerardo Martino to include him.
Robert Taylor opened the scoring for Inter Miami one minute before the end of the first half, with a shot that hit the post and headed into the net.
Then came the moment Messi entered the field in the 54th minute, when the crowd applauded him.
However, Kroos Assol equalized through Antona (65).
The Argentine star tried again and again by supplying his teammates with elaborate balls or through individual attempts until the referee awarded him a direct free kick on the outskirts of the area in the fourth minute of stoppage time, so he jumped over the wall to settle at the top of the net, giving victory to his team.
Messi’s former Barcelona colleague Sergio Busquets also participated.
Messi said after the match, “I was aware that I had to score, it was the last shot in the match. I wanted to score so that we would not go to penalties. It was very important for us to win. It is a new competition and it will give us great confidence to move forward.”
Former English star David Beckham, one of the owners of Inter Miami, commented on the goal, saying, “To be honest, when I saw the referee giving a direct free kick, I realized that it was the best way to end the match, especially when you have players on the field like Leo and Sergio. This is what they do.”
“It’s very exciting for our fans, for all those who came here to see Messi. It’s a dream come true for everyone to see what happened on the field.”
© 2023 AFP
2023-07-22 07:00:12
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