Although it was not difficult to imagine the repercussion that it was going to have the arrival of Lionel Messi to Major League SoccerIt was not so clear the football impact that could be generated by arriving at a club that was last in its conference, that did not score goals and that accumulated more defeats than wins in its last ten games. However, the magic of the Argentinian star surpassed all forecasts and his mark on Inter Miami is being impregnated from his first steps in the MLS. But at the same time, his figure begins to generate misgivings: The Orlando City coach assured that the crack should have been expelled and some journalists begin to affirm that the referees favor the productions of the captain of the Argentine National Team.
In his first three games, Messi has already broken the American soccer statistics by becoming the player who took the shortest time to score his first five goals within the competition. With his double on Wednesday night against Orlando City and the five accumulated goals since his arrival at Inter Miami, La Pulga reached the top of the Leagues Cup scorer table.
Once again, the soccer “magic” of the 36-year-old player from Rosario was decisive for Inter Miami’s qualification to the round of 16 of the tournament that includes teams from the United States, Mexico and Canada. Messi has five goals in the net 186 minutes played. No other player in MLS soccer history did it as quickly as the Argentine star in his three games with the South Florida franchise.
Consulted by the Télam agency, the technical director of Inter, the Argentine Gerardo Martino, confirmed what always happened in all the teams he played: “Leo always wants to play every game and every minute.” On Wednesday, the captain of the Argentine national team completed the 96 minutes of the game “normally”, good news for his preparation a little more than a month after the start of the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
“A bit in the game with Atlanta United we had talked about it”explained the “Tata”, about the time that the Argentine player remained on the field. “In no way was there for him to leave the game”He added about the difficulty of the match against Orlando City.
Until now, the former Barcelona FC and Paris-Saint Germain have scored twice in the last two games (4-0 vs. Atlanta United and 3-1 vs. Orlando City), in addition to the agonizing free kick. against Cruz Azul in his debut with the Las Garzas de Fort Lauderdale jersey. The next opponent, in the round of 16, will be Dallas FC, who eliminated the Mexican Mazatlán.
Another Argentine shares the lead in scorers, along with 10 for the national team, with five goals: striker Germán Berterame, former San Lorenzo and Paraná Board of Trustees, who scored in the two games he played with Monterrey. The man from Cordoba scored twice in the 3-0 win against Real Salt Lake and a hat trick to defeat the Seattle Sounders 4-2. This Friday they will try to overcome it when the Mexicans visit the Portland Timbers, starting at 11:00 p.m., for the first instance of the Leagues Cup playoffs.
Messi’s circus
But if Messi’s performance arouses praise, questions also begin to appear. The Colombian Óscar Pareja, coach of Orlando City, criticized the refereeing of the match against Inter Miami, He assured that Lionel Messi should have been sent off and pointed out that everything that happened in the Clásico del Sol was “a circus”.
“There are a couple of plays that are double yellow with Leo, I don’t care if it’s him but he has to be measured the same. Things have to be fair and what happened on the pitch was not like that,” Pareja said at the press conference after the game, where the star he crossed paths with the Uruguayan Carlos Araujoboth in the game and at halftime.
“The attention that we are receiving and everything that is happening becomes a circus. Today it was a circus,” remarked the Colombian, who also exposed his anger with the penalty taken in the second half that meant the partial 2-1 for Inter Miami.
“The message is not clear, the game does not deserve a penalty like that. Those plays have influence, we are very frustrated. People want to watch football and the referee has to be fair. This did not happen today,” Pareja concluded.
Some journalists also followed that line. “When in doubt, always score in favor of Inter Miami…”, wrote José Del Valle, from the ESPN network. “If Messi asks for it, we give it to Messi.” complete.
