Argentine international Lionel Messi made his debut for Inter Miami on Friday, scoring the winning goal against Mexican club Cruz Azul from a free kick in stoppage time.
Messi, who started on the bench, replaced Benjamin Kremaschi in the second half, 54 minutes into the match, which took place at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Laudardal, on loan from Inter Miami, and ended in a 2-1 victory for the American club.
After Robert Taylor scored in the 44th minute for Inter Miami and the Mexicans equalized in the second half with Uriel Antuna’s 65th goal, Messi closed the scoring in the 90+4th minute with a free-kick.
“It was a very good game on our part. The truth is that we wanted to start that way, giving these people a victory. Thanks to everyone who attended today. We knew how important it was to start this championship with a win, and fortunately we managed to do it at the end,” Messi said in statements to Apple TV+ after the match, which was watched by about 21,000 spectators.
For his part, coach Tata Martino, also an Argentine, was clearly pleased: “This is a film that we have already seen. For him, he is normal. He looked absolutely normal, but this is not … we are talking about the GOAT (the best of all time).
With the captain’s armband and the number 10 on his back, the 36-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona player entered the field at the same time as Spaniard Sergio Busquets, another Inter Miami player.
While warming up at half-time, the Argentine striker heard his name repeatedly chanted from the stands and approached the fourth official with a smile before finally making his debut for the Americans.
Messi’s new team welcomed Cruz Azul on the day of the start of the League Cup, a new tournament that pits all teams from Major League Soccer (MLS), the premier US soccer league, and the MX League, Mexico’s first soccer division.
Inter Miami are facing the League Cup on a whim to correct their trajectory as they sit in last place in the MLS East with just 18 points in 22 games, going 11 games without a win (three draws and eight losses).
Highlights in the stands for the likes of basketball player LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, tennis player Serena Williams or influencer Kim Kardashian.