All-time great Lionel Messi showed his class yet again last night after scoring a stoppage-time winning free-kick for Inter Miami in their Leagues Cup opener against Cruz Azul.
Messi entered the field as a second-half substitution for The Herons in the 54th minute alongside former-longstanding Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets as part of a triple substitution by manager Tata Martino.
Lionel Messi scores last-minute winner in US debut
The 20,000-capacity crowd included celebrities such as basketball’s LeBron James, Kim Kardashian and tennis legend Serena Williams. With the score tied at 1-1, Messi was brought down by Azul defender Carlos Salcedo for a free-kick just outside the box in the final few seconds.
Captain for the night Messi stepped up and curled the ball perfectly high in to the top left hand corner of the net to send the DRV PNK Stadium crazy. The celebrations continued the party atmosphere which was started on Sunday, when Messi was officially unveiled to Vice City alongside Busquets.
El primer gol de Messi con Inter Miami 🤯🤯👏👏
Messi scores in his first match with the club to give us the lead in the 94th minute. pic.twitter.com/pI7bYjEK63
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 22, 2023
Former Manchester United legend and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said of the goal, “To be honest, as soon as I saw the free-kick given I thought this is the way its meant to end. Especially when you’ve got players like Leo and Sergio on the pitch, that’s what they produce. It’s such a moment for this country, such a moment for this league.”
