his first “ugly” goal and the lesson challenge to a teammate

After leaving an injury behind and finishing digesting the bitter pill that the controversial elimination in Concachampions meant, Lionel Messi still in mode MLS. That is, filming the Inter Miami in its 2024 version and score points in the regular phase to fight in the playoffswhere the objective is to obtain a title that would be historic for the pink team.

After the difficult 3-2 away victory against Sporting Kansas City, Messi and company overcame by 3-1 a Nashville SC, an old acquaintance: it is the same rival that he faced in the final of the Leagues Cup, the first tournament that Leo played and won as soon as he arrived in the United States.

Luck started awry for Inter, who found themselves down on the scoreboard by a goal against Argentine Franco Negri. The former Newell’s defender did not react in time to a corner kick from the rival, the ball bounced off one of his thighs and ended up in the back of the net. It was 2 minutes.

But Messi appeared, as almost always. It didn’t take long for the Argentine to become the axis of those in pink, who took to the field with a majority of national footballers: Tata Martino started Marcelo Weigandt, Toto Avilés, Nicolás Freire and the aforementioned Negri, an albiceleste defensive line.

And the language that reigns in the formation that David Beckham dreamed of is Spanish because to all of them we must add the Spanish Sergio Busquets, the Uruguayan Luis Suárez, the Paraguayan Diego Gómez and the Honduran David Ruiz. The only “foreigners”? The American Drake Callender and the German Julian Gressel.

In the 11th minute, Messi appeared from the left, accelerated and was in position to shake his left foot and search for the net. It was after a nice triangulation that Freire started from the bottom and Suárez pivoted, leaving the number 10 alone in search of the rival goalkeeper, Elliot Panicco.

Messi hit a cross whip that good old Panicco managed to save with a slap. However, Lucho arrived determined to push her and score the tie. The ball was bitten and fell to Messi again, who this time did not forgive. It was 1-1, the sixth in six games for the Argentine captain.

A while later, Messi received from Gómez (who was later replaced due to injury), he swung on the edge of the area and hit with his left foot, crossing and crawling, but the ball burst Panicco’s right post.

Inter Miami managed to turn the score around when 39 minutes of the first half were played and once again Messi was the leading actor in the conquest. The 10 is still obsessed with scoring an Olympic goal before closing his career and kicked a corner kick from the right, well closed, that slipped into Panicco’s near post. In reality, it was Busquets who combed and deflected the trajectory of the ball, scoring his first goal since his arrival in American soccer.

Messi would close his first 45 minutes with much more than a goal and an assist: the Argentine star gave touches and tricks of all kinds, especially a shot at the start of a counterattack that did not end in a goal due to poor control by Gómez.

The second half showed Messi plugged in, as if he already knew that in the MLS there is always room for distractions or bloopers that end up complicating the games.

In a counterattack, Leo ran with the ball in his possession from the middle of the field accompanied by the Brazilian Leonardo Afonso (he entered for Gómez) and in front of two rival defenders who were holding the mark. The Argentine reached the edge of the area, collided with one of the rivals, was pinched from behind and the play came to nothing.

After that unfortunate maneuver, number 10 made gestures to Afonso explaining that if he ran diagonally it would have allowed him to finish the action in a better way.

They say in Miami that Messi’s teammates learn day by day thanks to the things the Argentine does, and it seems they are not exaggerating.

The Brazilian would have the chance to redeem himself with the 10, a while later. He was always mobile, he went looking for a ball and caused an infringement inside the area. It was a penalty, and Leo took charge, making it 3-1, the final result of this story, to reach his seventh goal in the competition.