‘Doing the unthinkable’ – Fans react as Lionel Messi’s heroics help Inter Miami win Leagues Cup post dramatic penalty shootout
Lionel Messi has 44 trophies overall.
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Aug 20, 2023 2:10 pm
Lionel Messi (Source: Twitter)
Lionel Messi has created history as he has taken the Inter Miami Soccer side to win the League’s Cup Trophy in a high-intensity penalty shootout against Nashville SC. Messi starred in six games for the David Beckham-owned franchise. Miami have been the team to beat and they showed what they were made up of to come up trumps in the final The club was first established in 2018.
Messi opened Miami’s account in the 23rd minute before Nashville came back to bring parity to the scores in the 57th minute. In a hard-fought encounter, both teams were neck-to-neck. With some great defending on show, no team could further score any goals to get on top of each other. Just when the crowd thought they had seen everything, the penalty shootout was even more dramatic. Miami prevailed 10-9 in the end. Inter Miami’s Drake Callender defended a ball from Nashville SC and that finished the job which gave Miami the trophy.
Messi is a lot calmer and happier at Inter Miami: Gerardo Martino
Before Messi made his entry to Miami the club was in a downward spiral as they had lost eight out of their last eleven games. When they came into the Leagues Cup they were at the bottom of the table in the Eastern Conference. Beckham and Miami welcomed Messi into their fold and they have allowed the Argentine to work his magic at the club which has led to a sensational turnaround. “You see it in the field; I don’t have to tell you, but he’s a lot calmer, much happier,” head coach Gerardo Martino said. “Being happy also has to do with where he’s been.”
“From the very start of this competition, we had to start from zero with a new coach leading the team. With new players such as myself, and from day one, we’re doing very well,” Messi said. “Thanks to the teammates that were already part of the team, it was an opportunity to start changing things after the last result of the team and on how the team was in the league. We knew it was an opportunity to start changing that situation and, like I said before, to start setting tough objectives but we were prepared for trying to succeed.” Messi said talking about the turnaround at Miami to CBS soccer.
Scriptwriters at it again. From the league's weakest contender to the champions of the league cup, all following the arrival of Messi Such a quintessential zero-to-hero transformation made possible by one man, LIONEL MESSI – undeniably the greatest to have ever graced the field. https://t.co/OmcKMEj5ph
Lionel Messi has just guided Inter Miami (literally the worst team in MLS) to their FIRST EVER trophy last night. Before Messi joined? They were hopeless. 10 game losing streak. The moment Messi joined? They won 7 game in a row and won a First Ever Trophy 🏆 pic.twitter.com/7aQwkv34nR
