Messi’s gorgeous 94th minute free-kick will get Inter Miami period off to a bang

Messi celebrated from the bench as Robert Taylor put Miami forward simply earlier than halftime, however when the 36-year-old got here on the sphere Cruz Azul grew into the sport. Messi’s introduction after 51 minutes was quickly adopted by an equalizer for the visiting group, with Uriel Antuna scoring 14 minutes later.

Miami thought they’d a penalty to win The Leagues Cup opener, as Messi was bunded to the bottom inside the world. However, Messi nonetheless made probably the most of a set piece, curling in a free-kick to ship the Miami crowd wild.

It was a sell-out crowd at DRV PNK Stadium, with tickets on resale between $200-$5,000 on Friday morning for Messi’s massive event. Some followers could have been dissatisfied to not see the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner begin the match, however Messi has solely simply accomplished a full European soccer season.

The European season usually begins in August and runs till June, however because of the first-ever winter World Cup that was held in Qatar, home seasons round Europe completed later than traditional. Messi additionally gained the World Cup with Argentina, that means he performed the utmost quantity of video games in that event.

Messi is already on his method to full health, however franchise proprietor Beckham defined earlier this week that Miami goes to watch out with their prized star. “We don’t know if Leo [Messi] is going to play the game or if he will have minutes, because I think that, after all, he needs to be ready,” Beckham mentioned to ESPN Argentina.

“We have to protect him and make sure that he is ready because he has been on vacation and has just arrived in Miami. He has trained and he looks good. I think Leo and Tata [Martino] will decide when and if he plays on Friday, but the atmosphere here will be amazing and hopefully we can get the win.”