Tireless Messi scores twice, makes history as Inter Miami beats New England 2-1
Lionel Messi is 38 years old. Inter Miami’s schedule is jam-packed. People have been wondering if he is going to take a break.
So far, the answer is no.
The Argentine captain was back in the starting lineup against the New England Revolution on Wednesday night, played the full 95 minutes and made a huge impact, scoring twice in the first 37 minutes in a 2-1 road victory.
His first goal came at the 27-minute mark when he pounced on the ball and made a clinical finish after a New England defensive miscue in the 18-yard box. Then, 11 minutes later, Sergio Busquets found Messi in stride with a long through ball and the Argentine icon launched a left-footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner.
Messi was coming off a two-goal game against Montreal that earned him MLS Player of the Week honors. He has scored a brace in four consecutive MLS games, becoming the first player in league history to score multiple goals over a four-game stretch.
Whenever Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano is asked whether Messi might sit out a game, he says that Messi is happiest on the field and if he is fit to play, he will play. Mascherano said the plan was for Messi to come out at some point in the second half, but when Carles Gil scored for the Revolution in the 79th minute, the Miami coaching staff decided to keep Messi in the game.
“The plan was always for Leo to play, but we wanted to give him some rest during this game, but once New England scored, they put us under pressure, so we preferred to keep him on the pitch,” Mascherano said. “It’s not the best situation for us because we know in the next few games we have to find the moment to give him some rest. We have a lot of games coming but we will try to analyze when is best time to give him some rest.”
Both Mascherano and New England coach Caleb Porter heaped praise on Messi for his performance and his longevity.
“Leo is a special player, for me the best in history, it’s unbelievable how he continues doing things that many years ago we thought we wouldn’t see at this moment and we are lucky to have him,” Mascherano said.
Porter, like many people, assumed that Messi might take a break at some point during this long stretch of games for Inter Miami.
“I said it going into the game that Messi is playing some of the best soccer of his career; and man, it just shows how professional he is, how competitive he is,” Porter said. “The guy’s a beast. The fact that he plays every game of the Club World Cup, comes back from there and you think, `Oh, maybe he takes a break one of these games,’ but I’m sure he’s going to the manager’s door and saying `I’m playing. I don’t want a break.’
“Many players would say, `Yeah, I’ll take a break here’ or `Bring me off the bench this next game’, and this guy probably heard it was going to be a big crowd of 60,000 and wanted to put on a show.”
Mascherano rested just one regular starter on Wednesday night as his team tried to gain ground in the MLS standings. Messi, Luis Suarez, Busquets and Jordi Alba were all in the Starting XI at Gillette Stadium.
The rest of the Miami starters were Oscar Ustari, Marcelo Weigandt, Toto Aviles, Maxi Falcon, Tadeo Allende, Fede Redondo and midfielder Baltasar Rodriguez, who celebrated his 22nd birthday by making his first start since joining the team this season.
The only two changes from the lineup for Miami’s 4-1 win at Montreal on Saturday were Rodriguez in place of Telasco Segovia and Redondo instead of Benja Cremaschi. Redondo and Cremaschi have been rotating regularly.
Rodriguez is on loan from Racing Club of Argentina. Injuries hampered his first few months with Inter Miami, but he replaced Segovia in the 72nd minute against Montreal and got another chance to show what he can do on Wednesday night. He played 62 minutes before being subbed out and replaced by Segovia.
“Baltasar is a player whom we know well [from the Argentine youth national team] and can play many positions,” Mascherano said on Tuesday. “He can play on the outside, inside, behind the No. 9 [forward], so he gives you different options.
“He arrived after a season when he didn’t have much playing time or continuity at Racing and he had some injuries. We were able to give him some minutes the other day and now we can integrate him into the team.”
Inter Miami moved up from sixth place to fifth in the Eastern Conference with the victory and is seven points behind first-place Cincinnati and six behind Nashville. Miami has played three fewer games than its rivals ahead of them in the standings, so aims to continue gaining ground in the coming weeks.
After the game against New England, Miami plays at home Saturday against second-place Nashville, then plays on the road at Cincinnati, on the road at New York Red Bulls, and at home against Cincinnati.
Still missing from the Miami game roster as they recover from injuries were Yannick Bright, David Ruiz, Gonzalo Lujan, Drake Callender, Noah Allen and Ian Fray.
The Revolution lineup included former Inter Miami forward Leo Campana, has scored two goals in 12 games this season. The rest of the New England starters were Aljaz Ivacic, Mamadou Fofana, Tanner Beason, Brayan Ceballos, Alhassan Yusuf, Matt Polster, Carles Gil, Peyton Miller, Brandon Bye, and Luca Langoni.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 7:31 PM.