The surreal stays real: Messi scores again and Miami wins again to reach Leagues Cup final | Opinion
We keep expecting the man to be mortal, right? To be human. To have tired legs, maybe. Or just an off game.
But the man keeps reminding us with no words needed, “I am Messi.”
He did it again.
The surreal, intoxicating insanity of Lionel Messi playing for Inter Miami — of the best player in the world joining what used to be the worst team in Major League Soccer — continued Tuesday night.
Miami throttled the mighty Philadelphia Union, 4-1, in the semifinals of the Leagues Cup tournament to reach the championship match and now plays for the first trophy in the club’s four-year history. Team Messi got there by winning in a stadium where Philly had lost exactly once in 38 previous home matches.
Miami will play for the championship next Saturday at fellow MLS club Nashville, which defeated Mexican club Monterrey in the other semifinal Tuesday night.
“The team has reached the final of an international competition,” said Inter Miami coach Tata Martino. “We are motivated and confident, but we are also focused on doing everything to get better. We want to make this club very competitive.”
Messi has now scored in all six games he has played for Miami, which is 6-0 since he arrived. His nine total goals in that stretch included Tuesday’s in the 20th minute, a ground-hugging, left-footed rifle shot inside the right post.
In the MLS regular season on pause for this tournament, Miami had scored 22 goals in 22 games. With Messi, it has 21 goals in six games.
Stupefying. It isn’t only Messi. Former Argentina World Cup teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba are with him. But Messi unmistakable is leading the sudden metamorphosis of Inter Miami from awful to awesome.
How must Dolphins fans have felt circa 1972-73? Or Canes football fans at the apex of the championship era. The LeBron James-era Heat in 2012-13. It is a small sample, yes, but in the past six games, Inter Miami has been that.
The team that scares opponents.
The team that wins before the game starts.
Josef Martinez scored in the third minute for Miami, Messi made it 2-nil, and Alba’s goal just before the half made Philly sag. Then, when the Union finally scored in the 73rd minute to revive a semblance of hope, Miami’s homegrown David Ruiz plunged the dagger in the 84th minute.
Philly had the better of play in the second half. Miami’s defensive lapses were glaring. Only Drake Callender’s goalkeeping for Miami and the Union missing big chances made the final score seem like a rout.
Still, 6-0 is 6-0.
And now Inter Miami is still alive for the triple crown of trophies.
They are one victory, this coming Saturday, from winning the Leagues Cup trophy in the annual tournament involving all MLS club and the team’s from Mexico’s top league.
Miami also is in the semifinals of the all-comers U.S. Open Cup.
And the Herons still have an outside chance to make a late run and still qualify for the MLS playoffs and that big trophy — far less a long shot since Messi’s astounding arrival.
Oh, wait. One more.
Tuesday’s victory also qualified Inter Miami to compete in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament, yet another trophy now in the grasp of the franchise Messi elevated from gutter to penthouse.
And this was a big test, because Philadelphia is a premier MLS club that nearly won it all last year. It made Tuesday what likely is Inter Miami’s biggest win in its young history.
The Philadelphia fans in true character booed Messi as he stepped on the pitch for pregame warmups, jealousy heard in volume, while the same folks booing were holding smartphones aloft hoping for a photo of the living legend — proof they were there.
Pink Miami jerseys were throughout the crowd along with the blue vertical stripes of Argentina.
After the game, once again, beaten opponents queued for a chance to get as photo with Messi.
The budding reign of Messi in Miami — Messiami — continues as something that still feels merrily more surreal than real.
This story was originally published August 15, 2023 at 9:45 PM.
