On the morning of August 20 (Vietnam time), Messi’s Inter Miami won a spectacular victory over Nashville after 90 minutes of drama and a tense shootout in the 2023 Leagues Cup final.
Messi celebrates opening the scoring
Messi scored a masterpiece again
Similar to all of Inter Miami’s previous matches in the Leagues Cup this season, tickets were sold out after only about 20 minutes on sale on websites. The match took place at Nashville’s Geodis Park stadium, which has a capacity of 30,000 seats. The lowest ticket price of the match is $460, and resold for no less than $2,500.
Before Messi arrived, Nashville was rated much stronger than Inter Miami. They are currently in fourth place on the Eastern MLS standings this season, 20 points more than Inter Miami (bottom of the table).
Messi scored from a very difficult shot – Photo: REUTERS
In the first minutes of the game, Nashville really proved that distance. They dominated in the first 20 minutes of the game and created quite a few chances. The home advantage added confidence to Nashville.
But Messi once again spoke to help Inter Miami create an advantage. In the 23rd minute, the ball bounced to Messi’s feet after a situation of Taylor’s attempt to pass the ball.
In front of the Argentine superstar at this time, there are still 4 opponent defenders. But the genius quality helped Messi find the smallest loophole in front of a dense defense.
He made a familiar dribbling move past a defender. Right after that was the familiar heartbreak. The ball followed an uncomfortable trajectory, passing through 3 Nashville defenders and goalkeeper Panicco, even though he was flying all the way, still couldn’t stop it.
Messi scored a masterpiece for Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup final
But the goal did not confuse Nashville. They continued to play offensively and got the equalizer early in the second half in a corner situation. Picault hit the header near the wall, causing Inter Miami’s defense to mess up and accidentally break the ball into the net.
Nashville scored the equalizer – Photo: REUTERS
After the equalizer, the match took place extremely dramatic. Both teams played fierce attacks to settle the match in the official 90 minutes.
In the 71st minute, Messi made the fans happy when he broke through and hit a dangerous shot to send the ball to the column.
In the opposite direction, Nashville continuously threatened the Inter Miami goal with the familiar ball. They created at least 2 more chances from the air-to-air situations, in addition to the sharp counter-attacks. However, goalkeeper Callender has repeatedly saved for Inter Miami.
Messi’s guardians are goalkeepers
And then the two teams had to enter the penalty shootout after 90 minutes of undefeated victory. As usual, Messi is the pioneer. He helped the home team take the lead with a neat finish.
Goalkeeper Callender saved the second penalty shootout. But his teammate Ulloa missed the opportunity to finish the dramatic shootout early when he missed in the 5th series.
Goalkeeper Callender played well for 90 minutes – Photo: REUTERS
This is probably the first time American fans have witnessed such a tense, dramatic penalty shootout in such a top match. In turn, the trio of former Barca stars Messi, Busquets and Alba all successfully shot.
In the 2022 World Cup, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez of Argentina was likened to Messi’s “guardian god” thanks to his brilliant displays in penalty shootouts. And on American soil, Callender plays a similar role.
And then Callender shined again in the penalty shootout – Photo: REUTERS
The match lasted until the 11th shoot. Callender defeated his colleague Panicco. And then right after that, he brilliantly saved Panicco’s own shot to help Inter Miami win the final 10-9 in the penalty shootout.
Thus, Inter Miami had the first title in the team’s history. The team, co-owned by David Beckham , was founded five years ago, and is mostly used to early eliminations from the group stage and bottom spots.
But Messi, along with Busquets, Alba and coach Tata Martino came, and changed everything in just 2 months!