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Washington, USA | Xinhua | Lionel Messi made a dream start to his American adventure with a stoppage-time winner as Inter Miami overcame Cruz Azul 2-1 in the Leagues Cup on Friday.
The Argentine great started on the bench, but Miami looked sharp at their DRV PNK Stadium as a Robert Taylor strike gave them the lead just before halftime.
Messi and his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets were introduced after halftime to rousing applause from the capacity crowd of around 20,000 fans.
But they fell silent shortly after when Uriel Antuna equalized for the Mexican outfit with an unstoppable effort into the roof of the net.
With only seconds remaining and the game seemingly drifting toward a draw, Messi was illegally dragged down 25 yards from goal.
In true story-book fashion, the No. 10 curled the resultant free-kick over the defensive wall and into the top left corner, sending Miami’s fans into wild celebrations.
“It was important to start winning,” the Argentina captain said after the final whistle.
“I just had the chance to put us on level terms and I was lucky that the goalkeeper couldn’t get across in time.”
The 36-year-old added, “We wanted to start like this for the fans and I want to thank everyone who was present today. It was important to start winning for the team’s confidence.”
Messi arrived in the United States last week after agreeing to an Inter Miami contract that runs until December 2025 with the option of another season. He will reportedly earn an annual salary of around 55 million U.S. dollars before tax.
In June, Messi announced he was leaving Paris Saint-Germain to join the Florida outfit, which is partly owned by former England captain David Beckham.
The forward has since said that he is looking forward to enjoying the last stage of his career, having achieved his ultimate goal of winning the FIFA World Cup for Argentina in Qatar last December.
Inter Miami’s next match will be another home Leagues Cup fixture against Atlanta United on Tuesday.
Messi is expected to make his first appearance in Major League Soccer (MLS) when Inter Miami host Charlotte on August 20. Miami are currently last in the MLS Eastern Conference with just 18 points from 22 outings.
El primer gol de Messi con Inter Miami 🤯🤯👏👏
Messi scores in his first match with the club to give us the lead in the 94th minute. pic.twitter.com/pI7bYjEK63
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 22, 2023
