2023-08-07 05:00:36
Lionel Messi’s free kick goal for Inter Miami, Sunday August 6, 2023, in Dallas. ALEX BIERENS DE HAAN / AFP
Again decisive. Lionel Messi scored another double – his third in a row – with his new club, Inter Miami, on Sunday evening August 6, on the lawn of Dallas to allow his team to snatch qualification for the quarter-finals of the Leagues Cup, a competition which brings together the clubs of the American and Mexican championships.
Thanks to a magnificent free kick scored in the 85th minute, the Argentine star sent, with his left foot of formidable precision, the two teams on penalties after a score of 4-4. A session won by the Florida team which, after having recorded eleven games in a row without a win, has not known defeat since the arrival of its Argentinian genius.
This decisive goal by the former PSG player is reminiscent of his very first match with Inter Miami against the Mexicans of Cruz Azul, both from a free kick from outside the penalty area, in the last moments of the match, and deceiving the goalkeeper with a shot into the top corner.
Before that, on Sunday, Lionel Messi had already drawn the first in the match, opening the scoring in the 6th minute with a left-footed shot at the entrance to the area, on a cross from his former Barcelona partner Jordi Alba, also arrived a short time ago. It was the Argentine’s first away goal, having played his first three games in Florida.
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The Messi “Circus”
Things then went wrong for Miami, who found themselves trailing 3-1 then 4-2 before Dallas player Marco Farfan scored with a header against his camp on a free kick fired to the side by… Messi (3 -4). The seven-time Ballon d’Or then took charge of the equalizer before opening the penalty shootout with a winning strike. His team finally won 5-3 in this decisive session.
Fans welcome Lionel Messi to Texas for his first game outside of Florida on Aug. 6, 2023, in Dallas. LM OTERO / AP
In the sweltering heat of Dallas – the kick-off was given under 38°C – the 19,000 spectators did not miss a beat of the spectacle offered by the Argentinian world champion, most of them recording with their mobile phones his numerous strikes on set pieces.
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But the excitement around the Messi phenomenon does not delight everyone in the United States. Orlando coach Oscar Pareja, eliminated by Inter Miami in the previous round, had criticized what he considers to be privileges for the “Pulga”. “The attention that is focused on us with all this, it becomes a circus”he said after his team’s 3-1 defeat, judging that the match itself had been ” a circus “.
“Leo Messi should have had two yellow cards. I don’t care if it’s Messi. It influences the game. The game has to be fair and that was not the case on the pitch.”he had lost his temper.
But the Messi show continues. The next stage will take place on Friday August 11 against Charlotte or Houston who face each other on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals. And the privilege of rubbing shoulders with one of the best players in the history of football.
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