Lionel Messi’s goal helps Inter Miami advance to Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals


0


Even before Lionel Messi and Inter Miami touched down in Jamaica on Wednesday ahead of their Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16 second leg against local club Cavalier FC, the Herons were well on their way to the quarterfinals.

Miami, with Messi watching in street clothes for load management reasons, won the opening match of the two-game, total-goals-wins series 2-0 last week in South Florida. So when Luis Suárez made it 3-0 on aggregate from the penalty spot in the first half of Thursday’s return leg in Kingston, there was really no need for coach Javier Mascherano to summon the 37-year-old Messi from the substitutes’ bench.

But Messi had made the trip to the island nation. And the fans inside a jam-packed National Stadium were desperate to see the GOAT take the field in his first trip to the Caribbean country of around 3 million people.

They got their wish. Not only did Messi enter the game for the final 35 minutes, the Argentine legend scored Miami’s second goal of the contest and fourth overall in stoppage time to send the masses home happy:

It was Messi’s third goal in five competitive matches this season. Mascherano also held his compatriot out of an MLS regular season trip to Houston earlier this month. The 2022 World Cup winner was an unused sub in last week’s 1-0 win over Charlotte FC.

It remains to be seen if Messi, who won MLS’s MVP award last season, will feature when the Herons return to league play on Sunday in Atlanta. After that, Messi will report to Argentina’s national team ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches at Uruguay on March 21 and four days later at home to chief rival Brazil.

But barring injury, Messi will almost certainly be on the field for Miami when the regional championship resumes next month. The Herons will face fellow MLS side LAFC in the two-leg Champions Cup quarters. The semis will conclude in May, with the highest remaining seed hosting the single-game final on June 1.

Cavalier F.C. vs. Inter Miami | CONCACAF Champions Cup | FOX Soccer

Cavalier F.C. vs. Inter Miami | CONCACAF Champions Cup | FOX Soccer

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.

FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience

Lionel Messi

Inter Miami CF

CONCACAF Champions Cup


Lionel Messi

Get more from Lionel Messi Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more





Don’t miss the Buzz!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.


Like it? Share with your friends!

0

What's Your Reaction?

hate hate
0
hate
confused confused
0
confused
fail fail
0
fail
fun fun
0
fun
geeky geeky
0
geeky
love love
0
love
lol lol
0
lol
omg omg
0
omg
win win
0
win

0 Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Choose A Format
Personality quiz
Series of questions that intends to reveal something about the personality
Trivia quiz
Series of questions with right and wrong answers that intends to check knowledge
Poll
Voting to make decisions or determine opinions
Story
Formatted Text with Embeds and Visuals
List
The Classic Internet Listicles
Countdown
The Classic Internet Countdowns
Open List
Submit your own item and vote up for the best submission
Ranked List
Upvote or downvote to decide the best list item
Meme
Upload your own images to make custom memes
Video
Youtube and Vimeo Embeds
Audio
Soundcloud or Mixcloud Embeds
Image
Photo or GIF
Gif
GIF format