Making his debut for MLS club Inter Miami, Lionel Messi did what Lionel Messi does and completely stole the show with a stunning last-minute free-kick to win the match.
Did Messi score on his Inter Miami debut?
Having chosen to leave Europe for the first time in his club career earlier this summer, all eyes with be on the ageing Argentine to see how he fares during his spell with David Beckham’s franchise team.
And when we say all eyes, we mean all eyes. Indeed, the official Major League Soccer Twitter feed posted a replay of his free-kick and it already has over 14 million views.
The 36-year-old was making his first appearance for his new club as they came up against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup. He didn’t start, though, and only came off the bench at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the 54th minute.
Inter Miami were actually 1-0 up at this stage, with a first-half goal from Robert Taylor giving them a lead. However, Cruz Azul’s Uriel Antuna pulled things level with an equaliser in the 65th minute.
Not to be upstaged on his big night, of course, Messi stepped up in the dying seconds of the game to remind everyone why he is quite probably the greatest footballer of all time.
Indeed, with 93 minutes and 47 seconds on the clock (beyond the allotted two minutes of injury time) he connected sweetly with his free-kick to curl the ball over the wall and find the top corner.
You can see the footage below in which he scores the winner to make for a fairy tale debut in Florida.
What celebrities were at Messi’s Inter Miami debut?
Of course with it being such a huge occasion, and with it being America, there were obviously some A-list celebrities in attendance at the DRV PNK Stadium.
The likes of Kim Kardashian and Serena Williams were there, while co-owner Beckham was also watching along with his wife Victoria.
Footage shared on Twitter, captured the emotional reaction of these stars the moment Messi’s freekick hit the back of the net as they were all understandably left stunned and delighted in equal measure.
Beckham was even left in tears at the sight of it all.
Incredibly, Inter Miami are currently bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference, with 18 points from their opening 22 matches and this was their first win in seven matches – albeit coming in a different competition, the Leagues Cup.
Promisingly, however, for the club’s fans, it shows that Messi still has plenty of magic left in his boots and so he may well be able to drag them up the table.
And he will also be helped by his new teammate Sergio Busquets, who also happens to be a former Barcelona teammate, while potentially Andre Iniesta and Jordi Alba could be involved too.
Speaking directly after the game, Messi told the Apple TV broadcast (via Yahoo): “What I saw was the goal. I saw the goal, I knew that I had to score.
“It was the last play of the game and I wanted to score so we didn’t go to penalties. So it was very important for us to get this win, because it’s a new tournament this is going to give us confidence moving forward.”
