April 11 – Lionel Messi has once again pulled Inter Miami CF back from the brink. Trailing 1-0 from the 1st leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarter final against fellow MLS club LAFC, Miami soon found themselves 2-0 down on aggregate and heading out of the competition.
Until Messi stepped up with a brace to send his club through to the semifinal by a 3-2 aggregate scoreline.
His former Barcelona and Argentine teammate and now coach, Javier Mascherano, has seen it all before, saying: “Messi is the soul of this team. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable talking about him because I’ve known him for 20 years now, and I have to help him in this stage of his career.
“He’s a guy who has everything in football. He’s the greatest in history, and he’s still making the path and guiding the new generations beyond having won everything until the last day he plays on the pitch.
“He wants to win and will do the impossible. Football is just about wanting, but you have to be able. And he has that ability because he is the greatest of all.”
Inter Miami forward, Luis Suarez, who also played with Messi in Barcelona, added: “Leo told us during the game, and Jordi told us that even if the other team scored, we needed to remain calm.
“The possibilities would be the same, we needed to score three goals to win. With the experience, hierarchy, and players that we have, we did it.”
LAFC coach, and a fine defender for the US Men’s team back in the day, Steve Cherundolo, said that pre-game, his instruction was to keep the mercurial number 10 under wraps, however, that was easier said than done.
“Look, you’re talking about one of the greatest to ever play this sport. And for my liking, the second half, he had a little too much freedom,” Cherundolo said.
“We couldn’t get enough pressure on him. I thought in the first leg we did an excellent job. In the second, I think it was a little too much freedom. We couldn’t get enough pressure on the ball, and you know he’s going to punish you as well as his teammates. I think that’s part of what makes him so good. He makes his teammates better.”
With the victory, Inter Miami move to the semi-final for the first time in their short history, and will face Vancouver Whitecaps. Last season Inter Miami fell to Liga MX club CF Monterrey in the quarterfinals.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1745021876labto1745021876ofdlr1745021876owedi1745021876sni@o1745021876fni1745021876