Lionel Messi and Inter Miami won their first titles, barely a month after the Argentine moved to the Florida club, and are now turning their goal into a unique hat-trick.
Messi scored one of his great goals, putting Miami up 1-0 in the League Cup final in Nashville on Saturday, but the Tennessee team fought back to a 1-1 draw, which led to a penalty shootout as Miami won their first title. Three years of history.
Messi wrote on Instagram, “Very happy to win the first title in the history of this club. Everyone’s hard work and commitment made it possible. We hope this is just the beginning.”
The World Cup-winning Argentine has scored 10 goals in his seven appearances so far, finding the net in every game, and club owner Jorge Mas was left elated as his bold move to bring in the game’s best player secured its maiden trophy.
“To see Lionel with that smile, all the players, how they play. It will be the first of many trophies for this team,” he told reporters.
David Beckham, who built the club before bringing in Maas as a major investor, reflected on the years he spent trying to turn the team into a reality, but seemed impressed by how quickly the team went from MLS strugglers to a team. I watched around the world.
“A lot can happen in five weeks,” he said, “a lot has changed for us.”
“We’re going to enjoy this but now we have to look to the future and keep building because we have some of the best players in the world wearing pink clothes but more importantly we’ve had a group of academy players up there with them and that’s important for us as a club and for the country.”
The jubilant players cut into winning coach Gerardo Martino’s press conference, splashing him with champagne, but they have to get up fast because their next challenge comes in Ohio on Wednesday when they face off. Cincinnati In the semi-finals of the US Open Cup.
Then Miami returns to the main action of the Major League Soccer season, as the team looks to rise from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to the playoff spots to give themselves a shot at another title – with 12 games left, they have just a few. room for error.
As the players cheered in the locker room at the end of an entertaining seven-game unbeaten League Cup run, Martino’s thoughts turned to the next test.
“There is not much time to celebrate. On Wednesday we have another match and we will continue to play and compete like this in the various tournaments,” said Martino.
“That’s in the past. Now we’re thinking about the game against Cincinnati.”
former Barcelona Argentine coach Martino said the intense format of the month-long tournament helped Miami stick together as a team after the arrival of Messi and the Spanish duo. Sergio Busquets And Jordi Alba.
– Growing and dreaming –
“I remember the early days and I felt we needed to do more training sessions to build up the team and I was thinking about how suitable this tournament is, because we can take advantage of this month to play more,” he said.
“And after this month, we’re champions, so it feels great, and it helps us keep growing and keep dreaming. I think we now clearly understand what we can do looking forward. We understand the future better, and it’s a lot clearer,” he said.
The League Cup has just concluded its first year as a competition that has brought together all the teams of the major leagues Mexico and Major League Soccer together for a mid-season World Cup tournament.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber said the tournament was a huge success with Messi’s influence taking it to unimaginable heights.
Garber said the arrival of the Argentine “has accelerated the popularity and interest in the tournament. Our TV ratings have been amazing. Our ratings on Apple TV have been, for us, much more than we expected.”
Garber said that Messi’s presence and Miami winning the title were “the talk of the football world.”
DeAndre YedlinBefore handing over to Messi upon his arrival, the Miami captain said the team had undergone a complete change.
“We’re walking places now, expecting to win. I can’t say that’s been a factor every time we’ve played before,” he said.
“It’s our seventh game together as a group. It’s weird, we’re still kind of learning on the go,” he said, before focusing on the next step.
“Now we have the semi-finals. It’s a chance for another cup.”
sword / b