The history of American football has gone through many different stages of development, from “pave the way” Pele to “elevator” David Beckham. And now, MLS is about to enter a new and more sublime phase, with the appearance of “superman” Lionel Messi.
After a dream debut in his first match with Inter Miami, with a goal that sealed a 2-1 victory from a melancholy free-kick, Messi continued to make American football fans emotional when shining brightly. at the game against Atlanta United.
In the first kick, along with the first time wearing the Inter Miami captain’s armband, Messi made everyone surprised and admired with his extraordinary ability. He scored 2 goals, had 1 assist and 1 assist pass. Couldn’t ask for more from the Argentine superstar.
After 2 matches for Inter Miami (58 minutes to be exact), Messi scored 3 goals – a respectable number. Because before that, Messi needed 19 matches for Barca’s first team and 6 matches at PSG to reach the same number of goals.
Notably, Messi is only 26 goals away from catching up with the best striker in Inter Miami’s history, striker Gonzalo Higuain (29 goals).
In total, Messi has scored 17 goals in the calendar year 2023, 707 goals in his club career and 810 goals in both club and country. He also scored the milestone of 100 rival clubs in his career.
Messi is also beating Erling Haaland in the race to win the Ballon d’Or. Accordingly, Haaland has contributed to 66 goals since the beginning of the 2022/23 season until now, while Messi has contributed in 67 goals. The scoring statistics for the Golden Ball title will end on July 31. So it is very likely that Messi will become the first player who does not play in Europe to win this prestigious award.
Not only creating memorable milestones for himself, Messi is also changing the history of Inter Miami itself. Accordingly, this is the first time in history that this team leads the opponent by 3 goals in the first half.
This is also the first time, Inter Miami won with a difference of 4 goals. This team also won the right to play in the round of 16 of the Leagues Cup for the first time.
Inter Miami have not scored more than 3 goals in a game since October 2022. They also have not won in the last 11 matches, before Messi arrived. But the arrival of La Pulga changed all that.
Another thing to emphasize is that Messi quickly found his new “hard” – winger Robert Taylor. In the win against Atlanta, the pair shared 2 goals and 1 assist. This is the first time in the history of Inter Miami that a couple has scored 2 goals in a match.
Taylor herself after the match could not hide her emotions when playing with a living legend like Messi. He said: “Leo Messi is the best player in the world. To play with him is a dream come true for me”.
With a “superman” like Messi, Inter Miami and MLS records are waiting for him to break and build his own monument here.
