Encouraged by Hristo Stoichkov, “sing it, sing it”, the commentator of the TUDN channel, Ramsés Sandoval, shouted. “This is not a goal, this is a gooooooooooool, this is a work of art.”
A dream ending, the perfect icing on the cake. In the last breath of added time in the confrontation between the locals of Inter Miami and Cruz Azul from Mexico City, Messi made a foray and fell near the area. The score was tied at one. Just a moment ago the analysts sent the game to penalties. In this Leagues Cup competition, in which members of the Mexican and American leagues participate, there is no overtime. But everything changed when the referee called the foul, in an ideal place for that legendary left foot.
In the middle of Stoichkov’s revelry, Messi caressed the ball, placed it while observing the barrier, with the sharks and crocodiles that the rivals placed lying on the grass. Three steps and the leather slipped clean through the square. There is no artificial intelligence that can do something like that. It is only within the reach of a god as human as the seven times ballon d’or. “The biggest,” insisted the commentator.
“Goal 808”, shouted one of his colleagues on the broadcast. The delirium in the stands, more than in need of affection, and in the field, so much so that even the injured did not hide their admiration for him. Even the former Barça and Paris Saint Germain celebrated it as if it were a Champions League goal. He ran to the band and hugged his children. David Beckham, co-owner of Inter, had his eyes shining. He had reason to be excited.
Messi’s debut in official competition in Inter’s pink jersey, at its Fort Lauderdale stadium, met all expectations and much more. He entered the field of play in the 53rd minute, together with his friend Sergio Busquets, and changed the landscape. With the invaluable collaboration of Busi, who comes from another planet, his movements, his dribbling and feints, his changes of pace, his passes were from another galaxy in the midst of so much vulgarity.
The fans of those from Miami, many with the Argentinian shirt and some with the Blaugrana, sighed for the miracle and all their prayers, slogans and flags were dedicated to their new 10, to their “messiah”. The Hispanic capital of northern South America lives Messi mania, the “messianic” fever, the passion for what is called over and over again “the atomic flea” with all earthly respect.
His Inter is a true football disaster, the worst team in the American league (MLS), with some unfortunate shortcomings. He came from eleven games without knowing the victory, it is the last of the competition in the United States, twelve points away from entering the playoff (twelve games remain) and on the day of the debut of the Argentine star he was able to lose with total justice against the blues of the cement machine.
The Mexicans had several clear chances and the locals, a defensive horror, were saved by their goalkeeper, the extraordinary Drake Callender, and the stick. Rarely has a television producer focused on a bench on so many occasions. You had to watch Messi. Sitting next to Busquets, at first he seemed relaxed and then his face became much more serious, as if he was asking himself “what have I gotten myself into”. At first glance, his new sports home is like a parody of his previous coliseums, his lifelong Camp Nou or the millionaire Parque de los Príncipes in Paris.
In full capsize, Robert Taylor had a stellar rapture and scored a quality goal. In this way, the locals went to rest ahead on the scoreboard.
Eight minutes after the restart, Tata Martino, another former Barça player, gave the historic order for Messi and Busquets to enter, with Josef Martínez as squire. Those of Cruz Azul were momentarily baffled by the weight of the myth. Busquets filtered magnificent passes, although he had a slip that almost cost a displeasure, and Messi played Messi, the plugged-in, not the walker.
Despite this turnaround, the Mexicans, another team in decline, plucked up their courage and regained control. They tied and had chances to turn the score around and sentence. They forgave and paid dearly after committing the ingenuity of biting into the cunning of the Argentine. Lack and goal.
“We had chances to win the game, we weren’t forceful and the result isn’t fair. But if football were fair it wouldn’t be interesting. In ninety-odd minutes we were much better”, stressed Ricardo “Tuco” Ferretti, coach of the visitors. “Messi’s thing is something else, he is one of a kind,” he surrendered to the evidence.
Martino, his rival, accepted that they did poorly in the first part and that they should not have won that stage. “In the second half we were more balanced,” he added. Despite everything, he conceded that they were imposed by that great being that he trains again. “Messi is a movie that is constantly repeated and he is always there to rewrite it,” he praised. “When the foul was whistled, even then I thought that the film could be written again.”
Dan Garber, commissioner of the MLS, the American league, considered that the arrival of the leader of the world champion team will mark a before and after in the development of soccer in the US. The new star hopes that he will provide a boost that will expand interest in this sport. “This is a dream come true, the icing on the cake,” he said.
Messi looks happy, he seems to have lost his shyness. He has a great challenge ahead of him, however. His legend faces the commitment to make a losing team a winner.
