Lionel Messi scores screamer, leads Inter Miami to first trophy in Leagues Cup final win over Nashville
- Miami beat Nashville 10-9 in penalty shoot-out as match ends 1-1 after normal time, with Messi giving his side the lead in style
- ‘The grit, just the belief and what we’re capable of. It’s something special and I’m just blessed to be a part of it,’ he says
Lionel Messi scored a screamer and won his first trophy in North American football as Inter Miami beat Nashville 10-9 on penalties in the Leagues Cup final, after the match ended 1-1 in normal time.
The Argentine World Cup winner had put Miami ahead in the 24th minute with a wonder strike into the top corner but Fafa Picault levelled for Nashville in the second half.
After Leonardo Campana missed a last-second chance to win the match for Miami, the game went to a penalty shoot-out which ended in a duel between the two goalkeepers and Elliot Panicco’s shot being saved by Miami’s Drake Callender.
Messi and his teammates rushed to celebrate with the American goalkeeper, who had made some key saves late in the game to keep his team alive.
“The grit, just the belief and what we’re capable of. It’s something special and I’m just blessed to be a part of it,” he said.
Miami, in their third season of existence, were rock bottom of Major League Soccer when Messi joined them a month ago but he has utterly transformed the team leading them on an unbeaten run to the Leagues Cup title.