Unbelievable? Messi delivers unforgettable goal on surreal night in South Florida

Jon Arnold - @ArnoldcommaJon

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — It was unbelievable and the most believable thing ever, unpredictable and the easiest prediction you could make. Lionel Messi stood over a free kick in the 94th minute of his debut with Inter Miami CF and delivered a goal with his famous left foot, lifting Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over Cruz Azul in their Leagues Cup opener.

Then again, it already felt somewhat surreal to see Messi on the field, playing in the Leagues Cup curtain-raiser, the world champion, the winner of FIFA’s The Best, right here at DRV PNK Stadium.

“We should all be surprised, but he’s done it so often over so many years that it seems like an absolutely normal thing to us, but obviously it isn’t,” Inter Miami manager Tata Martino said after the match. “We’re talking about the best player in the world. This is something he does continuously.”

Messi was Messi. There was no surprise about that. “I tried like I always do and had the luck that it went on goal and the goalkeeper didn’t get there,” he told Apple TV after. It was a surprise to see him as early as we did. Inter Miami manager Tata Martino was coy in the lead-up to the match, acknowledging Messi and his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets would come on as substitutes but declining to hint at how long they’d play. Messi came on in the 54th minute with Busquets and Josef Martinez.

But just as Messi was Messi, Cruz Azul was Cruz Azul. Uriel Antuna isn’t one of the best players in the world, but he is one of the best players in the region and showed it not only with his goal in the 65th minute but also as he continued to break down the right side of La Maquina’s attack.

Yet, the LIGA MX side’s inability to finish off opportunities, especially during a dominant opening 20 minutes would prove costly with a player like Messi on the bench.

“I think with Messi’s entrance, naturally his quality also makes Miami make big changes, and the game took at total 180,” Cruz Azul manager Tuca Ferretti said. “I think we had the best chances to score. The game ends in a loss. I’m sad the team lost but I’m satisfied with the team’s showing.”

Ferretti was one of the few in DRV PNK Stadium that would even be likely to leave unhappy after Messi’s moment of magic, converting that winning free kick from a foul that he won near the top of the box. Martino said it felt like a movie everyone had seen before, but few in Miami had the chance to be in a movie like this before.

That’s why Messi’s debut attracted stars from the worlds of entertainment and sports. He hugged NBA superstar LeBron James on the way to the substitute’s bench before the match and snapped a photo with Kim Kardashian’s children after. Everyone was waiting for a Hollywood moment from Messi by way of South Florida.

Not even a minute had passed before fans started chanting Messi’s name. As he started to warm up near the end line after the halftime break, supporters pushed forward as far as the security workers and barricades would allow them. And when he came in, they roared. The player everyone wanted to see was going to play more than half-an-hour in his debut.

Martino said after the match he wanted Messi and Busquets to come in at the same time and had seen the Argentine playmaker and Venezuelan forward Martinez develop good chemistry in their limited time on the training ground this week. Putting all of them in at the same time was designed to start building those links that will be crucial for Martino's men as Leagues Cup goes on.

Those were the tactical reasons, but the trio of veteran stars coming in at the same time added to the script-like feeling, especially when Messi ran off to celebrate with those teammates after getting his free kick over the wall and on frame.

Lionel Messi on last-minute winner: “I knew I had to score.”

What was Cruz Azul goalkeeper Andrés Gudiño supposed to do? Everyone in the stadium expected the ball to loft over the wall, then bend back down and into the goal. The shot-stopper set up his wall in the right place. He ran to cover. Yet, that thing that everyone knew was going to happen simply couldn’t be kept from happening.

“It’s crazy that the whole crowd expected the ball to go right there, and he put it right there,” Inter Miami center back Kamal Miller said. “Goosebumps and a surreal moment. I’ll never forget it.”

Few who were there will. It was a special night, the kind of night that fans hoped for and maybe even expected when they bought their tickets, and even still left feeling like they couldn’t believe what they’d just witnessed.

Not even a minute had passed before fans started chanting Messi’s name. As he started to warm up near the end line after the halftime break, supporters pushed forward as far as the security workers and barricades would allow them. And when he came in, they roared. The player everyone wanted to see was going to play more than half-an-hour in his debut.

Martino said after the match he wanted Messi and Busquets to come in at the same time and had seen the Argentine playmaker and Venezuelan forward Martinez develop good chemistry in their limited time on the training ground this week. Putting all of them in at the same time was designed to start building those links that will be crucial for Martino's men as Leagues Cup goes on.

Those were the tactical reasons, but the trio of veteran stars coming in at the same time added to the script-like feeling, especially when Messi ran off to celebrate with those teammates after getting his free kick over the wall and on frame.

What was Cruz Azul goalkeeper Andrés Gudiño supposed to do? Everyone in the stadium expected the ball to loft over the wall, then bend back down and into the goal. The shot-stopper set up his wall in the right place. He ran to cover. Yet, that thing that everyone knew was going to happen simply couldn’t be kept from happening.

“It’s crazy that the whole crowd expected the ball to go right there, and he put it right there,” Inter Miami center back Kamal Miller said. “Goosebumps and a surreal moment. I’ll never forget it.”

Few who were there will. It was a special night, the kind of night that fans hoped for and maybe even expected when they bought their tickets, and even still left feeling like they couldn’t believe what they’d just witnessed.