Jon Arnold - @ArnoldcommaJon
FRISCO, Texas — Maybe Marcos Lescano should’ve had mixed feelings. An Argentine who celebrated the World Cup championship in December of 2022, Lescano also is a die-hard FC Dallas fan. So, when Argentina star Lionel Messi came to town with Inter Miami CF for a Leagues Cup Round of 16 contest against FC Dallas, Lescano could’ve been like many at Toyota Stadium wearing Messi’s famous 10 shirt in the colors of Argentina, Barcelona or Inter Miami. Instead, he was wearing an FC Dallas jersey and an FC Dallas hat like he has been for years when he goes to the stadium.
“I’ve been telling everybody. Messi is coming with Inter Miami. He’s not coming with the national team. It’s totally different,” he said before the match Sunday, raising his voice to be heard over the drummers of FC Dallas supporters’ group El Matador. “We’re here cheering for Dallas. Nothing is going to change. Not today. Messi, to me, he’s not going to change me. We have the greatest player in the world, but it’s totally different right now. It’s Leagues Cup.”
Lescano said friends and family were blowing up his phone once both FCD and Inter Miami won their Round of 32 matchups and the game was confirmed for Toyota Stadium. Tickets were at a premium for the first-ever road trip for Messi in a club match in the U.S.
The sell-out crowd of 19,096 was rewarded with one of the most thrilling matches of Leagues Cup so far, as FC Dallas scored three consecutive goals after Messi’s opener but Inter Miami battled back to force a penalty shootout, which they won to move on.
Pablo Rodriguez and his son Sebastian were among the fortunate fans who saw the gripping game. The father and son drove around four hours from Houston to see Messi wearing the Inter Miami shirt after previously taking trips to see him represent Argentina around the U.S.
“We’ve been following Messi for many years. We followed him to every game in Copa América Centenario 2016, so we’re going to do it again. Especially when he comes to Texas,” Pablo said.
But even those who weren’t lucky enough to get tickets turned up, hoping to catch a glimpse of Messi as he exited the Inter Miami bus. Anderson Gonzalez, a Venezuela native living in Frisco, said he would've been happy just to be able to see Messi and snap a photo or to see Inter Miami forward and fellow Venezuelan Josef Martínez.
“I’ve known for a week that he might come. At work, everyone was talking about Messi coming too,” Gonzalez said. “We tried to get tickets, but unfortunately we couldn’t buy them.”
Those who did make it into the stadium created a special atmosphere. Lescano was hardly alone in supporting FC Dallas, which had plenty of fans cheering them on during their Leagues Cup run, which ends in the Round of 16 after wins over Necaxa and Mazatlán and a strong performance in Sunday’s elimination game.
But between FCD fans who are regulars at Toyota Stadium and fans like the Rodriguez family who traveled to see Messi, the match had the feeling of an important neutral site game, with loud cheers going up after each of the eight goals scored in regulation.
“Obviously a lot of people there were there for Leo, but at the end of the day it’s all positive. It’s all good eyes on the league and a lot of excitement,” Inter Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin said after the match. “I think it’s nice to be in stadiums where it’s full. That creates a great atmosphere for both teams. To have a full stadium, it’s a lot more fun to play in front of.”
Inter Miami will host the winner of the Houston Dynamo and Charlotte FC in the quarterfinals, but there is no doubt that no matter where they play in the rest of their Leagues Cup journey, stadiums will continue to be full of fans cheering on their team, rooting for Messi and Miami or working through their feelings and cheering on both.
