Messi thrills with stunning last-minute free kick in Inter Miami debut: Watch

From the youcanrsquotmakethisup department Lionel Messi capped the opening night with his new club by delivering the unforgettable His magical left foot sent a free kick into the upper left corner of the net in the 94th minute Friday night giving Inter Miami a 21 win over Mexican club Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup matchLIONEL ANDREacuteS MESSI IS NOT HUMAN pictwittercom2mBDI41mLymdash Major League Soccer MLS July 22 2023ldquoWhat I saw was the goalrdquo Messi said in an onfield interview amid the postgame celebration ldquoI saw the goal I knew that I had to scorerdquoHe makes it sound so easy Made it look so easy tooThe gamersquos greatest active player mdash a seventime Ballon drsquoOr winner and a World Cup champion mdash sent the ball over a wall of four Cruz Azul defenders for the winning goal unquestionably the greatest moment in Inter Miamirsquos brief history Fireworks shot into the night sky and play resumed for roughly a minute before the refereersquos whistle blewldquoItrsquos a movie that we have seen beforerdquo Inter Miami coach Tata Martino saidMessi was a showman throughout his debut for his Major League Soccer club He waved at fans while he was seated on the bench Waved at them while he was warming up Waved at them while he was actually in the gameAnd if that wasnrsquot enough he saved his best moment for the end He watched the ball sail into the net something hersquos done about 800 times before for club and country then sprinted to the right corner of the field and leaped into the arms of teammatesThe teamrsquos owners mdash David Beckham Jorge Mas and Jose Mas mdash were waiting as he left the pitch Jorge Mas planted a kiss onto the superstarrsquos sweatcoated cheek Some Cruz Azul players stood in silence and just watched theyrsquoll have a story to tell too about how it took an incredible Messi moment to defeat themIt took Inter Miami four years of planning and two years of actual pursuing to bring Messi to the clubldquoWorth itrdquo Beckham said earlier in the weekAlso Read lsquoLionel Messi will need time to adapt in MLSrsquo David BeckhamHow right he wasldquoItrsquos such a moment for this countryrdquo Beckham said ldquoItrsquos such a moment for the league And itrsquos a very proud moment for usrdquoNobody even left their seats when the halftime whistle blew The reason Messi was on the field He warmed up for about 5 minutes during intermission with the other reserves before they all left for the locker roomAnd about eight minutes into the second half the answer It was Messi timeMessi checked in early in the second half with Inter Miami leading 10 He hugged the player he was replacing midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi then trotted onto the field as the estimated crowd of 21000 all seemed to be standing almost all of them with phones out to chronicle the momentHad he missed the free kick the game would have gone to a penalty shootout Instead Messi ended it on his termsldquoIt was the last play of the game and I wanted to score so I didnrsquot go to penaltiesrdquo Messi saidThe first Inter Miami goal of the Messi era was scored by Robert Taylor who took a long cross from Robbie Robinson moved into the box and sent a low drive off the inside of the far post and into the back of the net for a 10 lead late in the first halfMessi leaped from his seat threw his hands in the air applauded several times and broke into a wide smileCruz Azul tied the game shortly after Messi checked in and had plenty of chances to take a late lead But the final act belonged to Messi a storybook ending if there ever was oneIt was a gathering of GOATs at Messirsquos debut match LeBron James and Serena Williams were there mdash like Messi in soccer theyrsquore in the conversation of ldquogreatest of all timerdquo when it comes to the NBA and tennis Music legends Gloria and Emilio Estefan showed up as did Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Kim Kardashian arrived saying one of her sons had a particular reason why he had to attendldquoINCREDIBLErdquo James tweeted with a goat emoji for emphasisNo matter what it was a massive night for soccer in the US mdash Messi making his first Miami appearance while on the other side of the globe the US womenrsquos team opened its World Cup title defense in New Zealand by beating Vietnam 30Messi signed a 2 12year contract that will pay him between 50 million and 60 million annually mdash and almost certainly more than 1 million per matchMessi arrived with the team about two hours before game time dressed in the team colors mdash pink Tshirt black shorts He stopped for a few photos and handshakes as he entered the tunnel leading to the locker roomAs the match started Messi took his seat and watched his new team in the allpink jersey shorts and socks start his new era Almost every seat was filled many by people wearing newly acquired Miami jerseys with Messirsquos name on the back They chanted his name a few times waved flags bearing his name and numberThe excitement kept building all the way to the end And Messi made sure his new fans went home happyldquoIt was very importantrdquo Messi said ldquofor us to get this winrdquoWith agency inputs