The clock had ticked four minutes in the red when, for a few moments in Fort Lauderdale, Lionel Messi stopped on a free kick and time stood still.
That was it. The moment Inter Miami fans have been waiting for since Messi announced his move to Major League Soccer; the night co-owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas dreamed of since before their team had even played a game; the day, if you believe the promises, that football in the United States has changed forever. It couldn’t have been more perfectly primed.
With Inter Miami tied 1-1 with Cruz Azul, Messi took a few steps and sent a 25-yard effort towards the goal. It was practically the last kick of this opening match of the League Cup. He curled up on the wall, under the bass and in the net. Cue carnage: Fireworks lit up the Florida skies and below Messi was lost in a hurricane of pink jerseys and noise and emotion as 21,000 fans lost their minds. Among them? LeBron James, Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian and Beckham. The co-owner’s eyes had soon glazed over.
Maybe, just maybe, Messi’s arrival could change things after all. As begins? Oh my.
Tickets for the opening night of this tournament – involving teams from MLS and Liga MX – cost just $30 a few weeks ago. Sunday night, they were supposedly going into six figures. Messi, meanwhile, is expected to pocket between $50 million and $60 million each year at Inter Miami. But on the first night, the greatest of all time provided another priceless memory of a glorious career. He had only been on the pitch for 40 minutes.
Lionel Messi scored a sensational free-kick to seal a dramatic 2-1 win for Inter Miami
It was the moment Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham (right) dreamed of
With Inter Miami tied 1-1 with Cruz Azul, the World Cup winner stepped in to clinch victory
Messi was named on the bench by manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino. He came on early in the second half and thought he had won the game when he put on Josef Martinez, three minutes from time, only for the offside flag to cut the celebrations short. It turned out that his coach, the officials and Cruz Azul were simply delaying the inevitable.
Football in this country hasn’t seen anything like it for exactly 17 years, since Beckham made his LA Galaxy debut on this day in 2007. The dots between those seminal moments are easy to join.
A flash of energy ran through this spot when Messi started to warm up at half-time, when he replaced Benjamin Cremaschi and took the armbar, and every time he touched the ball afterwards.
He was followed on the pitch by Sergio Busquets. Their former Barcelona team-mate Jordi Alba has also signed recently. It’s a mark of Messi’s majesty that they feel like such an afterthought. He offered flashes of his mesmerizing talent immediately upon his arrival. But nothing could prepare this place for the sequel.
When Messi first entered this stadium on Sunday, after a severe storm threatened to rain down on the MLS parade, he was greeted with a frenzy and pyrotechnics.
Everything was a little more serene when he arrived on Friday evening. Fans, who had started congregating in hotels and bars here around lunchtime, were still locked out.
The global superstar scored from a free kick from around 25 yards out in the 94th minute
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner started on the bench and came on in the 54th minute
Queues snaked down the road as the gates opened – 90 minutes before kick-off. There was still fanfare, watch out. Before the 36-year-old could descend into the tunnel, he was stopped for a selfie by a middle-aged man in Cruz Azul gear.
He obviously hadn’t received the memo – the players of the Mexican team were keen to point out that it was just another game. Against another team of 11 men. Who were they kidding? The flags, draped over every seat in the DRV PNK stadium, bore the name and silhouette of a single player.
In the club shop, a single DeAndre Yedlin jersey was lost among a sea of pink and black merchandise emblazoned with “Messi 10” and costing up to $200. Small change from some tickets, of course.
It’s no wonder, then, that as kick-off nears and both teams warm up on the pitch, all cameras and cameras are pointed towards the tunnel. They were waiting for the emergence of Inter Miami replacements.
Alas, they were left rolling – clearly neither Messi nor Busquets needed to stretch their legs yet. And so the scrum moved past the Inter Miami bench – sandwiched between the owners’ suite and a dressing room housing celebrities like James.
Messi and LeBron James – two kings of sport, two kings of this town – shared a long hug
The 36-year-old sat on the bench alongside former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets (R)
The photographers were herded by security and a rope and they had to wait until halfway through the national anthem, when the substitutes finally came out of the tunnel. Everything was very discreet. All rather disappointing given the grandeur of the past few days.
But the cameramen finally had their shot: Messi and James – two kings of sport, two kings of this town – shared a long hug. Around them, a football match quickly broke out, and Messi’s name also sounded.
On the bench, the 36-year-old sat next to Busquets and ahead of Harvey Neville, son of Phil Neville who was sacked as head coach last month. By Sunday night, this team’s winless streak in MLS had extended to 11 games. It gave Messi a first chance to see his teammates up close. They were quick to illustrate the scale of the task awaiting new manager Tata Martino and his new recruits.
Cruz Azul haven’t won in Liga MX this season. In their first three games, this team scored only one goal. And yet, on Sunday evening, the visitors could have had three in 15 minutes. Inter Miami was so ragged and so easily cut apart. Cruz Azul hit the post and missed an open goal.
After the Mexican team fended off another chance, TV cameras caught Messi shaking his head. Minutes before half-time, however, the Argentine was on his feet, screaming his approval, after Robert Taylor rolled up Inter Miami in the lead.
The MLS side were still ahead when Messi came on. But just 10 minutes later, Cruz Azul equalized Uriel Antuna. It stayed that way until the end – penalties loomed, as did a lingering sense of anti-climax. We should have known. Five seconds remained in two extra minutes when Messi was fouled. By the time the ball hit the net, a new era had begun with rowdiness.