Arya News - In a riveting match that his team very well could have — and maybe should have — lost, Messi assisted on Rodrigo De Paul’s go-ahead goal in the 71st minute and added another assist in the dying moments as Miami defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Since his celebrated arrival in South Florida 2 ½ years ago, Lionel Messi has been the face of not only Inter Miami, but Major League Soccer and perhaps the U.S. soccer scene at large. Even in the twilight of his incomparable career, the 38-year-old Argentine magician stands as the driving force behind the league’s ambitions.
He has drawn fresh fans to the sport, won back-to-back MVP trophies and continued to mesmerize audiences across the continent and around the globe.
What he lacked, however, was the MLS Cup trophy. But on Saturday afternoon, at the end of almost nine minutes of stoppage time at jam-packed, pink-splashed Chase Stadium, Messi raised his arms in celebration at the sound of the final whistle.
In a riveting match that his team very well could have — and maybe should have — lost, Messi assisted on Rodrigo De Paul’s go-ahead goal in the 71st minute and added another assist in the dying moments as Miami defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 . Messi was later named match MVP.
“This is the moment I had been waiting for, and that we, as a team, were waiting for," Messi said postgame through an interpreter. "It’s very beautiful for all of us. They deserved it.”
Vancouver’s dominance much of the second half helped cancel out a 1-0 deficit and resulted in extraordinary opportunities to claim the lead. But against the run of play, Messi accepted a gift from Vancouver’s Andres Cubas and set up compatriot De Paul for the winner.
Despite Messi’s involvement and Miami’s first MLS Cup, there was not much of a championship vibe in the stadium area in the few hours leading to kickoff. Streams of tanned, pink-clad home supporters — and pale visitors in Whitecaps white and blue — steadily arrived off Commercial Boulevard on the northern edge of Fort Lauderdale.
Some 35 miles north of the city the club is named for, the makeshift stadium has a small-time feel to it. The club’s temporary home — adjacent to an executive airport — has been a no-frills placeholder for six seasons until 25,000-seat Miami Freedom Park opens next spring, at a cost of $350 million, as part of a $1 billion mixed-use development next to Miami International Airport.
As gametime approached, the sights and sounds of a championship match took hold.
The match featured two of the three highest-scoring teams in MLS’ regular season, with Miami’s 81 goals in 34 matches leading the way. But it also featured a Vancouver defense that conceded just 38 goals, behind only Philadelphia’s 35 for stingiest in the league.
The sides did not meet in the regular season — MLS teams have only six interconference games — but did collide in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals in April. The Whitecaps breezed to the final on a 5-1 two-game aggregate score.
Miami, though, roared through the playoffs, the only hiccup coming against Nashville in Game 2 of the first round. It scored 16 goals in four victories, including 12 in three home dates.
Wearing white gloves, Canadian Steve Nash, the former NBA All-Star, carried the trophy onto the field before kickoff. Canadian and Cascadian flags fluttered amid the hundreds of Vancouver supporters in the south end.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are MLS Cup champions at last.
(Rich Storry via Getty Images)
Messi wasn’t the only legend in Miami’s lineup. The final marked the end of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba’s storied careers after arriving in South Florida from FC Barcelona, where they celebrated numerous trophies with Messi. The fourth player in the Barcelona quartet, free-agent-to-be Luis Suarez, was on the bench.
Vancouver’s high pressure figured to test Miami’s ability to build the attack out of the back. It did not take long for the hosts to unlock the resistance — and they did it without great difficulty.
It happened in the eighth minute involving four Argentines. Messi split two challengers and pushed the ball ahead to De Paul for a one-time flick to Tadeo Allende rushing onside into the open.
As Allende penetrated the penalty area, unmarked Mateo Silvetti dashed into the box for what would have been a tap-in of Allende’s cross. It never got there, however, carroming off the leg of backtracking defender Edier Ocampo and past goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka — the first MLS Cup own goal in 15 years.
The Whitecaps, however, were the better team the last 20 minutes, tightening their defensive efforts and generating three quality chances.
Sebastian Berhalter — a set-piece specialist for his club and the U.S. national team — served a free kick from shadow into sunlight, connecting with Brian White for a 7-yard header into Rocco Rios Novo’s hands.
Moments later, Rios Novo blocked Emmanuel Sabbi’s leaping, point-blank bid, set up by German star Thomas Müller, and Müller’s header forced a high save by the California-born Argentine goalkeeper.
The Whitecaps were no doubt unhappy with the deficit but optimistic about the second half.
They did, indeed, keep the momentum after intermission and put Miami’s unsound defense under duress. With the most recent U.S. national team coaches in attendance — his father Gregg and current boss Mauricio Pochettino — Berhalter squandered a golden chance by sailing a 25-yard free kick into the south-end stands.
Miami alleviated trouble briefly and, with Takaoka out of position after punching away the ball, Messi’s header floated narrowly wide.
Vancouver’s possession and pressure paid off in the 60th minute. With his back to the goal at the top of the box, White expertly laid off Sabbi’s pass to Ali Ahmed free on the left side for a 16-yard shot that came off Rios Novo’s hands and kissed the inside of the near post before tumbling into the net.
Two minutes later, the Whitecaps came agonizingly close to seizing the lead. Sabbi’s 17-yard strike hit the right post, skipped along the goal line and nicked the left upright. Sabbi pounced on a Miami deflection and put another bid off the left post.
The near misses were costly and, with everything seemingly going the Whitecaps’ way, Cubas gave away the ball in his own end to Messi. Instincts told De Paul to make a run. Messi’s perfectly weighted ball met the midfielder in stride for a 10-yard shot into the far corner.
After the goal celebration, the fans serenaded their hero, chanting, “Messi! Messi!”
Down the stretch, the Whitecaps’ desperation yielded few threats for the equalizer. Messi then helped put the result out of reach by pushing the ball ahead to Allende for the breakaway clincher.
Moments later, Messi became an MLS Cup champion for the first time — the 46th trophy of an immaculate career that doesn’t seem ready to end anytime soon.