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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Major League Soccer didn’t have to wait long for its cherished Lionel Messi moment.
On Saturday night in front of a packed crowd at Geodis Park, Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup, prevailing over Nashville SC via penalties 10-9 after the teams finished 90 minutes tied at one goal apiece. At that point, the celebrations began.
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham — who’d endured an odyssey just to get the team in Miami — was hugging everyone in sight. That included defender Ian Fray, who had torn his ACL for the third time just minutes into Messi’s first match against Cruz Azul in July.
Later, Messi sauntered over to the awards stand, and after receiving a peck on the cheek from co-owner Jorge Mas — the man who had engineered the Argentine’s move stateside — he took home the tournament MVP trophy. He scored 10 goals in the competition, including Miami’s tally on this night. He later called over DeAndre Yedlin, and the two held up the absurdly large Leagues Cup; the confetti rained down, the players started dancing and the party was on. It later spilled over into manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s postgame news conference, with players bursting in and dousing him in champagne.
“It was a very difficult game,” Beckham said. “But it was just our night tonight.”
As much as the whole idea of the Leagues Cup has been criticized (expanded this year to include all 47 Liga MX and MLS teams), it meant a ton to Inter Miami. A month ago, with the team having the fewest points in all of MLS, it seemed debatable as to whether one player — or even three of them — could turn Miami’s fortunes around. But after seven victories, including two by penalty shootout, the Herons have raised a trophy for the first time in their history.
To put into context just how rapid Inter Miami’s ascent has been, Beckham had to wait…
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