FORT LAUDERDALE — This is everything, David Beckham was saying, that he dreamed about more than 19 years ago when he started down the road that produced Inter Miami. It was a dream that included championships. It included great players.
But it never could have included the greatest player turning a championship match on its head in the manner that Lionel Messi did Saturday afternoon.
The stat sheet will forever record that Messi had two assists as Inter Miami defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 before a sellout crowd for the MLS Cup final at Chase Stadium.
What it doesn’t say is that the trophy might well be on its way to western Canada had it not been for a defensive gem … by Messi.
Yes. The play of the match was a steal by Messi that led to a goal, which led to a party breaking out. More about that steal in a minute. First, though, the fun stuff.
“This is the moment I had been waiting for, and that we, as a team, were waiting for,” Messi said. “It’s very beautiful for all of us. They deserved it.”
Joyous players lingered on the confetti-littered field for an hour after the match, and never mind that darkness had settled in over an empty stadium that they will no longer will call home.
Lionel Messi happy to send off Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets in style
No one, it seemed, was in a rush for this to end. Because for two of Inter Miami’s most important players, this was the end. It was the final match in the storied careers of defender Jordi Alba and midfielder Sergio Busquets, and teammates were determined to send them off in glory.
“Given what they’ve been—as players, both were among the greatest in history, each in his position, with the careers they had and the titles they won,” Messi said. “It’s wonderful that they can retire with this MLS title. I don’t think they’re fully aware yet of what they’re experiencing, of what it means to retire.
“Today something very beautiful ends for them, something to which they dedicated their whole lives. Now a new life begins for them. I wish them the very best, because they are two friends I care for deeply. I’m happy they can leave with this title.”
When the whistle sounded, smoke bombs — in Inter Miami pink, of course — went off as pockets of players embraced. Messi and Rodrigo De Paul, who scored the match-winner, know what it’s like to win the World Cup. Regardless of how many honors each had previously won, they gathered in the midfield circle, jumping up and down like schoolchildren and waiting for the arrival of the most important trophy in club history.
Speaking of childlike joy, little did first-year Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano know the worst was yet to come. A few players crashed his post-match news conference to soak him in champagne.
During the trophy presentation, Major League Soccer Commissioner said what many were thinking.
“Leo, it’s been an honor that none of us can even understand, to have you in our league,” Garber said, triggering another round of the omnipresent “Messi! Messi! Messi!” chant.
Messi’s steal is turning point of title match
Messi always has been known for his goals, his passes and his dribbling. What sometimes gets shortchanged is his dogged determination to win the ball back at critical times in matches, which is exactly what happened in the 71st minute.
This MLS Cup began with a record heat index of 87 degrees, yet it was the Whitecaps who came out breathing fire to tie it in the 60th minute. Two minutes later came a ridiculous flurry in which the ball struck the goalposts three times in rapid succession. Much to Vancouver’s dismay, it never went in. Still, it was only a matter of time before the Whitecaps would take the lead. At least it seemed that way.
“It’s the luck you need to be champions,” Mascherano said of the goalpost-rattling.
Enter Messi.
He stripped the ball near midfield from Andres Cubas, saw De Paul slipping behind the defense and fed him with a through ball to make it 2-1 in the 71st minute. Inter Miami hadn’t even managed a shot in the second half until then.
Messi wasn’t done. Deep into stoppage time, he chest-trapped a ball, then volleyed it to Tadeo Allende for his ninth goal of the playoffs and Messi’s ninth assist of the postseason, both MLS records. And speaking of firsts, Messi, De Paul and Busquets became the first players to win both the World Cup and MLS Cup.
It almost feels like piling on, then, to point out that while Messi didn’t get an assist on Inter Miami’s eighth-minute goal, it never would have happened without him. Pinned in by two players at midfield, Messi did what Messi does, niftily dribbling by both as if they were traffic cones. He fed Allende breaking down the wing. Allende sent a cross that Edier Ocampo, a 22-year-old defender, stretched to get a touch on. Unfortunately for him, he did get a touch — just enough to redirect it past his goalkeeper and into the net. Remember what Mascherano said about luck?
The proud papa reigning over the celebration was Beckham, whose contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy and MLS helped pave the way for him to eventually become a team owner.
“It means everything,” Beckham said. “Obviously I started this journey over 19 years ago and this was always my dream. My dream was to bring a club to this city and be successful — and also to bring in the best player in the world. …
“Tonight was icing on the cake. And the cherry.”
Next season, the club will move to Miami Freedom Park. If ever there was a way to give Chase Stadium a sendoff, this was it. Broward County, too. It was just 10 miles to the west and 173 days prior that the county won a different cup — the Stanley Cup — via the Florida Panthers. No word, though, on whether Messi plans to take MLS Cup for a dip in the Atlantic, a la Matthew Tkachuk.
The Panthers, of course, have won two titles in a row. What’s next for Inter Miami?
“We always said once we get that first star, you go for the second,” Beckham said. “And the third.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lionel Messi’s assists, steal critical as Inter Miami wins MLS Cup
