Lionel Messi finally made his MLS debut, and scored a stunning goal to continue his blistering start to life at Inter Miami.
The 36-year-old scored the second in a 2-0 win over New York Red Bulls, playing an outrageous through ball to Benjamin Cremaschi, who crossed the ball back to him to finish.
His time at Miami has seen him help the team completely turn their form around, whilst also winning the Leagues Cup.
His teammates are in awe of the Argentine legend, and defender Kamal Miller has admitted that playing alongside Messi is sometimes difficult, as his brilliance can prove distracting.
“I just catch myself watching him instead of picking up on my assignment. It’s tough to stay focused when you have such a great presence,” he stated after the victory.
Messi’s impact on his teammates
Messi, alongside manager Tata Martino and fellow Barcelona legends Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, have made an incredible impact in Miami in a short space of time, and one of the biggest effects they have had is that Miami’s pre-existing players have improved in their presence.
They have helped raise the level of the likes of Robert Taylor, Josef Martinez and Leo Campana, as well as helping younger talents like Diego Gomez in their development.
Training and playing alongside superstars has helped these players elevate their own level of quality, whilst adding more drive and determination within the squad, who want to prove themselves alongside these soccer heroes.
Whilst the increased attention on these Miami stars may bring additional pressure, being in the spotlight may help these stars to shine, and the attacking players in particular, will be glad to have Alba and Messi as passing options going forward.
Messi and Busquets came off the bench in the New York Red Bulls victory, but their teammates were coping well in the first half without them, having failed to win in 11 MLS games prior to their arrivals.