Argentine star Lionel Messi scored a four-goal goal for his American team, Inter Miami, in defeating his compatriot Philadelphia Union 4-1 in the semi-finals of the American and Mexican Football Associations Cup at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, and led him to reach the final match.
It is the ninth goal in 6 consecutive matches for Messi since joining Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain in June, where he spent two years in the Parisian capital after a title-filled career with Barcelona.
Messi will play the 42nd final in his career, while Inter Miami has secured participation in the CONCACAF Champions Cup competition, which is the most prestigious in North, Central America and the Caribbean, by reaching the final match of the Two Leagues Cup.
Messi scored the second goal for his team with a deceptive 25-meter shot, which Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake failed to block (20).
Inter Miami started the League Cup competition for the American leagues (Major League Soccer) and the Mexican League (League MX) at the bottom of the Eastern Region standings and with the worst record in the American League, before achieving 6 successive victories since the arrival of the Qatar 2022 World Cup champion.
In the final, Inter Miami will face Nashville, who defeated Mexico’s CF Monterrey 2-0 in the other semi-final.
Inter Miami opened the scoring 3 minutes after the starting whistle through Venezuelan striker Joseph Martinez, so the latter returned and passed the second goal to Messi.
Jordi Alba, Messi’s former colleague in Barcelona, who moved to Florida this summer, added with his other colleague, midfielder Sergio Busquets, who mainly participated in the third goal (45 + 3), before substitute Alejandro Bedoya reduced the score in favor of Philadelphia Union in the 73rd minute.
Inter Miami concluded its scoring festival with a fourth goal for young substitute David Royce from Honduras (84).
Inter emerged victorious from a match against a strong competitor, as Philadelphia Union occupies third place in the standings of the Eastern Region clubs, and it only tasted defeat once in 38 matches at home, before it suffered its second defeat on Tuesday.
“Our goal was to qualify for the international competition next season and we did that tonight,” said Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino.
He continued, “The most important thing was to achieve qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, and now we have to prepare to win this tournament, which made us feel excited and confident.”
2023-08-16 05:56:19
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