Last Updated on 07/22/2023 by てんしょく飯
The first match of the League Cup 2023 group stage, jointly organized by Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX (Mexican First Division), was held on March 21, with Inter Miami (MLS) and Cruz Azul (Liga MX) playing each other.
All 47 clubs in MLS and Liga MX are participating in the League Cup 2023 tournament.
El primer gol de Messi con Inter Miami 🤯🤯👏👏
Messi scores in his first match with the club to give us the lead in the 94th minute. pic.twitter.com/pI7bYjEK63
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 22, 2023
This will be the first year that the tournament will be held in its current format; of the 47 teams, Los Angeles FC, which topped the MLS Supporters’ Shield for the 2022 season (*the standings are determined by the number of points won in the regular season, not the playoffs), Apertura (first semester) and Pachuca, which topped the table based on points won in the Clausura (second semester), will participate from the final tournament. The 45 clubs, excluding the two clubs, were divided into 15 groups of three teams each.
Inter Miami, which announced the full transfer of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba as reinforcements this summer, faced Cruz Azul in its first match of the tournament. Messi and Busquets started from the bench, while J. Alba was not included in the squad as he had just been announced as a signing.
The game was broken in the 44th minute. Robert Taylor cut in from the left side of the box and fired home a right-footed shot to give Inter Miami the lead going into halftime. In the second half, Inter Miami’s bench made a move in the 55th minute, dropping Benjamin Cremaschi and David Luiz and sending Messi and Busquets out onto the pitch.
Cruz Azul made the first move in the 65th minute when Uriel Antuna drew a vertical pass from Jesús Dueñas, turned forward on the right side of the penalty area, and without hesitation swung in with his right foot. His powerful strike struck the goalkeeper’s hand and rattled the net, bringing the game back to square one.
The game seemed to be over, but in second-half added time, the man of the match came up with a spectacular save. Inter Miami won a free kick in front of the penalty area, slightly to the left of center. The kicker, of course, was Messi. The kicker, of course, was Messi, who, as usual, took three steps before releasing his shot, which took a beautiful trajectory to the left of the goal. The new “superstar” struck a last-minute winner for Inter Miami.
Time expired. Messi’s strike was the final goal, and Inter Miami, currently in last place in the MLS Eastern Conference, won for the first time in seven official games. Inter Miami will now face Atlanta United on July 25.
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