Arrowhead Stadium was filled on Saturday night mainly to see Lionel Messi, and even with Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes in attendance, the World Cup winner did not disappoint. Inter Miami won 3-2 at Sporting Kansas City with Messi recording a stunning goal and an equally phenomenal assist as the Herons bounced back from Concacaf Champions Cup elimination.
Tata Martino’s team, just outperformed by Monterrey on Wednesday in the CCC quarterfinals, went all-in for this match with over 70,000 fans filling up the home of the Super Bowl champion Chiefs. A 1-0 deficit just six minutes into the match did not matter as just over 10 minutes later, Messi would set up Diego Gomez with a threaded through ball to make it 1-1. Gomez would set up the winning goal two minutes from time when he found Luis Suarez across the face of goal, but the moment of magic came in the 51st minute.
Sporting were able to fill their box with defenders and keep Messi in front of them, and as it became tougher to get quality looks from close, Messi decided to take matters into his own hands. In a similar area of the pitch to his clutch goal versus Mexico in the 2022 World Cup, this time Messi’s ball was airborne, producing a rifling rocket that dipped before scorching the back of the net. Take a look:
The absolute definition of a golazo. That is what fans wanted to see. Mahomes, fresh off winning back-to-back Super Bowls with the Chiefs, took in the action with his wife, while Chiefs coach Andy Reid was also in attendance.
Messi has scored plenty of goals in his short time with Inter Miami, but you can argue that one might be the best so far as the Herons finished the night in first place in the Eastern Conference.
KVSP