It is fair to say Lionel Messi has hit the ground running at Inter Miami and David Beckham’s side are reaping the rewards of acquiring the Argentine World Cup winner.
Due to the timing of Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami, he is yet to play a Major League Soccer match for his new club. His handful of appearances have been limited to the Leagues Cup, of which Inter Miami have now reached the round of 16.
Here is all you need to know about when Inter Miami and Lionel Messi next take to the field in the United States of America as interest builds with every minute that Messi spends on the pitch.
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Having made it through the group stage and the round of 32 of the Leagues Cup, Inter Miami will be in action in the last 16 on Sunday, 6 August. However, their match against FC Dallas has not been given a defined kick-off time as of yet.
In order to reach this point, Inter Miami have been really impressive. Their first match was a tough test Mexican side Cruz Azul which was 1-1 until the 94th minute, when Messi scored a wonderful free-kick to truly announce himself to the United States – if that was necessary. Any fears Messi would not be able to produce his best in a very different environment were quickly quashed and Inter Miami were rolling.
Atlanta United were up next and Messi netted twice in the opening 22 minutes and helped his side to a convincing 4-0 win, putting them into the round of 32.
A stern test against Orlando City was next, but guess who scored twice in a 3-1 win? Messi. He played the whole game and gave his team early control over the fixture. It is worth bearing in mind that Orlando City are 19 points ahead of Inter Miami in MLS and Atlanta United are 17 ahead. Messi cannot take all of the credit, but Inter Miami are a totally different team now and are set to shoot up the MLS table.
While fans are enjoying seeing Messi in Leagues Cup action, it is in MLS where they really need him to deliver the goods. Miami cannot be relegated from MLS but there is no way that Messi, Sergio Busquets, David Beckham and co will want to be finishing at the bottom of the table.
That’s where they currently are, having won just three of their 22 games so far this season when Phil Neville was in charge. There were 14 defeats to endure and while they are just one point away from Toronto FC, there is an eight-point gap to the next team, New York City FC.
Based on their Leagues Cup performances, spearheaded by Messi, they should be able to resolve the situation in the second half of the season. They’ll start that task on 21 August when they take on Charlotte at the DRV PNK Stadium, where there will be immense expectation in the stands.
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