Lionel Messi had a simply impressive game in what was Inter Miami’s victory 6 goals to 2 against New York Red Bull in the most recent matchday of Major League Soccer; The Argentine idol scored a goal and distributed a total of 5 assists in what was a historic night at the Chase Stadium facilities in Fort Lauderdale.
The performance of the best Inter Miami player and of the current Major League Soccer season was the main topic in the post-match press conference attended by the pink team coach, Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino. One of the questions they asked the coach was if at any point in his career he had seen such an impressive performance and role from Messi, to which Martino responded as follows: “I remember a semi-final with Paraguay in the Copa América in Chile. where he didn’t score any goals and for me he was the best player on the field.” In this match the victory was for Argentina 6 goals to 1 and with 3 assists from Messi.
“In Barcelona he has had exceptional games. I think there is a match with Valencia, that we lost 2-0 and won 3-2 with three goals from him. It’s redundant to talk about him because it seems like he’s always doing something new. If something was missing, it was this: having an impact on the six goals a team scores. This is going to be difficult to see again,” added ‘Tata’ Martino.
Who was the best player of the match for Martino?
It must be remembered that Messi scored a goal, gave 5 assists, but the debutant in the MLS, Matías Rojas He scored a double and Luis Suárez a hat trick with an assist, so the answer was not easy for Martino: “What a difficult question that is…! “Everyone had a phenomenal impact in the game, but Leo probably did something historic: five assists and a goal in the league.” In addition, they asked him which goal of the day he would keep: “Because of the technical gesture and Leo’s pass, I’ll go with Luis (Suárez’s) scissors. He is the one I liked the most.”
The Messi Suárez connection is vital for Miami
“The partnership between him and Luis in the second half worked very well, like in old epochs. When we found the spaces, they were very influential in the game.” “When Messi is missing, the team feels it.”
Debut in style for Matías Rojas, something that is very good for Inter Miami in their aspirations to win the Major League Soccer championship: “He is a player who has a lot of quality, he has an enviable left foot. We tried to take him little by little, he had not played for several months. We understood that it was not appropriate to put him as a starter, beyond that, in each of the training sessions they already showed understanding, knowing how to find each other. Today we saw a very good version of Matías in 45 minutes and we hope it continues in the same way. What we have to find is the best place. There is no need to rush with all the expectations that he generates.”
More words from ‘Tata’ Martino
Analysis of the match: “In the first half, we couldn’t find the passes between the lines. We couldn’t make any progress on the outside either, and I think there was a question of taking courage, taking risks and putting the ball in difficult places. In the second half, there is a circumstance that is fundamental: the tie. He gave us peace of mind, the second one immediately came due to pressure. We found the game better, we went back well, we suffered few goal situations for the two goals conceded. It was a game in which we had to take certain risks because otherwise it would be difficult to progress on the field.”
The ability of ‘Las Garzas’ to come back from the match: “We have many players with scoring ability. At some point in the game we are going to find favorable moments. The issue is how we get through the unfavorable moments, and that does not imply that we always have to turn the games around because sometimes we will not be able to do so. We have overcome adversity for four games in a row.”
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Lionel Messi scored a goal and distributed 5 assists in a great victory for Inter Miami in the MLS
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Starting June 14, “The Messi Experience” bursts into the city of Los Angeles