The fans aligned themselves outside Independence Park more than two hours before the RAGD of the Champions Cup of the Concacaf of Inter Miami clashed with Cavalier SC in the hope of giving a glimpse of Lionel Messi during a 2-0 victory (4-0 on the aggregates) so that Miami goes to the quarters of the final where they will face the Los Angeles FC.
The fans had to wait longer than expected, but when he removed his warm -up bib from the songs of “Messi, Messi, Messi” to replace Luis Suarez in the 52nd minute, the stadium broke out in cheers while Messi succeeded in his first match since February 25 against Kansas City in sport in the champions cup. Messi would have the trouble to wait by marking in the time of downtime with the final kick of the game to a cherry in addition to the progress and the pursuit of his sequence to mark or help the five appearances for the Herons in all the competitions this season.
Meanwhile, Miami was able to win three consecutive games scoring seven goals and allowing only one showing that they became stronger overall, even when Messi does not play. But with a revenge match during the weekend where they will face an Atlanta United team which eliminated them from the MLS Cup qualifiers in the first round last season, playing Messi here will help eliminate a little rust before Sunday before leaving and then for the international service with Argentina for the qualifications of the World Cup.
Luis Suarez opened the scoring with a powerful finish from the penalty point after Tadeo Allende was the victim of a fault in the 37th minute, giving Miami a very important outside goal of putting this confrontation out of reach.
He continues an undefeated start under the new manager Javier Mascherano even without their talisman for three of these games. He missed the team in two games due to the management of charges but returned to the bench during the weekend against Charlotte FC.
Although Miami descends to 10 men in this match, they were able to go ahead in the first half, so he ended up not being used and did the same rider in Jamaica. It was a slow start for the match, because heavy rains earlier during the day created a field less than Ideal, but Miami was able to obtain their first match via Suarez for an advance that they would not let.
Although it is impressive to see the victories, it is also impressive that this Miami team granted only four goals in seven games in all competitions with part of this due to the change in Noah Allen from the left to become a central back. Capable of lifting the ball on the ground, Allen was able to help push the pace in attack while being a strong presence in the balancing responsibilities of the defense.
When Messi entered, Suarez and Sergio Busquets were also rested after being leaning over his absence. This can be brief rest for the duo, but in a long season when Miami participates in three competitions outside the league, whenever the players can be rested very far. Their depth took a blow with David Ruiz being injured just 15 minutes, but with the international break looming, if it is not too serious, he will have time to recover.
For the moment, the pressure is on other teams to show that they can stop herons as even in unfavorable conditions, they do the work. Only time will tell us if they can follow this rhythm, but after having established a record of MLS seasonal points with 74 points last season, it is already clear that it is a special group, so if they are able to take things from there, several trophies will be in their future.
