Lionel Messi provided the perfect finish to start his career with Inter Miami with a brilliant winning goal on Friday, but what may be most significant from his debut was how totally happy he looks again.
So much of the focus since Messi said he was moving to Miami from Paris Saint-Germain has been on what the move will mean for Major League Soccer, and for the business of soccer in the USA.
Somewhat lost in the hype around the move has been what it all means for the 36-year-old Argentine star himself.
Messi went from the ultimate high of winning the World Cup in December to looking miserable in Paris, where he was booed by PSG’s fans in his final game.
Since arriving in South Florida, though, he has had a smile on his face again and his comments, always in Spanish, have been peppered with the word ‘content’.
He looks happy, sounds happy and everyone around him is smiling.
“We knew it was important for us to start this tournament with a win. Luckily, we were able to do it at the end, and I’m very happy,” he said after his 94th-minute winner, with a trademark curling free-kick, in the 2-1 victory over Mexico’s Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup.
“I’m very happy to be here, with the team and my family. We’re very happy with this choice. I want to thank the people once again. I hope we continue this way and that they keep joining us all year because for us, this is very important,” he added.
Messi is a superstar, but he has always appeared a somewhat reluctant celebrity.
Unlike David Beckham, the biggest name to move to MLS before Messi and now co-owner of the Argentine’s new club, or his contemporary Cristiano Ronaldo, the seven-times’ Ballon d’Or winner has never been fully at ease with his fame.
Playing at a 20 000-capacity temporary stadium an hour’s drive north of downtown Miami, on the surface, is a huge comedown for a player who spent 17 years playing at Barcelona’s Camp Nou in front of crowds four times that size.
But Messi appears to be enjoying the intimacy of the venue, where he is surrounded by adoring Spanish-speaking fans, thousands of them Argentine, many in his national team shirt.
Football romantics would have loved to see him end his career back in Argentina, but in Miami he gets all the familiarity of home, while still able to enjoy a degree of privacy, security and – not insignificantly – a reported US$60 million a year salary.
Miami’s 18-year-old midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, born in the city to Argentine parents, was given a hug and kiss from Messi when the number 10 replaced him in the 54th minute.
Cremaschi said the mood in the dressing room, after the win for a team in last place in MLS without a win in 11 league games, was transformed.
Supersport.com