The closing of the season Major League Soccer (MLS) In the United States, the protagonist was Lionel Messi. At 38 years old, he led the Inter Miami to conquer the MLS Cup with a decisive performance in the final against Vancouver Whitecaps. After the award ceremony, the Argentine star valued what was done by The Herons in the season.
“It was one of the objectives when we arrived here, we were able to win the Leagues Cup as soon as we arrived. Now we had a great year, where we competed in each of the competitions that we had to play in, we reached a Leagues Cup final again, we played in a Concachampions semi-final, last year we finished first in the championship and unfortunately we were left out in the first round. This year it was one of the objectives to win the MLS. The team made a great effort, a very long year with many games and was up to par throughout the year,” he began. Leo.
The Argentine not only provided two fundamental assists in the final against Vancouver Whitecapsbut also sealed an individual campaign that positions him among the top scorers in the world.
In the final minutes of the match, Messi starred in a play that unleashed the euphoria of Javier Mascherano. When the game was tied, a clearance by Sergio Busquets allowed Messi to start an action from his own field. After a recovery and a filtered left-footed pass, he enabled Rodrigo De Paul, who scored for 2-1. In injury time, Messi showed off again: he controlled his chest and, without dropping the ball, assisted Tadeo Allende, who sealed the final 3-1. Mascherano, overcome with emotion, entered the field and celebrated with Jordi Alba, who played his last game as a professional.
Precisely, due to the withdrawal of Alba and of Sergio Busquets The Argentine captain was consulted and responded: “Happy for what we achieved, for them. The truth is that finishing their career this way is very nice for everyone.. They deserved it after what they were as players, among the greats in history, each one in his position with all the careers they had“, titles that they won and that they can retire with this MLS, I think they are not aware today of what they are experiencing and of retirement.”
“Something very beautiful is ending, to which they dedicated their entire lives. From now on, another life begins, I wish them the best because they are two friends whom I love very much and I am happy that they can leave with this title”he concluded.
Messi’s season in MLS was exceptional. With 46 goals in 53 gamesthe Argentine captain was placed on a par with figures such as Kylian Mbappé (62 goals), Harry Kane (58) y Erling Haaland (52), all of them in more prestigious European leagues. Furthermore, Messi added 28 assists with Inter Miami, distributed between the Regular Phase (19) and the playoffs (9), to which are added two in the Leagues Cup, one in the Concachampions and three with the Argentine team, reaching a total of 34 assists in the year.
In the MLS regular season, Messi was the top scorer of the regular season with 29 points and the main assistant with 19 goal passes in 28 games (26 as a starter). He surpassed Denis Bouanga by five goals (24 in 31 games) and equaled Anders Dreyer in assists (19 in 34 games). During the playoffs, the Argentine added six goals and nine assists, standing out with two doubles against Nashville in the first round.
The title obtained against Vancouver Whitecaps represents the 47th coronation in Messi’s career: 35 titles with Barcelonathree with PSG, six with the Argentine national team and three with Inter Miami. The previous victory against New York City FC had given the Florida team the first Eastern Conference title, although this is not considered official in the MLS record.
*The summary of the final
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