Despite having started on the bench for Inter Miami, he managed to score on his MLS debut, breaking yet another record with his new club.
Bryan ArellanoBryxn_AJoe Brennanj4brennanUpdate: Aug 27th, 2023 16:55 EDT
KENA BETANCURAFP
Lionel Messi, with his goal against New York Red Bulls on his MLS debut, becomes the third oldest player to score on his first ever game in the competition.
Prior to Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami, the team was at the bottom of the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer. Now, with Messi in the side, the Florida outfit have won the Leagues Cup and have qualified for the US Open Cup final with their new talisman as captain.
When the advertising boards know. pic.twitter.com/mwWlCO76wu
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 27, 2023
Messi started from bench against NYRB
And following these achievements, the team led by ‘Tata’ Martino returned to the domestic tournament with the hope of having turned their fortunes around and continuing on with their new vein of unbeatable form: and that’s exactly how things turned out, as they defeated New York Red Bulls at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey and jumped up from the bottom of the table.
As ‘Tata’ had already let him know, Messi was scheduled for a rest and decided to start the number ‘10′ on the bench along with Sergio Busquets – only Jordi Alba started as part of his trident of luxury reinforcements.
+3️⃣ en NY 👏 pic.twitter.com/oDyUukixwK
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) August 27, 2023
Who are the oldest players to score on their MLS debuts?
Everything looked like Inter Miami would go on to win the game with a solitary effort from the Paraguayan midfielder, Diego Gómez, who got his first league goal, but, after having entered the game at 60′ for Campana, Messi could not stay without being present during his MLS debut so it was; at 89′ he appeared to finish off a great collective play and a pass from Cremaschi, Leo scored during his debut in the American league.
ESPN reports that, with this goal, Messi became the third oldest player to score during his MLS debut, behind only ps such as Hugo Sánchez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who were older when they bagged debut goals for Dallas Burn and LA Galaxy, respectively.
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— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) August 27, 2023
