Lionel Messi claims he envisioned his 94th-minute Inter Miami winner before striking the sensational free kick
Lionel Messi understandably stole the show with his mere presence at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale Friday night - heightened by a 94th minute free kick winner.
Messi had shown flashes of genius since coming on in the 54th minute with Miami leading 1-0.
Soon after, Cruz Azul had equalized, the score tied at 1-1. Messi probed - both by feeding teammates and an attempt himself - but it looked as if the game was destined for penalties, before Messi had one last gift for Inter Miami fans.
Speaking via a translator to the Apple TV broadcast, Messi spoke of what he saw when stepping up for the free kick.
'I saw the goal, I knew I had to score because it was the last play of the game - and I wanted to score so we didn't go to penalties,' he said.
'It was very important for us to get this win... this is going to give us confidence moving forward.'
The man of the moment also spoke to the Spanish-speaking broadcast postgame amid the wild scenes around him.
Despite being with his Miami teammates for such a short period, Messi paid tribute to Ian Fray, who suffered what looked to be a serious knee injury in the 26th minute.
'Let me dedicate this victory to Ian Fray,' Messi said, via Twitter. '[He] was suffering in the locker room from the injury he sustained.
'He comes from two serious injuries and today he has the bad luck to go through an injury again.'
Next up for Inter Miami is game two of its third Leagues Cup group matches; vs. Atlanta United on July 25 at the same venue of Messi's latest, but certainly not last, moment.
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