Messi, Alba and Busquets ‘creating problems’ for Inter Miami
Robin Bairner
- 16 Aug 2023 11:42 BST
- 3 min read
Inter Miami will play the first final in the franchise’s history after Lionel Messi helped to fire them to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Union on Tuesday.
Messi scored his side’s second goal in the success to keep up his streak of scoring in all six of his matches for his new club and also move to joint-third in Inter Miami’s all-time scoring charts.
It continues a remarkable reversal in fortunes of David Beckham’s franchise, which is struggling at the foot of the MLS Eastern Conference – a competition that the Storks have not played in since the arrival of the World Cup winner and his former Barcelona colleagues Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
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This expensive turnaround, though, is posing head coach Tata Martino, himself a former Barcelona boss, a headache.
Speaking after Tuesday’s victory, which sets up a trip to Nashville SC on 19 August for the Leagues Cup final, Martino said: “It’s true that the team is changed, but it’s also true that the roster has changed. Today we have a much more competitive roster that creates problems for the coach when it comes time to choose the team.”
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How Messi and Co have helped
David Ruiz, who scored the final goal for Inter Miami in their victory over Philadelphia echoed this sentiment.
“It's changed a lot. Everybody has a winning mentality, and everybody's ready to play every tournament, win every game, and every final. They’re players that obviously just try and give advice,” he said.
“We're like, young and stuff, we try to run everywhere. That's something that they just told us: 'Oh, just maintain more your position, that the ball’s going to get to you. Stop running for the ball too much where you’re just trapping yourself' – things like that.”
Messi’s MLS debut is expected to come on 27 August against New York Red Bulls, with the Leagues Cup final and US Open Cup to come before then.
