20 August 2023 , 09:58
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Nashville head coach Gary Smith hailed the impact of Lionel Messi during his side's Leagues Cup final defeat to Inter Miami on Sunday.
Miami's Messi revolution continued at GEODIS Park, as the Argentine helped his side get their hands on the silverware. Messi opened the scoring in trademark fashion, curling in a left-footed effort from 20 yards to give his side a 1-0 lead at the break.
Nashville soon hit back though, as Fafa Picault netted an equaliser just before the break to get his side back into the game. After 90 minutes the two sides were unable to be separated, with a penalty shootout needed to decide who would come away with the crown.
It was Messi who kicked off the shootout, finding the net from 12 yards before Hany Mukhtar converted his spot kick to level things up. The first miss came courtesy of Randall Leal, as Drake Callender saved his effort after Sergio Busquets had netted his attempt to give Messi and co the upper hand.
After both sides scored their next two penalties, Nashville then got themselves back level after Victor Ulloa failed to convert to leave the score at 4-4. The two teams then exchanged six penalties each, before Elliot Panicco sealed Nashville's fate by missing from the spot.
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The victory capped off a whirlwind few weeks for the Inter setup, with the brilliance of Messi turning round their fortunes. The World Cup winner has scored 10 goals in his first seven outings in a Miami shirt, and received the plaudits of his rival manager following Sunday's win.
Lionel Messi proved to be the man of the moment once more (2023 Getty Images)Nashville boss Smith said: "This is the first time that I've seen [Messi] play live. And I think what I would take away is that there are moments in the game that he's just unplayable. It's not over a prolonged period. It's not for 90 minutes.
"There are windows, where he just comes to life and it's almost impossible to deal with what he's wanting to do." Despite the high praise, Smith felt it was his team who deserved to come away with silverware, with Messi proving to be the difference.
"To be perfectly honest, if it wasn’t for the man of the moment [Messi] in their group, we would have won tonight," he told Apple TV. "The goal that he scored is just incredible, out of nothing, and with his only other shot on goal he hits the post.”