Argentine star Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal in the Inter Miami shirt and led the team to a 2-0 win over visiting Cruz Azul in the Champions Cup on Wednesday, in the annual matchup between the champions of the American and Mexican football leagues.
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Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a header, raising his goal tally to 100 goals in 115 matches across all competitions since joining Inter Miami in 2023 from France's Paris Saint-Germain, before setting up a decisive assist from a corner kick for new Brazilian signing Casemiro, who converted it with a header of his own into the net (81').
Messi, 39, claimed his first title of the year, two months after his national team lost 1-0 after extra time to Spain in the North American World Cup final.
Casemiro, the Real Madrid midfielder and former Manchester United player, praised his teammate Messi, saying: "We need to enjoy him because we don't know how much longer he'll keep going" on the pitch.
He added: "What he's given, and continues to give, to football is unbelievable... he remains the best. He proved it at the World Cup, and he keeps proving it in Major League Soccer."
For his part, former England international David Beckham, co-founding partner of Inter Miami, said Messi deserves to win the Ballon d'Or for a ninth time in his career, extending his record, after entering the race this year thanks to his standout performance at the World Cup, where he scored 8 goals.
He added: "When you see him producing achievements like this tonight, when you see how he played at the World Cup... there is no 39-year-old player performing at this level."
Messi had announced his international retirement at the end of August and will play his final match with the "Albiceleste" on October 6 in the capital, Buenos Aires.
Visiting Cruz Azul got their first real chance when Canadian goalkeeper Drake Callender saved Argentine José Paradela's shot off the near post.
Messi broke the deadlock following a pass from Uruguayan Luis Suárez, his former Barcelona teammate, with the "Little Flea" rising above Colombian defender Wílder Cartagena to head the ball into the net (24').
Suárez then passed to Mexican Germán Berterame, whose diving shot was cleared off the goal line by the goalkeeper (32').
At the start of the second half, Messi broke through one-on-one after a through ball from Suárez, firing a shot that struck the post and went in, but the referee disallowed the goal for offside.
Cruz Azul nearly equalized, but Uruguayan substitute Gabriel Fernández's header rebounded off the post (67').
Messi then delivered a precise corner kick into the box, which Casemiro headed low into the far corner 9 minutes before the end of regulation time.
Callender saved his goal from a late Cruz Azul consolation, brilliantly stopping a free kick taken by Paradela.
Inter Miami's title triumph, the first of its kind in the club's history, came in the opening matches of new Argentine coach Cristian "Kily" González, who was appointed last month, but due to a delayed visa only began his technical duties this week.
This was the eighth edition of the Champions Cup, always hosted by American teams, with Mexican clubs having won the last three editions before Miami's victory.
Cruz Azul, the giant of Mexican football, remains unable to win the Champions Cup, having also lost the 2021 final.
