Lionel Messi’s mesmerizing goal streak in the new continent of soccer has come to a halt.
Messi failed to create an attack point for the first time since advancing to the United States.
American Inter Miami striker Messi started and played the full 90 minutes in the 2023 American Major League Soccer (MLS) home game against Nashville held at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale
Florida on the 31st, but left-footed free kicks were missed twice by the opponent.
After struggling and getting blocked, he left the field without any attack points.
This is the first time that Messi has failed to record a goal or assist since joining Miami last month.
Messi has scored 11 goals and 3 assists in a total of 9 games in the North and Central American League Cup, US Open Cup, and MLS, the regular league. 고스톱
Attack points were recorded in all 9 games.
However, in his 10th match he was sent away empty-handed.
With the draw on this day, Miami recorded 6 wins, 4 draws, and 14 losses (22 points) in 24 games, maintaining 14th place out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference.
Nashville is in 7th place with 39 points.
Since Miami has played 2-3 games less than other teams, it is expected that it will be possible to enter the middle rankings depending on how the remaining 12 games are played.
Miami used a 4-3-3 formation that day
. With goalkeeper Drake Callender guarding the goal, Jordi Alba, Kamal Miller, Thomas Aviles, and Leandre Yedlin formed the back four.
Dixon Arroyo, Sergio Busquets, and Diego Gomes formed the midfield, while Robert Taylor, Josep Martinez, and Messi formed the front three.
This is Messi’s 10th game since joining Miami last month. However, this is his first time playing as a starter in a regular MLS game.
He played in 7 League Cup games and led the team to its first win since its founding, and played in the semifinals of the US Open Cup and played a major role in reaching the final.
He made his MLS debut in an away game against the New York Red Bulls on the 27th and scored his debut goal, but came on as a substitute in the 15th minute of the second half.
Nashville, seeking revenge for their penalty shootout loss in the League Cup final, used a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Elliott Panico was the gatekeeper, and Daniel Lovitz, Jack Maher, Lucas McNaughton, and Shaquel Moore made up the back four.
Dax McCarty and Brian Anunga formed the double volante.
Alex Muil, Randall Leal, and Fabrice Pico were in the second line.
Deal Bunbury took the lead.
Before the game on this day, Miami’s current captain Messi and former captain Yedlin held up the League Cup championship trophy and spent time celebrating with the home fans.
The spectators who filled the 25,000-capacity stadium felt the ‘Messi effect’ and were delighted to see the first trophy.
Messi, who wore the captain’s armband and number 10 on this day
struggled with the opponent’s double check in the early stages
but gradually developed an attack from the right side free kick in the 14th minute of the first half.
In the 19th minute of the first half
he fired a threatening 30m long kick from far left of the arc, but it did not reach the feet of Busquets
who had a lot of fun in Barcelona, so he was unable to get help.
When his opponent, center back Ma He, got into a fight by pulling on his clothes, tapping and pinching him
Messi showed his will not to be tolerated by violently shaking him off with his left arm and protesting to the referee.
It was also an expression of Nashville’s determination not to be defeated twice after being defeated once by Messi’s one-man show in the League Cup finals.
In the 25th minute of the first half, he suffered hardships, including being hit on the head by the right hand of McNaughton, another central defender of Nashville, while penetrating the left side of the penalty area.
Messi made the crowd gasp with a fantastic penetration pass in the 27th minute of the first half.
He quickly made a penetrating pass that destroyed three opposing players near the halfway line and delivered the ball to the feet of Taylor, who was digging into the left side of the penalty area.
Taylor’s ball control was poor and he was blocked by an opposing player, so he did not score a goal, but it was a warning to the opposing team that he could create and release attacks from the back as much as he wanted.
In the 33rd minute of the first half, I got annoyed with my teammate.
Taylor, who received Messi’s pass in front of the arc, trapped him twice and then fired a left-footed shot over the crossbar, expressing his strong regret, saying that Messi did not give him a return pass.
But Messi’s heart did not break.
In the 44th minute of the first half, near the halfway line, he knocked down five opposing players and delivered another amazing pass to Taylor.
After trapping in the air, Taylor connected with a left-footed shot, which hit the opponent’s foot and missed the goal.
Messi bowed his head again this time.
The class of MLS strikers was clearly different from that of Barcelona or PSG, where he played previously.
The first half was over, with the mid-ranking team playing defense for 45 minutes against the second-last team.
When the score ended 0-0, Messi’s expression hardened and Alba kicked the grass hard to show strong dissatisfaction.
Miami had 74% ball possession in the first half, but had three shots and no effective shots.
Instead, Nashville recorded one effective shot and threatened the home team with a counterattack.
In the second half, Miami’s offensive centered on Messi was further strengthened.
In the 16th minute of the second half, Messi thrilled the home crowd by receiving a foul from McCarty in the right outside of the penalty area, the so-called ‘Messi zone’, but his left-footed free kick went directly in front of Panico, ending in vain.
In the 21st minute of the second half, the two teams exchanged threatening shots that were blocked by the opposing goalkeeper.
In the 24th minute of the second half, Nashville’s substitute striker Hani Mukhtar received a pass from Pico and crashed into the home team’s net, and Miami was heartbroken when Pico was found to have caught the ball in an offside position.
In the 40th minute of the second half
Messi was fouled by an opponent and kicked a free kick directly from a bit far to the right of the penalty area
but this time it hit the opponent’s defender’s head and flew high, and the score was nullified.
Afterwards, Miami almost gave away a penalty kick due to a handball foul
but after video review (VAR), it was concluded that it was not a foul and the score remained 0-0.
The two teams failed to score in extra time in the second half and ended up sharing one point each with no goals scored.
Just before the end, Messi passed three people to the right of the opponent’s penalty area and fired a right-footed shot, but it was blocked by the opponent’s goalkeeper.
After the final whistle sounded, Messi stood alone on the ground and looked at the ground for a long time, as if he could not get over his anger.
Miami, where Messi plays, will play an away game against LA FC, which features Central and South American national teams such as Carlos Vela (Mexico) and Christian Olivera (Uruguay), at 11 a.m. on September 4.
Messi, who signed a contract with Miami on the 16th of last month for an estimated annual salary of approximately 100 billion won
scored the final shot to secure a 2-1 victory in extra time in the second half in the first League Cup match against Mexican club Cruz Azul on July 21st, five days later.
The American continent was plunged into a fever of ‘shock’.
He then scored multiple goals against Atlanta United on the 26th, leading to a 4-0 win, and scored multiple goals in consecutive games against Orlando City on August 3, taking the lead in the Miami League Cup round of 16.
Messi also scored two goals in the round of 16 against FC Dallas on the 7th, and the game ended 4-4, and Miami won the penalty shootout and advanced to the quarterfinals.
As the tournament progressed, Messi’s power shone. Messi, who scored a goal in the 41st minute of the second half of the quarterfinals against Charlotte FC to lead the team to a 4-0 victory
making it five consecutive goals since advancing to the U.S., also scored a goal in the semifinals against Philadelphia Union and contributed to a 4-1 victory.
Then, in the final against Nashville, he scored the first goal in the 23rd minute of the first half.
Miami won the penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw and won its first championship since the team was founded in 2018.
Messi moved the stage to the US Open Cup
which is similar to the FA Cup of the United States Soccer Federation, and in a fierce match against MLS leader Cincinnati on the 24th, he led the team to a 3-3 draw with two assists that seemed to have been captured by GPS.
In the end, Miami won again in the penalty shootout and advanced to the finals.
And Messi debuted in his home country, MLS.
On the 27th, he came on as a substitute against the New York Red Bulls and scored his debut goal
continuing the Messi craze in the regular league.
The offensive point streak was halted in the game against Nashville on the 31st, but I was wondering if it could be continued again in the game against LA FC.