Fernando Romero Nuñez Argentine football star Lionel Messi is still going strong. At 37, on Wednesday he marked his 21st consecutive season as a professional football player in which he has scored at least once by netting Inter Miami’s only goal in its win over Sporting Kansas City.
The cold temperatures were the main star of the game, however, as the two United States-based teams played for a spot in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup. It reached around -15°C at Kansas’ Children’s Mercy Park, only marginally better than the night before, when the game was originally supposed to be played.
This prompted a slow-paced game with few action moves. Fans in the stands had to wait until the 55th minute in the second half to get their ticket’s worth. The play was a rehash of an old FC Barcelona formula, as Spain’s Sergio Busquets found Messi inside the box with a pin-point long pass. The Argentine star controlled it with his chest, opened space for himself with a single touch of his left foot, then slotted it on the bottom right corner with his right foot.
The Herons, led by former Argentina U-20 men’s national team coach Javier Mascherano, had six other Argentines on the pitch, including goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, former Boca defender Marcelo Weigandt, and U-20 star Federico Redondo.
“I’m very proud of my players, because I think it’s impossible to play in these conditions,” said Mascherano after the game, calling the situation “inhumane.”
The former Argentina, Liverpool, and Barcelona player went on to add he had never experienced a situation like that and that both players and coaches were getting numb hands and feet ahead of the game.
“It’s very hard to play when, just five minutes in, you can’t feel your feet.”
The second leg of the series is set to be played next Tuesday at Miami’s Chase Stadium, with the winner meeting Jamaica’s Cavalier in the round of 16. Inter Miami will also make its MLS home debut against New York FC on Saturday, at 9:30 p.m. Argentine time.
