After missing the Argentina squad’s last matches because of an injury, Lionel Messi scored within two minutes of getting back on the pitch on Sunday.

The Qatar 2022 winner sat out the men’s national football team 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil due to a muscle injury. But on Sunday, he was subbed on to the pitch in the 55th minute of the Herons’ clash against Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union. It took Messi less than two minutes to leave his mark.

Receiving the ball from friend and teammate Luis Suárez, the Argentine star feigned a shot with his left foot, then cut to the outside and put a low shot with his right to the goalkeeper’s far post for the 2-0.

That goal proved key. Philadelphia clawed one back late in the game, meaning Messi’s goal was the game-winner, and all that Inter needed to climb to the top of the Eastern Conference table. The Herons, coached by Argentina’s Javier Mascherano, are unbeaten in five games played in the league, with 13 points.

Messi hangs with Novak Djokovic

Off the pitch, Messi also found time to watch some elite tennis at the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami. On Saturday, he caught one of the semifinals between former world number one Novak Djokovic and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov at the Hard Rock Stadium.

After the game, he visited the dressing rooms with his family to chat to Djokovic, alongside Argentine former world number five Juan Martín del Potro.

“I was rated by one of his sons today as 8 out of 10, which is pretty good,” Djokovic said of the encounter in the press conference after the game. “He told me I have to make 10 out of 10 in the next match. So I have quite a bit of pressure from Messi’s son there.”

It looks like it wasn’t enough motivation for the Serbian, who lost the final 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) to Czechia’s Jakub Menšík on Sunday.