Inter Miami shootout sends Messi through to US Open Cup final

Inter Miami shootout sends Messi through to US Open Cup final

It seemed like fatigue or opponents were beginning to detect and avoid tricks, and the magic of Inter Miami was gone, though thousands of fans hoped it was only temporary.

But Lionel Messi recently found a way to take the game into extra time by making two passes to Leonardo Campana to make it 2-2 and then winning on penalties for the second time.

Josef Martinez scored the winning goal in overtime, but Cincinnati scored a late equalizer against Yuya Kubo.

So Lionel Messi has remained undefeated since arriving in the US, and even better for his thousands of fans. He realized that even in the worst days of his football career, all he needed was a spark to give his team a chance to win.

Miami has continued their second title ambition since Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba joined the team in the least spectacular and dominant game for a third team looking visibly tired, like his teammates, after eight games in 32 games. before dawn.

Luciano Acosta opened the scoring at TQL Stadium in downtown Cincinnati in the 18th minute, and Brandon Vazquez appeared to be ready to record the score at 53, much to the delight of most of the 25,513 fans who paid for a ticket to the US semi-finals. Open cup.

Miami plays in the final of the US Open Cup, the oldest US-sanctioned tournament. Football, 108 years old. On September 27, he will face the winner of the match between Real Salt Lake City and Houston Dynamo.

The League Cup they won last Saturday and the marathon of matches in an extremely hot and humid climate seemed to have taken their toll, despite the fact that manager Gerardo "Tata" Martino made four changes to the original formation from the one with which he played in Nashville: Leonardo Campana, Diego Gomez, Tomas Aviles, Jean Mota.

Busquets showed fatigue from the start, with Alba slowly starting to flank to inflict the damage he had done during the League Cup.

Aviles and Mota looked out of step with their teammates, which is quite normal considering this was the first match they were active in since signing.

Gomez, as with his ability in the League Cup, was very nervous, inaccurate and had no idea on the field how to attack and defend.

Be that as it may, in the first half, Inter Miami had almost 70 percent possession of the ball, and Cincinnati waited to fall behind after the goal.

In the second half, Miami seemed to completely fall apart after Vasquez's goal, until Messi passed the ball to Campana, who shot right in front of the net.

From that moment on, it seemed that Inter were gaining ground, but the locals again had chances to finish off Inter in a counterattack.

In the 74th minute, referee Joseph Dickerson single-handedly overturned a goal that appeared to deprive Cincinnati of a ticket to the final.

Inter Miami began to improve after Martino's five substitutions in the second half, including the addition of Robert Taylor (Miller), Josef Martinez (Gomez), David Ruiz (Mota), Facudo Farias (Yedlin) and Noah Allen (Aviles).

Until Messi again served the ball in the 94th minute to Campana, who sent the game into extra time, where Martinez quickly sent the home team on their way.

Miami will visit the New York Red Bulls on Saturday and it will be Messi's first game in the MLS regular season.