Miami Freedom Park<\/a> opens next spring, at a cost of $350 million, as part of a $1 billion mixed-use development next to Miami International Airport.<\/p>\nAdvertisement<\/p>\n
As gametime approached, the sights and sounds of a championship match took hold.<\/p>\n
The match featured two of the three highest-scoring teams in MLS\u2019 regular season, with Miami\u2019s 81 goals in 34 matches leading the way. But it also featured a Vancouver defense that conceded just 38 goals, behind only Philadelphia\u2019s 35 for stingiest in the league.<\/p>\n
The sides did not meet in the regular season \u2014 MLS teams have only six interconference games \u2014 but did collide in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals in April. The Whitecaps breezed to the final on a 5-1 two-game aggregate score.<\/p>\n
Miami, though, roared through the playoffs, the only hiccup coming against Nashville in Game 2 of the first round. It scored 16 goals in the previous four victories, including 12 in three home dates.<\/p>\n
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On Saturday, it started very well with an eighth-minute goal involving four Argentines. Messi split two challengers and pushed the ball ahead to De Paul for a one-time flick to Allende rushing onside into the open.<\/p>\n
![\"FORT](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/d6ed3f80-d2ed-11f0-bdf7-afe8e784d23b.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are MLS Cup champions at last.<\/p>\n
(Rich Storry via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
As Allende penetrated the penalty area, unmarked Mateo Silvetti dashed into the box for what would have been a tap-in of Allende\u2019s cross. It never got there, however, caroming off the leg of backtracking defender Edier Ocampo and past goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka \u2014 the first MLS Cup own goal in 15 years.<\/p>\n
The Whitecaps, however, were the better team the last 20 minutes of the half, tightening their defensive efforts and generating three quality chances.<\/p>\n
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Sebastian Berhalter \u2014 a set-piece specialist for his club and the U.S. national team \u2014 served a free kick from shadow into sunlight, connecting with Brian White for a 7-yard header into Rocco Rios Novo\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
Moments later, Rios Novo blocked Emmanuel Sabbi\u2019s leaping, point-blank bid, set up by German star Thomas M\u00fcller, and M\u00fcller\u2019s header forced a high save by the California-born Argentine goalkeeper.<\/p>\n
The Whitecaps were unhappy with the deficit but clearly optimistic about the second half.<\/p>\n
Indeed, they kept the momentum after intermission and put Miami\u2019s unsound defense under duress. With the most recent U.S. national team coaches in attendance \u2014 his father, Gregg, and current boss, Mauricio Pochettino \u2014 Berhalter squandered a golden chance by sailing a 25-yard free kick into the south-end stands.<\/p>\n
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Miami alleviated trouble briefly, and with Takaoka out of position after punching away the ball, Messi\u2019s header floated narrowly wide.<\/p>\n
Vancouver\u2019s possession and pressure paid off in the 60th minute. With his back to the goal at the top of the box, White expertly laid off Sabbi\u2019s pass to Ali Ahmed free on the left side for a 16-yard shot that came off Rios Novo\u2019s hands and kissed the inside of the near post before tumbling into the net.<\/p>\n
Two minutes later, the Whitecaps came agonizingly close to seizing the lead. Sabbi\u2019s 17-yard strike hit the right post, skipped along the goal line and nicked the left upright. Sabbi then pounced on a Miami deflection and put another bid off the left post.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe were very lucky the ball touched the two posts,\u201d Mascherano said. \u201cIt\u2019s the luck you need to be champions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen rued the missed opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the game at 1-1 where we wanted it, and we just actually waited for the 2-1 goal,\u201d he said, \u201cthen we made a mistake, and the ball dropped for Messi.\u201d<\/p>\n
With everything seemingly going the Whitecaps\u2019 way, Andres Cubas gave away the ball in his own end to Messi. Instincts told De Paul to make a run. Messi\u2019s perfectly weighted ball met the midfielder in stride for a 10-yard shot into the far corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took control of the game and we had control of the game,\u201d Sorensen said.<\/p>\n
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After the goal celebration, the fans serenaded their hero, chanting, \u201cMessi! Messi!\u201d<\/p>\n
Down the stretch, the Whitecaps\u2019 desperation yielded few threats for the equalizer. Messi then helped put the result out of reach by passing the ball ahead to Allende for the breakaway clincher.<\/p>\n
Moments later, Messi became an MLS Cup champion for the first time \u2014 the 46th trophy of an immaculate career that, even as he approaches 40, doesn\u2019t seem ready to end anytime soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 Since his celebrated arrival in South Florida two-and-a-half years ago, Lionel Messi has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[42292,40790,40268,10895,10073,15259,1659,1660,8003,26607,123,125,1063,124,5692,27823,40791,15256,26606,8006,40788],"class_list":["post-74365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-brian-white","tag-edier-ocampo","tag-emmanuel-sabbi","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-inter-miami","tag-javier-mascherano","tag-jordi-alba","tag-lionel-messi","tag-major-league-soccer","tag-mateo-silvetti","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-international-airport","tag-miami-news","tag-mls","tag-rodrigo-de-paul","tag-sebastian-berhalter","tag-sergio-busquets","tag-tadeo-allende","tag-vancouver-whitecaps","tag-yohei-takaoka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}