{"id":23721,"date":"2025-07-20T12:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T12:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/23721\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T12:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T12:15:09","slug":"inter-miami-marvel-at-more-messi-magic-he-transcends-our-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/23721\/","title":{"rendered":"Inter Miami marvel at more Messi magic: \u201cHe transcends our sport\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Javier Mascherano may be running out of superlatives to describe Leo Messi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As an old friend and longtime teammate at FC Barcelona and Argentina\u2019s national team, Inter Miami<\/a>\u2019s head coach has had an up-close view on many of the GOAT’s dazzling moments, the latest of which arrived at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night, where his two goals and two assists powered the Herons\u2019 5-1 demolition<\/a> of the New York Red Bulls<\/a> in front of a largely appreciative crowd dotted with pink Messi jerseys.<\/p>\n

“He transcends soccer,\u201d Mascherano said in Spanish of Messi after the maestro\u2019s latest brace, incredibly, his sixth in Miami\u2019s last seven league matches. \u201cIn the end, any fan of sports \u2013 of sports, not just of soccer \u2013 feels admiration for this class of athlete; Leo Messi, Michael Jordan in his time, Rafa Nadal \u2013 people who have transcended their sport.<\/p>\n

“We are very privileged, those of us who get to work alongside him, to live all of this too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Unstoppable form<\/p>\n

It\u2019s felt that way most of the summer, as Messi keeps reeling off one jaw-dropping play after another to help his Herons return to MLS play with a bang after he paced them to a historic Round-of-16 run at the Club World Cup<\/a>. Unfortunately for them, the Red Bulls, who actually scored first this time, have seen his greatness all too well: The 2022 World Cup winner has now bagged 5g\/7a in four meetings with RBNY.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s gorgeous double \u2013 the first made possible by a raking through ball from his friend Sergio Busquets<\/a>, the second assisted by pal Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a>, with their mate Jordi Alba<\/a> involved in both buildups \u2013 sees the icon surge into a tie with Nashville<\/a>\u2019s Sam Surridge<\/a> atop the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race with 18 goals.<\/p>\n

When Mascherano was asked about the big turnout Messi inspired in Harrison, New Jersey, just as he has all over the world, his response spoke volumes about the enduring excellence of the playmaker who turned 38 a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

“It’s not a surprise, because I’ve worked with him,\u201d said Masch. \u201cI’ve been with him for eight years in Barcelona, more than 15 in the national team as a fellow player, and in the places where he hasn’t been gone continuously, people go nuts. The truth is, it\u2019s not only in the stadium \u2013 I’ve had this happen at hotels, airports, the whole thing.<\/p>\n

“I believe that the admiration is total, and not just because of the kind of player that he is, but because he is an example of an athlete who transcends our sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Weary but winning<\/p>\n

Before this game, Mascherano lamented the toll IMCF\u2019s draining schedule has taken on their sharpness, which revealed itself painfully in Wednesday\u2019s 3-0 beating<\/a> at the hands of fellow contenders FC Cincinnati<\/a>. Yet they\u2019ve now aced an arduous stretch of five games in 15 days, four of them on the road, to the tune of 12 points out of a possible 15 (4W-1L-0D).<\/p>\n

The Herons are now just a step behind frontrunners Cincy, Philadelphia<\/a> and Nashville in the Supporters\u2019 Shield race based on points per game, and still have games in hand on all of them thanks to their CWC exploits.<\/p>\n

If this is a tired, worn Miami, it\u2019s daunting to ponder what IMCF might look like after a bit of rest, let alone the reinforcement they\u2019re reportedly pursuing in the summer transfer window, Atl\u00e9tico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo De Paul.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last two, three weeks, we have five matches, four outside of our stadium,\u201d said Mascherano, who said \u201cthere’s nothing official\u201d regarding De Paul, preferring to speak about players already on his roster. \u201cIt was a complex stage for us, because of the flights or the trips that we had and all of that, and little rest between games. Of course, the match against Cincinnati was a reflection of the fatigue of the team, and beyond that, Cincinnati just won. They overcame us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re getting a long week now, a week that we’re going to take advantage of, especially to get some rest for the people who are the most tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Revenge in store?<\/p>\n

IMCF have a full week to prepare for their return fixture vs. Cincy (7:15 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>, FS1, FOX Deportes) \u2013 revenge seems likely to be a priority \u2013 before they kick off their Leagues Cup<\/a> slate vs. Atlas on July 30. That tournament, which the Herons won at the dawn of their Messi era in 2023, will be a priority. But then again, so is every trophy they have a chance to compete for, as both Mascherano and youngster Telasco Segovia<\/a> noted on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, because we have the best in the world, the best of all time \u2013 Lionel Messi, and we’re ready to fight for and win everything,\u201d Segovia, who also scored twice, told MLS Season Pass\u2019 Michele Giannone in Spanish when asked if there’s pressure on La Rosanegra to win every time out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s soccer,\u201d the Venezuelan said of his club\u2019s busy calendar. \u201cThere are no excuses. We\u2019ll recover well, now we have a week off until the next game, and we’re good, and we showed it today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Javier Mascherano may be running out of superlatives to describe Leo Messi. As an old friend and longtime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[6866,6865,6864,21219,21220,6868,99],"class_list":["post-23721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-inter-miami-cf","tag-lionel-messi","tag-match-reaction","tag-national-writer-charles-boehm","tag-rbnyvsmia-07-19-2025","tag-sendtonews","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}