International Sports
Messi returns to Inter Miami after Argentina retirement
The Argentine superstar marked his return by creating both of Miami’s goals, underlining his continued importance to the club after revealing his decision to step away from the Argentina national team.
Lionel Messi returned to Inter Miami action on Saturday following his announcement that he is retiring from international football, helping the Major League Soccer champions to a 2-2 draw with Atlanta United.
The Argentine superstar marked his return by creating both of Miami’s goals, underlining his continued importance to the club just days after revealing his decision to step away from the Argentina national team.
The match was delayed by 90 minutes because of thunderstorms and lightning, but Messi provided plenty of fireworks once play finally got underway.
Miami opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when Brazilian midfielder Casemiro rose to head home Messi’s corner.
Atlanta hit back just three minutes later, with former Newcastle forward Miguel Almirón firing a low shot beyond the Miami defence.
Messi was again at the centre of the action just before half-time. He started a move down the left that eventually allowed former Liverpool and Barcelona striker Luis Suárez to calmly finish and restore Miami’s lead.
But Atlanta refused to surrender, with Swiss striker Breel Embolo converting an 87th-minute penalty to earn the visitors a point.
For Messi, the match represented his first appearance since announcing his international retirement and offered an early glimpse of the next chapter of his career, with his focus now firmly on Inter Miami.
The result came during a busy night of MLS action.
Toronto and Chicago played out a remarkable 4-4 draw, while Philadelphia defeated Montreal 2-0, with 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan scoring his fourth goal of the season.
Sullivan now has 11 goal contributions this season, surpassing Freddy Adu’s previous record of 10 for a 16-year-old.
In Orlando, Antoine Griezmann scored in the 28th minute to give the hosts a 1-0 victory over San Diego, while Austin rescued a 1-1 draw against San Jose through Guilherme Biro’s seventh-minute stoppage-time equaliser.