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On Saturday, September 14, Lionel Messi made his big return to football in the Major League Soccer (MLS), scoring two goals in four minutes to help Inter Miami defeat Philadelphia Union 3-1 at the Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The 37-year-old, who played for the full 90 minutes on his comeback, also provided an assist to Luis Suarez, whose goal came in the second half added time for Inter Miami to put the contest beyond Philadelphia Union.
After a two-month absence from competitive football due to an ankle injury suffered in the final of the Copa America 2024, a trophy which Argentina won 1-0 against Uruguay, Lionel Messi didn’t take much time to get going in the MLS clash on his return. He scored his first goal in the 36th minute, picking the corner after an impressive pass from Luis Suarez in the build-up before Jordi Alba assisted for Lionel Messi’s second goal just four minutes later.
Lionel Messi felt tired after playing full 90 minutes on his return to football
The third goal for Inter Miami came in the 90+8th minute when Lionel Messi picked out a perfect pass for Luis Suarez to slot it home. Earlier, in the second minute of the contest, Philadelphia Union had found themselves in the lead after Mikael Urhe scored after dancing past an Inter Miami defender before getting the better of their goalkeeper.
Watch the video of Lionel Messi scoring two goals four minutes apart:
In the post-match chat, Lionel Messi spoke about feeling tired after playing the full 90 minutes in the sultry weather of Miami. He was quoted as saying by Eurosport, “The truth is that I'm a little tired. The heat and humidity in Miami don't help much either, but I really wanted to come back, I had been off the field for a long time. Little by little I was training with the group, feeling good and that's why we decided that I would start, and I'm very happy - very happy.”
For Lionel Messi, there will be a bit of rest before he travels on the road to play for Inter Miami against Atlanta United this Wednesday, and then, New York City FC will be their opponents in the Big Apple on September 21.
