Lionel Messi marked his MLS return by sending his opponent for a hot dog

Lionel Messi marked his return from injury with two goals and an assist for Inter Miami in another demonstration of his footballing prowess.

Messi had not played since injuring his ankle in Argentina’s Copa America final victory over Colombia in July, when the great man departed the pitch in tears at his misfortune.

That saw him miss this month’s World Cup qualifiers, while he has also sat out eight games for his MLS side – though they’ve coped sufficiently in his absence to lead the Eastern Conference standings.

But the 37-year-old former Barcelona star played the full 90 minutes against Philadelphia Union in his first start for three months and typically ran the show in front of a delighted crowd.

Philadelphia had the audacity to take the lead after 58 seconds through Mikael Uhre, almost in the manner of a Victorian pickpocket swiping a bread roll from the royal household.

But Miami equalised in the 26th minute, bring order and stability back to our chaotic world. Messi beat a defender for bloodsport before lashing home after collecting a pass from Luis Suarez in a move which also involved another former Barcelona star, Jordi Alba.

The Argentina international then fired his team ahead four minutes later after being teed up by Alba to make a mockery of any semblance of competition between the two sides, notwithstanding the trundling nature of the finish and suspect goalkeeping.

After a leisurely second half, with both teams moving with the studied slowness of a rambler walking off the effects of a heavy lunch, Messi set up Suarez for Miami’s third deep in second-half injury time.

But it was the first goal that caught our attention; the interchange, the fleet of mind and muscle creating a cacophony of movement, the inevitability that the ball was ending up in the net that you half expect to find the time and date of the goal engraved upon it.

And that’s without mentioning the turn from Messi that treated an opponent like an old pair of jeans and sent him outside of the stadium for an early hot dog.

It’s moments of such accessible sporting prowess that Messi was brought to America for.

LIKE HE NEVER LEFT.

Leo Messi finds the equalizer for @InterMiamiCF in style. pic.twitter.com/sC08aAVGWI

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 15, 2024

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After the match Messi, who now has 14 goals in 13 games this season, acknowledged he was “a little tired”.

“I really wanted to come back, I had been off of the field for a long time,” he added.

“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.”

New team-mate Oscar Ustari, who won Olympic Gold alongside Messi in 2008, said: “What I value most is how he always leads with the right foot forward, he’s never forgotten his roots.

“In the case with me, he has always been the same, so it makes me very happy that he hasn’t changed and with time he hasn’t developed that stubbornness.

“He has achieved everything there is to achieve and he’s earned it by working hard. I am in a stage of enjoyment with Leo and I am happy to be here and to see him also enjoying it.”

With Inter Miami flying high, and no talk of retirement from Messi’s camp, we should be treated to plenty more moments of individual skill and class from the greatest player of his generation.

By Michael Lee