Leagues Cup title would be ‘incredible’ for Inter Miami, says Lionel Messi

WASHINGTON – Lionel Messi has won just about every title and award in football but said on Thursday that bringing Inter Miami their first trophy would be “incredible” and “a beautiful thing”.

Languishing at the bottom of Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference standings, there had been nothing pretty about their season until the Argentinian superstar’s arrival in south Florida in July.

But now things could not look any brighter.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has been a terror from his first game, scoring nine goals in six matches and powering Miami into the Leagues Cup final on Saturday, when they will face Nashville SC.

“It would be incredible, wouldn’t it? Both for me and for everyone who supports the club,” Messi said through a translator.

“For everyone who’s brought the big changes to this club and has been helping it grow and make the team a global reference point, winning a title would really help with that.

“It would be really impressive. Coming off the bad results we’d had (winless in their last 10 league matches) and seeing where we sat in the league, we knew that we had a nice opportunity to change things.”

After two seasons with French champions Paris Saint-Germain and

leading Argentina to victory at the Qatar World Cup

last December, Messi has brought a winning culture to Inter Miami while putting the soccer spotlight on a club co-owned by former England captain and Manchester United great David Beckham.

But while the sudden turnaround stunned many, the 36-year-old said it was no surprise to him or the team. The Miami club, who appointed Argentinian Gerardo “Tata” Martino as coach in July and

signed Messi’s former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets,

have secured a Concacaf Champions League berth with their Leagues Cup run.

The top three finishers in the Leagues Cup earn a place in the Concacaf Champions League and the champions qualify automatically for the round of 16.

“I came here with the desire to get the same results I’d achieved previously in my sporting career,” explained Messi, whose trophy haul also includes 10 La Liga titles with Barcelona, Uefa Champions League and Copa America victories and an Olympic gold medal.

“But the fact that we’re now a few days away from playing in a final is only a surprise for the people who don’t see us train and don’t see what happens day to day.

“From our perspective, we feel that we’re prepared for this. We feel ready to compete and win this title.” REUTERS