When the 2024 Major League Soccer schedule was released, there was one date that stood out for soccer fans across America’s heartland: April 13. That was when Sporting KC was to host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
Messi playing in Kansas City was something unimaginable several years ago when he was setting record after record in Europe. A player of Messi’s magnitude would only play Stateside at iconic destinations in massive stadiums, almost exclusively in exhibitions for his club or for his home nation of Argentina. Kansas City was far from any of those iconic destinations.
Six months after Messi won his first World Cup and ‘completed the game’ by winning every significant trophy possible, the Argentine signed with Inter Miami. For comparison, Miami was in the middle of its fourth season of competition and is an infant club compared to the historic clubs that have dominated Messi’s life such as Newell’s Old Boys (est. 1903) and FC Barcelona (est. 1899). The attraction of life on South Beach and an MLS club co-owned by retired soccer superstar David Beckham was enough to entice Messi to make the luxurious move.
Messi, who joined Miami midway through the 2023 season, proved that he could still play at an extremely high level in 2023. With that point proven and the match in Kansas City gaining so much interest, MLS had some big plans for his visit to ‘flyover country’ that locals call the Soccer Capital of America.
The 18,500-seat home of Sporting KC, Children’s Mercy Park, would be set aside for Messi’s visit in favor of the 70,000-plus seat GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. This setting alteration transformed the view of this game. Instead of a more intimate and Sporting-centric environment, it became a more festive environment built more for fans of the game as tens of thousands more had the ability to attend such a highly-anticipated match.
The Nightmare Scenario
Just as everything was setting in place, the nightmare scenario happened: Messi got injured. The 36-year-old that was going to draw fans from across the entire region was now racing against the clock to recover from a hamstring injury. Even if he made a recovery in time, Miami was set to play a Champions Cup match just three days prior in Monterrey, Mexico.
Messi eventually returned from injury on April 6 after missing nearly a month, but his availability for the match at Arrowhead was still in question with the game three days prior in Mexico. Still fresh from injury, Messi played all 90 minutes against Monterrey and was surely not going to start again on such short rest.
Messi meets Missouri
April 13 had finally arrived and there was some confidence that Messi would at least make an appearance in the match, most likely coming on as a substitute in the second half. Fans filed into the match wearing Sporting KC merchandise of past and present while others wore various Messi jerseys.
Players from both sides took in the pitchside sights and sounds, but it was the Miami players in awe of a star in the building. That star was Sporting KC co-owner Patrick Mahomes II. Miami stars put a pause to their pregame routine to pose alongside the Chiefs quarterback; it’s not everyday you get to meet a three-time Super Bowl champion and two-time NFL MVP.
As kickoff slowly approached, it was with a certain amount of shock that Messi was named to Miami’s starting lineup. Both teams soon appeared for warmups, Miami coming out well after Sporting as the visitors shortened their warmup, something that you might expect of a team battling injuries and shortened rest. Messi’s humble presence sent waves around the stadium.
After the quick warmup, Messi and Miami headed back to the locker room. On his way back to the locker room, Messi was suddenly stopped to meet Mahomes. It was the meeting between two of the most iconic athletes in the world.
As the game got underway, the attention surrounding Messi soon transferred over to Sporting KC and Erik Thommy. The German took a touch and then directed his shot inside the far post in the 6th minute. It signified a dream start for SKC as they rallied the home support behind them.
In typical Messi fashion, he popped up in a big moment 18 minutes into the contest. After picking up the ball in midfield, he split Sporting’s high defensive line to find Diego Gomez breezing right past them as Gomez applied a one-touch finish to tie the game at 1-1.
The 1-1 scoreline would hold into halftime and until Messi popped up again in the 51st minute. He received the ball outside of the box, had space to set himself and let a left-footed shot rip into the top shelf past the outstretched arms of Tim Melia. It was as if everyone new what was going to happen, but the crowd still roared in awe of seeing one of the game’s all-time greats score in such great fashion.
Now trailing 2-1, Sporting found the equalizer in the 58th minute. The corner kick sent into the box was headed high into the air, but Thommy arrived to smash a volley in off the post.
Sporting worked they back into a deficit in the 71st minute. They got caught with it and paid the price as Gomez stole the ball in Sporting’s defensive-third and found Luis Suarez wide open for an easy tap-in at the back post to put Miami up 3-2.
Messi stayed on for all 90 minutes, dealing with numerous field intruders as Miami came out with the 3-2 victory.
The occasion marked the largest soccer crowd in Missouri history as 72,610 spectators were in attendance for the match at Arrowhead Stadium. Messi joined names such as Pele, Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth and Lebron James by playing their craft in Kansas City.
Kansas City Sports Magazine 