Lionel Messi returned for Inter Miami this weekend, with the Argentine superstar once again stealing the show for the Herons.
The 37-year-old attacker scored a brace and assisted Luis Suarez in stoppage time as Inter Miami came from 1-0 down against the Philadelphia Union to win 3-1 to tighten their grip in the race for the Supporters’ Shield.
Even with Messi admitting that he felt tired after the game, the former FC Barcelona forward was back playing with a smile on his face after nearly two months of out action having picked up an injury in the Copa America final this summer.
And Sacha Kljestan has now picked up on what Messi does whenever Inter Miami go down by a goal.
Messi ‘never bothered’ when Inter Miami concede the first goal
Speaking on MLS Wrap-Up, the former USA international shared how Messi looks unfazed when Inter Miami go a goal down, with Kljestan saying that the Argentine is so focused on contributing to the game that he doesn’t let setbacks like this get to him.
Kljestan said: “Messi, emotionally, is never bothered, you never see much out of him one way or the other, but they’ve gone down and come back to win 27 points from losing positions this season.
“Even if they’re scored on, even if they’re down 2-0 in the second-half, Messi is just focused on getting a goal, getting an assist, setting up a play in the final-third, winning the game.
“We saw it at the World Cup with Argentina, that emotional maturity and intelligence is putting Inter Miami over the edge on every team in MLS.”
Messi’s mentality could lead to domestic double for the Herons
As stated by Kljestan, Messi’s mentality is unrivaled in soccer, with the Inter Miami captain only focused on winning games and doing whatever he can to drag his team to the end of the game with the three points.
And with Messi now back to full fitness, there’s a real chance that the 37-year-old can lead Inter Miami to a historic domestic double with the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup, with the former more-or-less already in the bag.
Indeed, Messi already holds the record for the most titles won in all of soccer, and the attacker will want to add two more pieces of silverware to his historic trophy cabinet by the end of this year.