Many in the rest of the world continue to doubt the potential of the MLS to achieve great results in international competitions, but Inter Miami managed a victory that will go down in US soccer history by beating Porto 2-1 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
It looked like things were going to be different when Porto opened the scoring less than 10 minutes in, after Samu had taken an absolutely controversial penalty. During the first half, Messi tried to stand out in every way and created good moves to put his teammates in a position to score, but lacked the intensity to decide the build-up moves.
Even with a few real chances created (such as BenjamÃn Cremaschi's shot), Inter Miami remained very unbalanced, with a strong attack and a defense with problems, especially in the positioning of defensive transitions. Before the break, Rodrigo Mora stopped a defender's clearance on the line and Samu stopped Ustari, both of which were clear chances for Porto to extend their lead.
But right at the start of the second half, Inter Miami sought an equalizer with an attacking move that didn't involve the presence of Lionel Messi. Busquets started the move, Weigandt linked up with Allende and the ball into the box was flicked on by Segovia to leave the score level. However, the most special moment was reserved for ten minutes later.
Lionel Messi achieved an absolutely historic result
Lionel Messi got a free-kick close to the box and it was an absolutely lethal strike, with the goalkeeper looking completely out of his depth to turn the game in Inter Miami's favor. This time, it was Claudio Bravo's turn to witness a move that Messi has done against so many goalkeepers.
Porto tried to apply some final pressure after William Gomes came on (this being the most notable change). However, a lack of creativity and technical quality saw Inter Miami hold on for the first win in the history of a Concacaf team against a UEFA side in the current Club World Cup format.