FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Late in the first half of Inter Miami‘s 2-0 win against Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, Lionel Messi found himself on the receiving end of a poor clearance from RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath. With MacMath scrambling back toward his net from the edge of the box, Messi collected the ball about seven yards outside the box and shaded toward the right side.
The volume inside the stadium quickly rose, as did most of the fans who weren’t already on their feet. There was a collective sense of anticipation that a moment of magic was about to be conjured.
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Messi cut the ball back to his preferred left but didn’t have a shooting angle near the top of the box. He had to keep dribbling, except he ran into a dead end: RSL defenders on each side of him and another, Andrew Brody, laying on the ground in pain in front of him.
