From San Diego, Los Angeles and even Colombia, they flocked to South Florida to watch Lionel Messi and Inter Miami begin the first full season of their still-unimaginable partnership.
And over the course of 90 frenetic minutes against Real Salt Lake, the fans of the new Chase Stadium were reminded again and again why they had made this journey. Plane, car, train: it didn’t matter.
Messi once again proved he was worth the journey.
The Herons got their season off to a winning start on Wednesday night as they defeated their visitors 2-0 and mostly looked like the MLS Cup contenders they are being billed as.
There was no Messi goal, but countless reminders of his genius. A daring Olimpico try around 15 minutes in forced goalkeeper Zac MacMath to fall. A breathtaking nutmeg near midfield. A truly outrageous chip on a player setting himself up for an opportunity. Several slaloms run through the defense.
Inter Miami defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0 on the opening night of the MLS season, but were far from comfortable in Florida
Fireworks light up the night sky after Robert Taylor put Miami ahead – helped by poor goalkeeping from Salt Lake
Taylor was played through on goal by Lionel Messi and his low finish should have been left out, but he curled into the corner
David Beckham was all smiles on the sidelines as he watched his new Miami team claim all three points on opening night
Wednesday night’s match marked Luis Suarez’s first appearance in MLS and he helped set up Miami’s second goal of the night
As ‘tired’ as he was at the end of the team’s tough preseason, he certainly didn’t look that way on Wednesday.
One wondered if Miami would open the season on a hot streak after their needless preparations that saw them fly thousands of air miles en route to Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan.
Still, there was optimism in the air.
Luis Suarez warmly embraced co-owner David Beckham as he and his family were introduced to fans.
The pink wave in the supporters section bounced. A few fans under the press box waved an Argentine flag as the teams walked out.
However, any doubts on the opening day were quickly dispelled as the hosts looked fit rather than weathered after last month’s friendlies.
Just past the first minute, Suarez slid a ball across to Messi near the goal. The match ended in a goal kick after Messi collided with MacMath, but it was nevertheless a harbinger of how the match would go.
The (well-founded) fear of Messi striking his opponents was so great that they positioned a defender on the goal line during a free kick he took from 30 yards out about 15 minutes later. That turned out to be a wise move, as Justen Glad had to head a possible goal over the bar.
A mad scramble in the 20th minute then saw a flurry of shots into the penalty area – Messi’s effort was blocked and Suarez went wide in a sequence that looked like Salt Lake might finally crack.
But there were no groans from the crowd and after more saved tries from Suarez and Diego Gomez, the fans were rewarded for their patience.
It was the 39th minute when Robert Taylor’s low effort was bundled home by MacMath. The series – started by a through ball from Sergio Busquets, advanced by Messi and finished by a football journeyman in Taylor – showed exactly why Miami paid a lot for its four stars: it is difficult not to look home when you are helped by talent from world class. .
Sergio Busquets was declared fit after a nasty injury in the preparation and was at the base of the midfield
Messi had chances to score his first goal of the season, but he was unable to get on the scoresheet and instead acted as caretaker
And it’s that kind of pedigree that has attracted both local and global interest.
Miami has 16 million Instagram followers – far more than any MLS club – and yet there is still a small-town feel surrounding the club’s only 21,500-capacity stadium.
For example, it’s not every day that your Lyft driver tells you he has David Beckham’s phone number.
Still, Miami’s stellar collection of talent still has some issues to solve.
Salt Lake couldn’t quite beat their hosts, but they showed the blueprint on how to do so.
On several occasions early in the second half, Salt Lake forced their opponents into mistakes, allowing Busquets’ creaking legs to chase the action back to its goal.
The visitors left those chances begging, but Miami – namely newcomer Julian Gressel – was also loose.
He missed a close-range volley after a cross and later undermined his effort when MacNath came off his line and left the goal early.
It’s a problem Miami doesn’t hope to deal with, but where will the goals come from if Messi or Suarez miss time? It’s a reasonable question to ask, even if it’s purely hypothetical at this point.
Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino is said to have been unimpressed with his team’s play, but they escaped with a win
RSL was also not quite ready on the other side of the field.
Andrew Brody fired over from close range with a half-volley in the 65th minute, Brayan Vera forced Drake Callender’s best save of the match from a header and Cristian Arango later fell at the most inopportune time as he quickly jostled DeAndre Yedlin. pause.
Miami didn’t quite break, but they were stretched thin and at times looked a little less dominant than the MLS Cup contender they want to be.
Yet their talent would win out in the end, and victory was all but secured when Diego Gomez fired home after being supplied by Suarez in the 83rd minute.
The Uruguayan will also rue a straight chance as he shot at MacMath’s foot just three minutes later, denying him a debut goal.
However, this was a good, if imperfect, evening for the hosts.
Before the game, a couple said they would fly in from LA as season ticket holders for every home game.
By Wednesday they will have seen more than enough to send them crawling back.