- Gressel spoke on the pitch before the match in Messi’s native Spanish
- The defender said his legendary teammate thought it was funny and laughed a bit
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Before their crucial Champions Cup quarter-final against Nashville, Inter Miami defender Julian Gressel was called up by a teammate considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time.
And when Lionel Messi speaks, especially on the rare occasion he does so in English, all you have to do is listen.
“When (former captain) DeAndre Yedlin left, we talked about him always speaking in the team huddle before the game, so Leo actually asked me to speak in the team huddle, which is obviously a huge honor for me,” Gressel recalled himself. on him and sports channel Zeeland Shannon PLAYER/MANAGER podcast.
‘He (Leo) came to me and said in English, “You’re speaking to the team.”
“I thought yeah, okay, sounds good.”
Inter Miami’s Julian Gressel (right) was called up by Lionel Messi before a recent cup match
Messi called on his Miami teammate to lead the team’s pregame speech on the pitch
Gressel, the German-born USMNT star who moved to Miami in January, is 30 years old and has been playing professional football for seven years, but Messi’s confidence to rally the troops for a cup quarter-final was enough to settle his nerves ring.
Ultimately, though, he opted to incorporate some of Messi’s native language into his on-field speech before Miami went down against Nashville.
“Then you’re clearly thinking… what are you going to say to these guys?” Gressel continued. “In the game against Nashville, the second game, I said something in Spanish. I said, “Let’s win the first five minutes and then we’ll win the game.”
‘Super fast, super simple. Let’s go… and then we scored after 7 minutes. Not even five minutes, but I was feeling pretty good about my pre-match speech.
“It’s a cool moment when he comes up to you and asks you to say something to the team. It’s obviously a great feeling to have him trust me and something that shows me that it’s a good thing that I’ve done the right things over the past few months to earn his trust.
“And then to pay it back with a little Spanish, he (Leo) thought it was funny and laughed a little.”
Gressel recalled receiving the brief from one of the greatest footballers of all time on his and sports broadcaster Zealand Shannon’s PLAYER/MANAGER podcast
Miami made a blistering start to the tie after the American international’s speech
Although they won the match and drew, it wasn’t all positive for Miami against Nashville after Messi limped off early with a hamstring injury.
The 37-year-old missed last weekend’s victory over DC United and has also been ruled out of Argentina’s two international matches in the US in the coming week.
Argentina will take on El Salvador at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Friday before playing Costa Rica at the Los Angeles Coliseum four days later.
Miami, meanwhile, will visit the New York Red Bulls next Saturday before hosting New York City a week later.