Today, June 24 is the Argentine’s birthday. Shortly after Inter Miami surrendered their two-goal lead to Palmeiras to leave the field with just a draw, rather than a win, Lionel Messi could be seen leaving the field angry — and there appears to be a clear reason why.
Inter Miami scored a nerve-calming goal early in Monday’s game thanks to Tadeo Allende’s 16th-minute effort, before Luis Suarez doubled Miami’s lead in the 65th minute, to provide his side with breathing space in the FIFA Club World Cup group game on the 23rd of June.
It looked like progression in the tournament was all but guaranteed. However, in an epic 7-minute comeback, Paulinho and then Mauricio, made things nervy for Miami in the final minutes as they scored in the 80th and 87th minutes, respectively. Suddenly, Miami had a situation on its hands.
If it conceded another goal, and lost the game, then Palmeiras would have dumped them out of the entire competition. A draw, or better — a win, were the only results that secured an extended stay in the ongoing tournament.
