A manager who was on the losing side of the Leagues Cup final in the United States this past weekend has made a big admission about Lionel Messi's performance in the match.
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Inter Miami claimed their first-ever trophy in the early hours of Sunday morning following a penalty shootout victory over Nashville SC after a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes.
Messi opened the scoring for the Herons in the first half in trademark fashion, striking a curled effort with his left foot from outside the box to beat opposition goalkeeper Elliot Panicco and bring up his 10th goal for the club.
While Nashville did equalise before the break, head coach Gary Smith admitted that there is no way to stop the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner when he "comes to life".
"This is the first time that I've seen Messi play live. And I think what I would take away is that there are moments in the game that he's just unplayable. It's not over a prolonged period. It's not for 90 minutes," he told Apple TV.
"There are windows where he just comes to life and it's almost impossible to deal with what he's wanting to do.
"To be perfectly honest, if it wasn't for the man of the moment in their group, we would have won tonight. The goal that he scored is just incredible, out of nothing, and with his only other shot on goal he hits the post."
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Messi has now won 44 trophies in his career, making him the footballer with the most pieces of silverware in the history of the game.
The 36-year-old added another two individual accolades to his collection, meanwhile, after being crowned the Best Player of the Leagues Cup and finishing the tournament as its top goalscorer.
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