WATCH: Lionel Messi scores from penalty spot, Inter Miami come from 3-1 behind to restore parity against Al-Hilal
Lionel Messi showed his typical coolness and composure from the spot to lead Inter Miami's fightback against Al-Hilal in their pre-season friendly. The MLS side found themselves down 3-1 going into half-time before the Argentine superstar scored with a spot-kick to make it 3-2 in the 54th minute.
Just a minute later, midfielder David Ruiz scored to pull the Herons level with their Saudi Pro League opponents.
The two sides played out an exciting game, with Al-Hilal eventually running out winners. They raced to an early 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Aleksandr Mitrovic and Abdullah Al-Hamdan in the 10th and 13th minute, respectively. Luis Suarez pulled one back for the visitors in the 34th minute before Michael added another for the hosts to make it 3-1 going into the break.
Inter Miami did complete the comeback starting with Messi's penalty but in the 88th minute, winger Malcom managed to find the back of the net for Al-Hilal, handing them the win.
The Florida side have had a difficult start to their pre-season, with no wins from their first three games. They had a goalless draw against El Salvador followed by a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas. Up next on their schedule is a mouth-watering clash against Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr on February 1.
Roberto Martinez makes interesting claim regarding Lionel Messi's FIFA The Best win
Portugal national team manager Roberto Martinez has stated that he made a mistake while voting for his nominees for FIFA's The Best award. Speaking to Portuguese outlet A Bola, the Spaniard claimed that he erred by considering the performances of players in the 2022 World Cup. He had handed his third-place vote to Marcelo Brozovic, whose Croatia side impressed in the World Cup and whose Inter Milan team made it to the UCL finals.
However, the timeframe for the 2023 edition was from December 19, 2022, to August 20, 2023, meaning any performances in Qatar should not have been given consideration. Martinez believed that many other voters could also have made the same mistake.
He said:
"For me, individual awards in football are difficult. I think the individual player represents what the team did. And what about Brozovic and Bernardo, and the players who were in the Champions League final, and who were successful in domestic trophies?"
"But Brozovic is a player who represents an idea of the game, who represents what Croatia is doing. But it was a mistake, for the period in question."
"And I think I wasn't the only one who made that mistake, because when you see the votes, I think there's more of an intention to see what happened at the World Cup too."
Martinez seemed to allude that the confusion benefitted Messi, who took home his third The Best trophy. Messi was sensational in the World Cup, leading Argentina to their third WC victory. The 36-year-old was tied with Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland on votes but won the award on a tiebreak.