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Inter Miami kicked off their first match in the Leagues Cup with a stunning victory as they clinched a last minute winner to emerge victorious against FC Atlas by defeating them 2-1. Lionel Messi’s magic continued to shine through at Inter Miami as he provided two assists to collect all the three points in the opening match of the campaign. The goals in the match started with the Venezuelan International Telasco Segovia providing the lead to Inter Miami in the 57th minute of the game which opened up the game for both the teams.
FC Atlas started their fiery comeback in the 80th minute of the match as their forward Rivaldo Lozano came on from the bench and scored a goal to make the score 1-1. The FC Atlas star Matias Coccaro was pumped up by the equalizer and provoked the Miami team through his celebration. In the dying seconds of the game the last minute brilliance of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi helped the Argentine International Marcelo Weigandt guide the ball into the net in the last gasp thriller and Messi celebrated on the face of Matias Coccaro after the goal was awarded after a potential offside check.
I have nothing but respect for the best in history: Matias Coccaro
Inter Miami’s hopes of winning the match was put on a pause as the goal was ruled out for an offside. The referee then went onto the VAR to check if the player was behind the ball during the time of the pass. FC Atlas were hopeful of the goal being offside. However, the referee came onto the pitch after checking the offside and awarded the goal to Miami as the player was behind the ball during the pass.
Messi was delighted by the referee’s decision and was full of emotions as he was overwhelmed and lost his composure to celebrate in anger towards Coccaro. After the match Coccaro stated, “Messi came to celebrate right in my face, full of emotion. And what can I say? I had to stay quiet... I mean, he's the greatest of all time. You can't say anything back. After the game, he came over, hugged me, and apologized. He was really sorry, that says a lot about who he is as a player.
