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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Down 1-0 on the scoreboard, down 2-0 in total goals in the series and needing three goals to advance, Inter Miami needed a most unlikely rally.
Lionel Messi made it happen.
Inter Miami is headed to the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals for the first time, after Messi — the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner — led a dramatic three-goal comeback. He had two goals, including the clinching penalty kick in the 84th minute, to lift Inter Miami past LAFC 3-1 on Wednesday night and a 3-2 aggregate win in the two-leg series.
“We gave it our all,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said. “We wanted it, we wanted to be in the semis, and I think it showed. ... Many times luck has to be on your side, and we had it.”
Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was Messi. Maybe it was both.
For Messi, the series clincher was a bit reminiscent of how he led Argentina past France in the World Cup final in 2022. He scored two goals in that match, one on a penalty kick — then also converted in the penalty-shot shootout that decided the final after it ended in a 3-3 tie. Those goals came against France's Hugo Lloris, who was also in net for LAFC on Wednesday night.
Lloris couldn't solve Messi in the World Cup final — and couldn't in this one, either. Messi simply waited for Lloris to move a bit on the penalty that put Inter Miami up 3-1, essentially freezing the keeper before gently sending the ball into the right side of the net.
And when the final whistle sounded, Mascherano punched the air in celebration.
“They believed,” Mascherano said.
Oscar Ustari made two huge stops in the final minutes for Inter Miami, which will face the Vancouver Whitecaps in the tournament’s semifinals. The first leg of that two-leg matchup is set to start on either April 22, 23 or 24.
Aaron Long scored in the ninth minute to give LAFC a 1-0 lead, but it put Inter Miami in a much deeper hole than that. Inter Miami lost the series opener at LAFC 1-0, so Long’s goal not only gave LAFC a 2-0 aggregate lead — but it also gave his club control of the away-goals tiebreaker.
That meant Inter Miami needed at least three goals from there to advance. It might have seemed unlikely.
With Messi, all things are possible.
Messi started the rally in the 35th, getting loose near the top of the 18-yard box and scoring with the left foot to tie the match at 1 — giving Inter Miami some hope.
Inter Miami took a 2-1 lead in the 61st on a bit of a fluke; Noah Allen chipped a ball into the box, playing it toward Federico Redondo. Lloris came off his line, anticipating Redondo to play the ball — but it bounced off the grass, skipped past them and ended up in the side of the net. The goal was originally credited to Allen, with Messi getting an assist, but was changed later in the evening to Redondo scoring with Allen assisting.
Either way, that knotted the aggregate at 2-2, but LAFC still held the away-goal tiebreaker. And in the 67th, Inter Miami thought it grabbed the lead in the series when Messi played a ball into the box that Luis Suarez appeared to flick into the net on a header — but the flag came up for offside, taking the goal off the board.
Inter Miami kept the pressure on throughout, then argued successfully for a handball call that Messi turned into a 3-1 lead and a spot in the semifinals. It was his 42nd goal in 48 appearances across all competitions since joining Inter Miami.
“This is the way,” Mascherano said. “This is the way to play football. ... They gave everything. I'm very happy.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
