Lionel Messi played his first match since announcing a jaw-dropping move to Major League Soccer's Inter Miami on Thursday. The 35-year-old captained Argentina in a friendly against Australia that was staged at Workers' Stadium in Beijing, China.
His misery in Paris is clearly behind him because it took Messi only one minute and 20 seconds to open the scoring.
Messi received a pass from Enzo Fernández at the top of the box, sent one defender stumbling to the pitch with a cut and curled a 20-yard effort beyond Mathew Ryan in goal. The 68,000 in attendance immediately got what they came for.
MESSI GOLAZO
2 minutes into the game and Messi does what he does best.Stream the game for FREE on the @CBSSports app and @PlutoTV pic.twitter.com/iJdAI0Cbj9
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) June 15, 2023
It's the fastest goal of Messi's Argentina career, and he's now scored in seven straight games for La Albiceleste, bringing his total to 103 from 175 caps.
Can we just take a second to appreciate how Australia's Aiden O'Neill went from here....
To here...
Messi went the full 90 minutes in Argentina's 2-0 win. His other viral moment was beating three Socceroos defenders in midfield with an outrageous dribble.
Cheat code Messi came out to play. pic.twitter.com/3CYRmCJVoG
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) June 15, 2023
Messi and Argentina play Indonesia next on Monday, June 19, in Central Jakarta. Then it's time for Messi to report to Miami with his PSG contract officially over on June 30. The current rumor is that Messi will make his debut with the Herons on July 21 vs. Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup, but there's also a chance he makes a cameo for the MLS All-Stars on July 19 against Arsenal.
