Inter Miami coach hails Messi’s leadership skills

Miami, Aug 12:  Inter Miami head coach Gerardo Martino said that Lionel Messi’s leadership for the club holds similarities with the time he guided Argentina to World Cup glory. Ahead of Inter Miami’s League Cup quarterfinal date with Charlotte FC on Saturday, Martino talked about the impact of Messi’s leadership skills on the club. “He is not doing here neither more nor less than what we saw in the World Cup with Argentina. Leo’s leadership on and off the pitch has been notable in recent years. I’m thinking about what he did in the World Cup because that reflects the kind of leader he has become,” Martino told reporters as quoted by ESPN. Since his arrival in the Major League Soccer (MLS), Messi has been performing his usual self. Since his arrival, he has already become the fourth joint-highest scorer for the club with 7 goals. Martino knows Messi quite well as he has managed him at both national and club levels – Argentina and Barcelona. During Messi and Martino’s time together at Barcelona, the duo won the Spanish Super Cup, but they failed to lift the prestigious La Liga or the Champions League trophy. “It’s totally different from the first years of his career when he only led from the football side. Today he has an impact on the field as always, but also in training, in talks with the young players of the team, and in how to execute an idea for the team,” Martino added. “When he arrived, he said: ‘I come to compete and win.’ I think the image of the fourth goal [vs. FC Dallas] is a good example. He celebrated the goal, but at the same time he was saying: ‘Let’s grab the ball quickly to see if we can score a fifth goal. It reflects a bit his mentality and, of course, that’s something contagious for everyone,” Martino signed off. That ‘fourth goal’ against Dallas that the head coach is referring to came following Messi’s trademark free kick in the final minutes of Miami’s round-of-16 Leagues Cup. The free kick brought the game on 4-4 and sent the game to penalties, Messi converted his spot kick as the team won the shootout and sealed their place in the next round of the competition.