The Concacaf Champions League match in Kansas City may have started at under five degrees Fahrenheit but Inter Miami start their season off hot with a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park on Wednesday. Lionel Messi, in the coldest game of his career, nabbed the lone, decisive goal as Miami weathered the storm and got an all important away goal to carry an advantage to Chase Stadium for the second leg on Tuesday.
Both teams struggled with shooting the ball in the cold but of course, once Messi was set up by Sergio Busquets in the second half, he’d find just the right touch to put the Herons ahead and they wouldn’t relinquish that lead. Jordi Alba and Drake Callender missed the match due to injuries but Javier Mascherano’s men wouldn’t let that slow them down from accomplishing their goals of advancing in this competition. Since away goals are the tiebreaker in this competition, Miami has an additional advantage in this tie heading into the second leg.