In fact, there is no indication Messi, 38, needs to move any faster, or, at times, even move at all. Almost everything Messi did seemed effortless, from times when he stood completely still near the center circle, in a sort of Zen state, to when he somehow read an errant header to convert the opening goal in the 27th minute.
Even before the game, most of the crowd of 43,292 at Gillette Stadium would likely agree with Miami coach Javier Mascherano, who said: “Leo is a special player.”
Mascherano, who played with Messi on Argentina’s national team and with Barcelona, added: “For me he is the best player who has played this sport in history. It’s unbelievable how he continues doing things that maybe many many years ago we thought that maybe we cannot see at this moment but at the end he’s a special player we are lucky to have him.”
As for the Busquets-Messi combination, Mascherano said: “They don’t need to do many things to connect. They are playing for many, many years so just when they see each other they connect and they know what they think or, in this kind of play, like the second goal, Busquets understands when and where Leo wants the ball, you know. So it’s fantastic for us because today was difficult for us, because we know New England needed to win, needed the result, and was going to be difficult in the pitch. So with two or three plays we can open the game and we can control [the game], until the last 10-15 minutes, they put us under pressure.”
But if the crowd arrived to witness the Messi show, they also seemed heartened by the Revolution staying in contention. Last season, the Revolution took early leads against Miami before falling, 4-1 and 6-2. This time, the Revolution (6-8-6, 24 points) remained composed, and cut the deficit on Carles Gil’s 79th-minute right-footer. This was only the third time this season the Revolution have trailed by more than one goal over 90 minutes, and the previous two times, they rallied for ties. Gil’s goal definitely made Miami sweat. Mascherano had planned to, maybe, give Messi a breather, but ended up having little choice but to leave in his key players.
“We wanted to give them some rest maybe in this game,” Mascherano said of Messi, Busquets, and Jordi Alba. “But after New England scored we were under pressure, so we preferred to keep him on the pitch. It’s not the best situation for us because maybe in the next games we have to find some moments to give him some rest. We have a lot of games coming. We will try to analyze when is the best moment to give him some rest.”
The first half might have been marked by Messi highlights, but the second half went mostly in the Revolution’s favor. Messi might not have been frustrated, but he shows signs when he thinks something is wrong, and that happened when he came up short on a lofted ball near the end line in the 69th minute. Instead of scratching his cheek, a trademark sign of irritation, Messi gave the side of his head slight smack. Eventually, Messi had a chance to provide another spectacular moment. In the third minute of stoppage time, after sliding around three opponents, Messi fired a low shot that looked to have beaten Ivacic. But defender Mamadou Fofana cleared the shot off the line, a play that might have disappointed Messi supporters. Two minutes later, the Revolution’s Maxi Urruti, who, like Messi, hails from Rosario, Argentina, had a potential equalizer saved, to the consternation of Revolution fans.
“When it becomes 2-0, I’ve seen Miami pick teams apart,” Porter said. “Spaces get bigger, and they usually punish teams. The chances were there. We just outplayed one of the best teams in the league, we’ve faced the best teams in the league and haven’t been overmatched by any of them. We gave Messi the first chance and it’s in the back of the net. He didn’t have much, but he scored two goals.”
