Lucas Zelarayan's stunning goal for Columbus Crew overshadowed by Lionel Messi move to MLS
Two of the most heralded signees in the history of Major League Soccer, LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham and D.C. United forward Wayne Rooney, produced two of the longest-range goals in league history. The video clips of these goals were viral sensations on a global scale.
Saturday, the Crew’s Lucas Zelarayan scored on an intercontinental ballistic missile that was at least the equal of Rooney’s and, I would submit, better than Beckham’s.
Beckham had no goalkeeper to beat and an open net at which to shoot, and he bounced it in. Zelarayan and Rooney had to factor in a goalkeeper (admittedly, a backtracking goalkeeper who was soiling his undergarments) and make a target calculation that included a complex launch angle.
Beckham’s 75-yard strike is believed to be the longest in league history. But Rooney’s 65-yarder and Zelarayan's almost 61-yarder are the superior: Beckham’s goal was scored in the ninth minute of a 2-0 home victory over Kansas City in May 2008; Rooney’s goal was scored in the 10th minute of a home 1-0 victory against Orlando City SC in June 2019; Zelarayan’s goal was the game-winner in the 93rd minute of a 2-1 road victory in Chicago.
Zelarayan was assessed a yellow card for excessive celebration. Good for him. His long-range bomb may not have been the most brilliant, or most important, in MLS history. But it will be on his business card. He is the most prolific scorer in the league from distance. He has, incredibly, potted 18 goals from outside the box since 2019. Saturday’s game-winner will probably be the league’s Goal of the Year.
Lionel Messi chooses MLS over Saudi Arabia
Is Lionel Messi the greatest soccer player of all time? Is he better than Pele? Diego Maradona? Is he as influential as Johan Cruyff?
In 2023, even at age 35 and on the other side of his prime, Messi is still close to being the best player in the world’s most popular team sport. Certainly, he is one of the most recognized athletes in the world, as Pele and Muhammad Ali were in the mid-1970s.
And now Messi is coming to the United States, with even greater fanfare and potential impact than when Pele joined the New York Cosmos in 1977.
“For (Messi) to come to Major League Soccer is a great thing,” Tim Bezbatchenko, president and general manager of the Crew, said on a recent edition of The Dispatch’s Soccer Speakeasy podcast. “It could provide a pivotal moment, much like when Beckham came in ‘07. The league created a designated player rule for him … to sign the best talent that is out there in the world. What you’re starting to see is some of those players choose MLS. Messi doing that is very good.”
The arrival of Beckham in 2007 was an important demarcation in MLS history. Team valuations, television contracts and expansion fees went from the tens of millions to the hundreds of millions of dollars, and the MLS became more viable on the world stage.
Now Beckham, the principal owner of Inter Miami, is bringing Messi’s talents to South Beach.
“I think it’s important for this league, which is still relatively young, to step back and understand that if we want to be a top league in the world – which I believe we are inevitably going to be – we need to have the top players,” Bezbatchenko said. “And (Messi) is literally the MVP of the World Cup and arguably the best player of all time.”
Messi turned his back on a package of Saudi Arabian blood money that would have been worth more than a billion. As was the case with Beckham, MLS will invent a way to finance his transfer, probably with the help of Apple and Adidas and with the promise of a future ownership stake for Messi. It'll be worth hundreds of millions.
Messi will be eligible to play for Inter Miami when the league’s summer transfer window opens July 5. That's tough timing for Bezbatchenko’s Crew, who’ve already played a home date against Miami (a 2-1 loss in April), and who play at Miami on July 4.
“Maybe they’ll unveil him that night to the fans in the stands,” Bezbatchenko said. “That would be cool.”
MLS does not instantly become one of the best leagues in the world with Messi’s arrival – that will take years – but it is trending in that direction. In any case, AppleTV’s international television ratings are about to get a big bump.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zelarayan's stunning goal for Crew overshadowed by Messi move to MLS
