We are now witnesses to Lionel Messi's greatness. And Nashville SC made him sweat | Estes
The penalty kicks continued, and he barely stopped moving. Pure nervous energy, this guy, turning his back, looking away, pacing alone in the midfield circle. Then he’d steel himself to go back, lock arms with teammates and watch the next attempt before doing it again.
Nashville SC put such stress on the best soccer player in the world.
Lionel Messi, no matter how it played out, was going to be the headline Saturday night. Either he’d lose for the first time with Inter Miami or he’d win the Leagues Cup at GEODIS Park.
At that point, though, he’d lost a say in which. That made him the same as Nashville’s stars Hany Mukhtar and Walker Zimmerman and all the other players who, one by one, kept stepping to the spot and heroically converting under pressure until the goalkeepers – the 11th and final men on the teams' lists – had to try to do it.
This game, this special night, this overwhelming experience for Nashville SC, it all deserved better than such an agonizing penalty-kick shootout to separate winners from losers in a 1-1 draw. Because there weren’t any losers on that field.
There were a lot of supporting actors. Nashville SC’s entire team, for instance, along with everyone on Miami’s team not named Messi.
He'd showed everyone why in the 23rd minute, too, scoring a stunning goal.
But when Nashville mustered a second-half equalizer and then had the better of play in the latter stages of the 90 minutes, one could start to see a way in which this might end perfectly for the home team and its vocal fans. They’d gotten their Messi moment – and they also were about to watch their own team hoist a trophy.
Nashville had chances. It had more shots (11-6), shots on goal (6-2) and corner kicks (6-2) than Miami.
Never got that second goal, though.
And so, there was mighty Messi, helplessly wearing out the midfield grass during a tense shootout.
He didn’t win this game. He watched while teammate Drake Callender won it.
An American from Sacramento, Callender put a penalty kick past fellow goalkeeper Elliot Panicco. Then when they switched spots, Callender didn’t allow Panicco the same success.
And that was that. A missed penalty kick by a goalkeeper, of all people, was the only difference between a Miami team that features perhaps the greatest soccer player ever and gritty Nashville SC.
Don't feel sorry for Nashville's players. They don't want that. Matter of fact, Nashville coach Gary Smith told them afterward to do nothing but hold their heads high.
“I'm not sure the guys could have given any more than did tonight,” Smith said. “They were all in on trying to win a trophy for this club. And we've fallen short by the very finest of margins … There's no negatives in the way that we've gone about our business tonight. Just real disappointment.”
The part of this epic evening that few outside of Middle Tennessee will hear over the roar of Messi mania is how much this experience meant for Nashville SC at home. We may look back on this night as when the club truly arrived on the city's top tier of entertainment options.
Celebrities were on hand. For once, Nashville SC had earned the spotlight in a city with a whole lot of stages. Plenty of people who hadn't been paying much attention to the club did so for this game.
Their memories will be about so many things. About Messi. About the Leagues Cup. About how much fun it was. And also about how Nashville played and fought bravely, only to have it slip away in a fashion unique to soccer.
“Tonight was a perfect example of how this team resonates in the community,” said Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber. “No matter who the opponent was tonight, Nashville SC fans would have sold out the stadium. It’s a testament to what (majority owner) John Ingram and (team CEO) Ian Ayre and the soccer fans in the area have accomplished.”
Earlier in the evening, Garber had said “sports marketing business classes could do a case study on” how Nashville SC has built this club in a short time.
For those elsewhere, this night wasn’t much about Nashville SC. It was about one generational talent on the other side who is larger than the game itself and earned that right years ago.
On that fact, we are all witnesses now: There is only one Messi.
And Nashville SC – its players and its fans, new ones and old – made him sweat.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: There's only one Lionel Messi. But Nashville SC made him sweat
