Sept 17 (Reuters) – Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal for Inter Miami as the Major League Soccer side beat Mexican club Cruz Azul 2-0 to win the Campeones Cup at Nu Stadium in Florida on Wednesday.
Messi, making his 115th appearance for Miami, struck 24 minutes into the annual match between the MLS Cup holders and Mexico’s Campeon de Campeones winners.
Casemiro scored Miami’s second goal late on.
“Leo told me he’d make me a champion, so he kept his word,” Miami coach Cristian Gonzalez said.
Former Barcelona and Paris St Germain forward Messi, 39, joined Miami in 2023 and has helped them win four trophies.
Argentina’s all-time top scorer with 125 goals, Messi announced his international retirement last month and will take his final bow for the national team in a friendly against Benin on October 6.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Purulia, India; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Peter Rutherford)
