Lionel Messi leads Inter Miami to their first Leagues Cup trophy

The greatest legacy the sport has ever had adds another chapter. For Lionel Messi, it's a 44th career trophy and the first with Inter Miami, a club he joined just over a month ago. It has been an extraordinary turn of events for the club, considering they sat at the bottom of the table when Messi arrived.

In the Leagues Cup final, Inter Miami edged Nashville on penalties (10-9). The scoreline was 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes. Messi brought the house down with a sensational strike in the 24th minute to give his team the lead. However, Nashville's Fafa Picault hadn't read the script as he equalized to leave Messi fans on the edge.

Inter Miami's Leonardo Campana missed a golden opportunity to win the game in the dying minutes, but the match went to a penalty shootout. The penalties went to sudden death as all the 10 players had taken their shots. Eventually, it came down to the goalkeepers as Inter Miami's Drake Callender denied Elliot Panicco's attempt.

Eventually, Callender kept his cool before denying Panicco and the entire Inter Miami camp invaded the pitch. Messi and his teammates went on to congratulate him. It was Deja Vu for the Argentine legend, who had won the World Cup last year in Qatar in a penalty shootout vs France. Although it wasn't as emotional, it was memorable, to say the least.

Speaking to the media after the game, Callender said, “The grit, just the belief and what we're capable of. It's something special, and I'm just blessed to be a part of it,”