The Concacaf Champions League match in Kansas City may have started at under five degrees Fahrenheit but Inter Miami start their season off hot with a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City at Children's Mercy Park on Wednesday. Lionel Messi, in the coldest game of his career, nabbed the lone, decisive goal as Miami weathered the storm and got an all important away goal to carry an advantage to Chase Stadium for the second leg on Tuesday.
Both teams struggled with shooting the ball in the cold but of course, once Messi was set up by Sergio Busquets in the second half, he'd find just the right touch to put the Herons ahead and they wouldn't relinquish that lead. Jordi Alba and Drake Callender missed the match due to injuries but Javier Mascherano's men wouldn't let that slow them down from accomplishing their goals of advancing in this competition. Since away goals are the tiebreaker in this competition, Miami has an additional advantage in this tie heading into the second leg.
With the cold taking hold, this isn't a game that too many conclusions can be drawn from but the goal of Concacaf competition is to survive and advance and Inter Miami took one step toward doing just that. There's much more work to do when the Herons return home to Chase Stadium, but the weather will be much more in their favor to actually play their style.
Scenarios
Due to Inter Miami netting an away goal, they hold a slight advantage going into the second leg as a only a 1-0 Sporting Kansas City win would force extra time and potentially penalties. Inter Miami advance if they avoid defeat. If they lose by one goal where Sporting score multiple goals, they will be eliminated. Take care of business at home, and they advance.
What's next?
The two teams will take a break from the Champions Cup in order to kick off the MLS regular season. Inter Miami will return home to host New York City FC Saturday while Sporting Kansas City will head to Austin to face Austin FC. It's fair to expect some rotation from both sides in those matches considering the second leg is on Tuesday.
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