Lionel Messi LEADS Inter Miami to LEAGUES CUP FINAL

This just into the HQ. Lionel Messi has done it again. He has scored, and yet another inter-Miami win, this time in the semifinals of the Leagues Cup in Philadelphia. Miami beating Philly 4-1 to advance to Saturday night's Leagues Cup final. And with this win, they actually earned themselves a spot in what used to be called Concacaf Champions League. Now it's called Concacaf Champions Cup. And with more on Inter Miami's win over Philadelphia Union in the League's Cup semifinal, let's welcome in former U.S. international and our colleague at CBS Sports. You can see him on morning footy. You can see him on Champions League coverage, Europa League coverage, basically all over the place. It's Charlie Davies. Charlie, great to see you. Have you run out of words yet to describe what you're seeing with Lionel Messi in an MLS shirt? Uh, not at all. I mean, think about this. He's won seven bond yours. This is not this is nothing out of the ordinary. And he's been doing this against the best of the best world class opponents. He comes to Major League Soccer. He just won a World Cup. What did people expect? He's he's arguably the best player currently in the world, but he's the best player of all time. This shouldn't this shouldn't be a shock to anyone. I know sometimes it's hard to conceptualize a player in Europe and then move them here. And would it be the same? Would he be a dominant given the athleticism in this league? And sometimes you could say the tactics aren't anywhere near the top teams in Europe. So maybe the players aren't where they're supposed to be. And that can throw off a player of his caliber. No, not at all. And not only is Messi wowing everyone and continuing where he's left off in Europe, but also the players around him have stepped up to a whole nother level. This is the Joseph Martinez we saw when he was at his best at Atlanta United when they won the MLS Cup in 2018. And I would argue that his overall game is even better than where it was before because the expectations to play with a Leonard Messi and not only a Leonard Messi, but a Sergio Busquets and a Jordi Alba with the Tata Martino managing this side, you just feel that everyone has raised their profile. Everyone is is trying to be on the pitch because you want to play with greatness. So it's for me, it's nothing new. I'm not surprised. It's just incredible to watch. I'm happy you mentioned Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets and also Tata Martino have Miami raised the bar for MLS already? 1000% one. They put inner Miami on the map on globally. People used to recognize L. A. Galaxy because of David Beckham initially coming, making that move from Real Madrid and everyone associated success in major league soccer with L. A. Galaxy. Given that D. C. United were one of the pillars of this league, L. A. Galaxy was really the club name that reverberate around the world. Now that's long gone. That's in the distance. It's all about inter Miami. It's all about Leonel Messi. And this team has shown that they have quality because let's be honest, before Leonel Messi came, they were at the bottom of the league. They were bottom of the barrel. It was almost unbearable to watch this team. Now you watch them and it's like a mirage. This team can play anyone off the park. They're dominating possession. The Philadelphia at Union at home are unstoppable. They just come at you in waves and waves tonight. This was a Philadelphia Union that looked like they were a bottom of the barrel that they hadn't seen what success was like that they hadn't played in the MLS Cup final last season. It was incredible to see how they took the sting not only the Union but the crowd early on. Joseph Martinez set the tone. He makes a running behind. The Union didn't didn't put any pressure, which was also uncharacteristic of a Philadelphia Union side. They didn't put any pressure on players that inter Miami when they have the ball at their feet, especially defenders. Center backs aren't supposed to have time in the ball, but Christoph could pick his head up, move into the midfield and just plays a curling ball in behind for Joseph Martinez, who snapped at it far post by Andre Blake and also Andre Blake made some uncharacteristic mistakes. The second goal from the end. I'm messy. I don't want to take any credit away from the end. I'm messy in that opportunity driving at the back line with that much space. Andre Blake wasn't set. He was still moving backwards. So if his feet aren't set, he's not gonna be able to push off to the to the far post. And and that's just Liana messy. Expect the unexpected because that's that's basically what he did. You're not expecting him to take that shot at that moment with that much space. But he saw Andre Blake still moving. I'm gonna catch him out of position. It's just magic. American football fans would understand this. Messi's got a pretty quick release with that left foot. You got that right. This is Tom Brady in his prime. By the way, props to Drake calendar. I just want to get props to Drake calendar pretty fast because the Miami keeper was the better keeper on the night for both teams. We're gonna see a lot more of this, this pink squad in the coming weeks, not only in the League's Cup final on Saturday, we're also gonna see him in the U. S. Open Cup. They're in the semifinals. That's on CBS Sports Network, so we're gonna be involved in that one at the end of the month. Exactly. And then when league play starts, you mentioned it. Look, it's the big talking point. They're last in MLS in the standings, but this isn't the same Miami team. Then again, nobody gave Miami a shot to get anywhere near the playoffs at the end of the season. None other than Wayne Rooney, who's you know, he's the manager of D. C. United. That's the last thing they're gonna have to jump right now. They're in ninth place. Uh, he said he thought Messi was gonna struggle in MLS. Is it possible at all that a lot of people underestimated Messi? Uh, it's as is as impossible as it may sound. I think everyone underestimated the impact of Lina Messi. Not that Messi isn't incredible and gifted and can beat anyone on the dribble and score these amazing goals. But the impact around him and only Lina Messi. I think the impact of Tata Martino, a manager who's done it in the league, who has the respect of all the players who gives them the right game plan. Jim Curtain is a top coach in major league soccer. He was out coached today. He was out coached today that the tactics were wrong. The player selection was wrong. They got bullied at home, and that never happens. This is a Philadelphia team. You're out there fighting. You're coming in strong grit. They were chasing shadows. They were. It was. It was one of those moments where you say, Wow, Miami have it have have something in place, and I would not be surprised at all at this moment because you're looking at the schedule. It's not a difficult schedule. Seeing what inner Miami have already done in leagues cup, and some people are confused because you're saying, wait, they're going into a final leagues cup. They're playing every how are they the bottom? Because this isn't league play. League play starts back up for inner Miami on August 26th when they when they take on New York Red Bulls in New York, but they still have the U. S. Open Cup semifinals. Think about how many matches that this inner Miami side have played under Tata Martino with Lina Messi. Busquets. These players were on holiday. Now they're match up their match up. Imagine you. It's so hard for Tata Martino. I think this is gonna be the difficulty of when do you give these guys rest? How? How do you rotate? Because this is a train moving at the speed of light. Are you gonna pause it? Or you just gonna say, Hey, we're gonna let this run and let's let's hope for the best. By the way, that game on the 26th in Harrison, New Jersey against New York Red Bulls U. S. Open Cup semifinal CBS Sports Network. That's that game right there. Ladies and gentlemen, that's the man, former U. S. International, a former high school wrestling prep, all American two times over. We're talking two hits. Charlie hitting you. You hit in the floor. He's also our colleague at CBS Sports. Thanks, Charlie. Thank you. And you can catch Charlie and his pals in the Galazzo Network talking about Lionel Messi and the entire slash soccer slash football ecosystem in the mornings on morning footy Champions League coverage box to box Europa League, the attacking third, which is primarily about the women's game. It's amazing. First of its kind on TV. Do yourself a favor. Go check out the CBS Sports Galazzo Network. You can thank me later.