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.
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.
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.
The Herons will start their season off on the right foot even playing in the cold without their full squad. Lionel Messi delivered the decisive goal and the Herons are now one step closer to the round of 16 of Concacaf Champions Cup play.
It was offsider but that was a very close finish as Miami will need to tighten up defensively to close this match out.
Fafa Picault is now in to add some speed while closing the match out and possibly grabbing another away goal as well. He got a shot but it blazed over the bar.
This game has opened up as Salloi fired a strong shot into the hands of Miami keeper Oscar Ustari.
Now even if Sporting Kansas City scores, a 0-0 draw in Miami would see the Herons through to the next round.
It's a defensive one as Daniel Rosero isn't match fit to go 90 mintues so Joaquin Fernandez will enter to play the remainder of the match.
There was actually no stoppage time as the players are now able to get inside and warm up from the cold conditions. It was an eventful first half with 10 shots between the two teams, but not a clinical one as they only put one shot on target.
We're still level as the match is inching closer to the half. SKC has grown into the match but there still isn't much to separate these teams.
Suarez is in the mood tonight as his shots have been just wide of the net despite coming from outside the box. If he gets another, it's hitting the back of the net.
It's not much of a surprise that these teams aren't able to get the tough that they'd like on the ball in this weather but Miami isn't a team that will go route one.
Sporting Kansas City is bunkering and hoping that they can hit Miami on the counter but it's giving the Herons too much possession. All Miami needs is one goal and this game will be blown open.
Just wide from Suarez as Miami has had the biggest chance of the match so far. This game is moving quickly as both teams are trying their best to stay warm in the early going.
Kansas City has a heated pitch. Unlike last night's frozen pitch in Colorado, the teams can move the ball which will be helpful in making this look like a soccer match instead of being on a skating rink.
Messi shows that he can do it on a freezing night in Kansas City with a great ball from Sergio Busquets finding the feet of Lionel Messi and putting the Herons up 1-0.
It's a cold one in Kansas City as the temperature is around four degrees as the match is about to kick off.
Considering the conditions, the players might rather attempt to survive rather than put any big preseason plans on display. Expect a low-scoring game as a result, but one in which Miami's high-profile players may still manage one or two moments of brilliance to come out of the frigid game with a win. Pick: Sporting Kansas City 0, Inter Miami 1
A lot of pressure will be on Dejan Joveljic to score in his full debut for SKC
Starters: John Pulskamp, Robert Voloder, Dany Rosero, Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodriguez, Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi, Tim Leibold, Jacom Bartlett, Jake Davis, Erik Thommy
No Jordi Alba in the squad but Miami has named a strong side for this clash
Starters: Oscar Ustari, Gonzalo Lujan, Sergio Busquets, Tomas Aviles, Telasco Segovia, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Tadeo Allende, Noah Allen, Federico Redondo, Marcelo Weigandt.
Inter Miami will kick off their season with it being below five degrees at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City. With a frozen pitch, anything can happen but with a packed schedule this season, the Concacaf Champions Cup can't postpone this clash further. These aren't conditions that helps anyone, but if Sporting Kansas City can use it to their advantage, this could be quite an upset.
