Even with short appearance, Messi leaves indelible impression in Toronto

Lionel Messi swept through Toronto like a whirlwind this weekend and even though local fans only managed to get a brief glimpse of him, the Argentine ace still left an indelible impression on them. 

Messi started on the bench before coming on as a second half substitute in Inter Miami’s 1-0 win over Toronto FC in MLS regular season action on Saturday. The World Cup winner wasn’t involved in teammate Leonardo Campana’s highlight-reel winning goal deep into injury time. In truth, Messi didn’t influence the final result and had a rather quiet night, a small point of pride for TFC coach John Herdman 

“I thought we did all right against Messi,” Herdman told reporters after the game. 

But the announced crowd of 30,217 spectators who were lucky enough to be in attendance still managed to witness one of the greatest soccer players of all time — some would say the greatest — plying his trade on the chewed-up pitch at BMO Field. 

Hundreds of fans showered Messi with love while waiting outside Inter Miami’s hotel in downtown Toronto as the team’s bus pulled out and headed towards the stadium. Thousands lined the sidewalk outside of BMO Field as the bus arrived and Messi and his teammates headed inside.  

A standing ovation came from the terraces of the stadium when Messi took his place on the Inter Miami bench before the start of the game. When he got up to warm up on the touchline early in the second half, thousands of arms instantly jetted into the air, each with a cellphone that took a video or a photo of the legendary player. 

Finally, after 61 minutes of agonizing anticipation, Messi was subbed into the match by Miami coach Tata Martino, drawing a thunderous response from the crowd. Each touch of the ball he took thereafter, no matter how benign or meaningless, was greeted with more ravenous applause from the crowd.  

Martino revealed he made the decision on Friday to start Messi on the bench against Toronto after he and several other of Miami's regular starters logged heavy minutes in the team’s midweek win over the Columbus Crew and last weekend’s draw vs. Charlotte FC. 

“It was logical that after two [tough matches] we should make a squad rotation and changes,” Martino explained. 

There would be no slalom-like runs through Toronto’s defence from Messi, the kind for which he has become famous. No free kicks scored from an impossible distance. No moment of Messi magic. The closest we got was the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner making a probing 15-yard solo run down the middle before passing off to a teammate who didn’t even manage to get a shot on net. 

But it didn’t matter. He was in Toronto, in the flesh. After not making a trip to Vancouver for a match against the Whitecaps earlier this season, Messi showed up in Canada’s largest city for a game that was meaningless, Miami having already clinched a playoff berth and the Supporters’ Shield as the MLS regular-season champions. 

And Toronto fans were grateful to him. One young fan, dressed in a jersey of Messi’s former club Barcelona, managed to run onto the pitch in hopes of meeting his hero. Messi’s personal bodyguard intercepted him, but before being whisked away, Messi indulged the youngster by taking a quick selfie with him. A much older fan tried to do the same a few moments later but wasn’t so fortunate. Security guards roughed him up before dragging him away. 

At times, Saturday’s game felt like a Harlem Globetrotters vs. Washington Generals exhibition. Not because Miami was so dominant. In fact, Toronto was the better team on the balance of play and were unlucky to not walk away with at least a point.  

But TFC were an afterthought. Everyone came to see Messi. The fact that Toronto was playing its home finale of the season and fighting to stay alive in an ultra-tight playoff race in MLS’ Eastern Conference didn’t matter in the least. 

Messi was the show. The thousands of fans adorned in Inter Miami and Argentina national team jerseys couldn’t have cared less about TFC. At times, it felt like a road game for Toronto FC, as chants of “Messi! Messi! Messi!” vibrated throughout BMO Field. 

Herdman described it as “a wild night” for his club. 

“It's tough, eh. You're in a game like that and you're expecting the last 30 minutes to feel like it's a pressure cooker for everyone, and it felt like a circus,” Herdman said. 

“You know, when you bring the best player that's ever walked the earth, I mean, what do you expect? I mean, it's just a gift for the fans, the people of Toronto, to be able to see that man in the flesh. So, I understand it,” Herdman said.