Lionel Messi magic leaves Inter Miami teammates ‘applauding’ in training

The mercurial playmaker moved to the United States in 2023 – a matter of months after becoming a World Cup winner. Messi is the most decorated player of all-time, while boasting eight Ballons d’Or to his name, but has lost none of his appetite for success since arriving in Florida.

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His presence – alongside the likes of Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez – has helped to turn Inter Miami into serious contenders for every prize on offer. They are currently in the process of chasing down Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup glory in 2024.

Messi has an important role to play in those quests, as talismanic captain of the Herons, and Campana has told AS of what it is like to work with the Argentine GOAT: “Everyone wants to know what he’s like as a person. Since you have him around so much on a daily basis and you see him all the time, you end up assimilating the reality. He’s an incredible person, very calm, very humble. He brings out the best in each player and obviously I would love to be out there on the same pitch as him for as long as I can.”

Ecuador international Campana, who faces fierce competition for attacking berths at Chase Stadium, added on Messi training as he plays: “I have a memory from one of the first training sessions. He finished off an amazing move in training, scores a great goal and we all just stood up and started applauding. That’s what a player like him does to you, you don’t see it anywhere else. He scores great goals every day. People just see this here and say: ‘Wow!’ You can’t do anything else but marvel at him.”

Campana has become Inter Miami’s all-time leading goalscorer this season, overtaking Gonzalo Higuain, but that is another record that Messi has in his sights – with the evergreen 37-year-old taking his overall tally to 28 through 33 appearances.