Loons beat Miami 4-1 as soccer fans watch Messi in action at Allianz Field

Soccer legend Lionel Messi scored Inter Miami’s only goal as Minnesota United secured a 4-1 victory at Allianz Field in St. Paul.

Minnesota’s Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Anthony Markanich and Robin Lod scored goals during the game, and Tani Oluwaseyi directed a header towards the goal when Miami defender Marcelo Weigandt deflected the ball back into his team’s net.

Hlongwane and Lod both scored their first goal of the season, while Julian Gressel made his home match debut as a substitute.

Fowziya Mohamed, 19, of Apple Valley attended the Minnesota United versus Inter Miami game wearing Lionel Messi’s Argentina national team jersey. 

“I believe he is the best player of all time. He's just amazing,” she said. 

Mohamed has been a Lionel Messi fan since childhood. When she heard he was playing in Minnesota, she told her brother they had to buy tickets. 

“It’s my first time seeing him. I’m really excited,” she said. It was also her first time attending a game at Allianz Field. 

What did it mean to see Messi in person? 

“Everything,” she said.

Brendan Cummins and his family also attended the game to see Messi.  

“It’s amazing,” he said. “It’s emotionally inspiring. You know, we’ve been fans forever and he’s just an artist with the soccer ball.”

The St. Paul family often attends Major League Soccer games. They were glad to see Messi play in their city after missing him on their visit to Barcelona, where the Argentine played for nearly two decades. 

“It’s kind of amazing what he does for soccer as well,” said Brendan’s son, Sebastian Cummins, as the family waited to get into Allianz Field ahead of the game. 

“The line’s never been this long,” he said. “I feel like everyone is here just to see him and also maybe they’ll come and like the Loons as well.”

Meredith Wold and her family handed out free shirts to promote their family business, Quality Moving & Storage. She said they also wanted to use Lionel Messi’s presence in Minnesota to help promote the Loons: the shirts have a checklist on the back promoting Minnesota players alongside Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, another star soccer.

“The sort of fervor around this game is really fun and we’re season ticket holders, so we come to every game, and we just thought, ‘What a neat way to kind of engage with other MLS fans in a way that we hadn’t before,’” Wold said. 

Photojournalist Ellen Schmidt documented the 19,710 fans in attendance and excitement at the match on Saturday.

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