Messi and Miami complete journey to MLS Cup title

Lionel Messi's legacy was long secured when he came to Inter Miami and joined Major League Soccer.

- BY TIM REYNOLDS

LIONEL MESSI hoists the trophy alongside teammates after beating Vancouver.

(DARRYL DYCK Canadian Press)

He'd won a World Cup, won dozens of trophies and generally was considered the greatest player in the sport's history.

He didn’t need an MLS Cup. But he wanted one — and got it.

Messi and Miami completed their ascent, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 on Saturday in the MLS Cup final for the franchise's first championship. It came 2½ years after the legend arrived in South Florida, a move that stunned plenty of onlookers at the time.

"They said soccer would never make it in America," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said during the trophy ceremony. "Inter Miami fans, has soccer made it?"

It has in South Florida, thanks to Messi. He set up the title-clinching goal with a 72nd-minute assist to Rodrigo De Paul, a play in which Messi stole the ball and threaded a pass through a tiny gap in a wall of Vancouver defenders. De Paul got it in stride, pushed it into the far corner of the net, and Messi went airborne to hop into his arms a few seconds later, all smiles.