The respect imposed by Lionel Messi at Inter Miami is not only for his performance as a player, but also as a leader, and he demonstrated this in the recent commitment that his club made against Philadelphia Union in the Leagues Cup.
In the match that took place on Tuesday, August 15, the 'Pulga' shone by scoring the second goal of the 'rosado' team's victory, but he also had a tense moment when defending a youth player from his squad.
Messi did not tolerate that 19-year-old Noah Allan suffered a hard foul by Venezuelan José Andrés Martínez in the midst of a dispute for the ball, and he reacted against his opponent with an irate message.
After seeing the unnecessary kick from the Philadelphia Union player to his youth teammate, he stepped forward to reprimand him, even other players intervened to put an end to the complaints.
"How can you kick him like that while he's on the ground?" said the former PSG and Barcelona player as he approached, while José Andrés Martínez denied that he had hurt Noah Allan.
The play of José Andrés Martínez that angered Messi:
Source: Bleacher Report