Tata Martino’s ‘Genius’ Praised for Lionel Messi’s Historic Performance Against NY Red Bulls by MLS Legend

Tata Martino is an underrated manager in the soccer world. The Argentine tactician has had great spells at Barcelona and the Argentina National Team. It is worth remembering that Martino and Lionel Messi reached consecutive Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016. Moreover, he is the one who helped Inter Miami win their first title in history! Yet he never seemed to get the plaudits he deserved. Pundit Sacha Kljestan has no doubts regarding Martino’s managerial brilliance. He credits the manager’s tactical change in the second half of the Red Bulls match for unlocking the best in Messi.

On the MLS Wrap-Up, Kljestan lauded Martino’s decision to bring on midfielder Matias Rojas against the Red Bulls. At that moment, the Herons were trailing 0-1 but Rojas levelled things up. Kljestan said, “You have to remember with all of this is that Rojas comes on at halftime for this game, it’s a genius move from Tata Martino to bring on a player who can make a difference.” Notably, it was a clever pass from Lionel Messi that led to Rojas’ strike. The pundit added, “It was a game-changing move from Tata and Rojas showed his quality.” However, the duo wasn’t done there.

Rojas soon scored a second goal and overtook Messi in the scoring sheet. Veteran striker Luis Suarez then scored a hat-trick to win the game 6-2. However, the talking point of the game remained the Argentine playmaker. Lionel Messi made MLS history as he made 6 goal contributions (1 goal, 5 assists) in the game. However, this was just 1 of the few records Messi achieved on the night.

A flurry of records for Lionel Messi

6 goal contributions in a match are absurd and rightly talked about. However, amid the fanfare, some of the other records achieved by Messi seem to have been forgotten. For starters, Lionel Messi has now provided the most assists in an MLS game. Speaking of assists, La Pulga is also now Inter Miami’s all-time leading assist maker. A gentle reminder that it took him just 25 matches!

Moreover, the Argentine sensation also made some non-MLS history as well. Lionel Messi is now the only soccer player to have scored 5 goals and provided 5 assists in a soccer game. Back in the 2012 UCL game against Bayer Leverkusen, the Inter Miami captain had scored 5 goals. Furthermore, his efforts against the NY Red Bulls saw Messi cross 1200 goal contributions in his career. His nearest competitor is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 1140 contributions.