After contentious summer, MLS boss has nothing but praise for Messi

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Don Garber says he’s going to look back on his time as Major League Soccer commissioner, and not believe he had Lionel Messi in his league. 

Garber is ecstatic Messi, who joined Inter Miami in July 2023, re-signed on a three-year contract extension to remain with the club through 2028. Messi’s contract was set to expire at the end of the 2025 season. 

Garber presented Messi with the MLS Golden Boot award, for leading the league with 29 goals in 28 games during the regular season, before Inter Miami hosted Nashville SC in Game 1 of their best-of-three, first-round series in the MLS Cup playoffs on Friday, Oct. 24. 

Messi hoisted the trophy above his head, then jogged back toward the locker room area before the national anthem began. 

Messi then scored two goals, Tadeo Allende added another and No. 3 Inter Miami beat No. 6 Nashville 3-1 in Game 1.

“I think he’s the unicorn of unicorns. There’s something about the way he’s wired in ways where you look at him, and he’s thinking about the game like nobody else ever has. His intensity and desire to win is what makes him the greatest of all time,” Garber said during a media briefing before the match. 

“There are a lot of really competitive players. But he has this special sauce, this dynamic that has him so focused on doing what he needs to do to win games. He doesn’t ever want to come out of the game. He’ll travel wherever he needs to travel. He’ll still do what he needs to do for his team off the field. That’s why he’s the G.O.A.T.”

Garber and Messi have apparently made up since their tiff earlier this season, when the commissioner suspended the Argentine World Cup champion for skipping the MLS All-Star Game in July. 

The two have had many conversations and interactions since, including Garber placing a medal around Messi’s neck when Inter Miami fell to the Seattle Sounders in the Leagues Cup tournament final in August. 

“He certainly seems pretty happy when he’s scoring goals the way he did. And he’ll be very happy to get the Golden Boot. Maybe, there are more awards coming for him in this year,” Garber said, regarding the MVP award. 

Messi was named a finalist for the MVP award Thursday along with Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga, San Diego’s Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC), Cincinnati’s Evander and Nashville’s Sam Surridge. The award is expected to be handed out before the MLS Cup final on Dec. 6. 

Garber credited Inter Miami managing co-owner Jorge Mas for his work on the deal to keep Messi with the club. The club is also co-owned by Jose Mas and David Beckham, while Messi will become a co-owner upon retirement.

“I don’t think we ever could have imagined that Leo would have been able to deliver for this club, for this city, and for this league the way he had. He has reset the trajectory for Major League Soccer, and we were already doing pretty well,” Garber said.

“I think having three more years is just going to be another gift. Hopefully, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s been just a thrill to watch him play and to see how happy he is here in Miami and here in the United States.”