Lionel Messi’s debut in an Inter Miami jersey brought out a star-studded sellout crowd including the likes of LeBron James and Serena Williams. What they witnessed was a moment unlike few in American soccer history. MLSist on scenes from the stands:
. Cold, calculated, Messi steps over the ball and strikes it with his left instep, curling it past the outstretched fingertips of Cruz Azul’s goalie. The entire stadium erupts in a ground-shaking ovation as Messi streaks toward the corner flag, taking his teammates in his arms once he gets there.
Most fans are in hysterics, but a few are entirely silent, frozen in disbelief. The look on Messi’s own face — a wide-eyed smile, his eyes full of amazement — seems to give the impression that even he couldn’t believe what he just did. There are a few “influencers” mixed in with the photographers and cameramen behind the north ad boards, and one holds his phone aloft, in selfie mode, screaming in Spanglish.Moments later, the match is over.
Hudson is Florida soccer royalty, an important piece of Fort Lauderdale’s previous pro side, the NASL’s Strikers. In the ‘70s at Lockhart Stadium — which once sat on the earth where DRV PNK does today — he played alongside giants of the game like George Best and Gerd Muller, helping proselytize the game of soccer to unconverted Americans. He fell in love with Fort Lauderdale, too, settling there permanently after he hung up his boots.
Yet now, as this little seaside city prepares to welcome arguably the greatest player in the history of soccer, Hudson can’t bring himself to be in attendance. As Hudson puts it, the “operatic high notes” of Messi’s MLS career will be called by someone else. Hudson himself will sit on his porch and see the din of the stadium lights on the horizon. And he’ll listen.“You can hear the roar of the crowd from there,” says Hudson. “I’ll have a good bottle of wine, just Joan and I and the cat.
Later in the evening, I have to assume, the symphony of noise that succeeded Messi’s match-winner probably made its way over to Hudson.
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