Messi Helps Inter Miami Stay Undefeated in Preseason
Herons rout Olimpia 5-0 in Honduras
Lionel Messi scored a goal and had two assists as Inter Miami beat Olimpia 5-0 in Honduras on Feb. 8, 2025. Inter Miami CF
When little-used defender Ryan Sailor scores, Inter Miami is having a very good match — or a very, very bad one.
It was all good Saturday in Honduras. Lionel Messi scored and dished out two assists in 63 minutes as the Herons beat Olimpia 5-0. Fede Redondo, Noah Allen, Luis Suarez and Sailor scored Miami’s other goals in the preseason friendly.
The match was never close. Messi started the scoring in the 27th minute and set up goals by Redondo (44th minute) and Allen in first-half stoppage time (45+2), sending the Herons to the locker room with a 3-0 advantage.
Suarez tapped home a pass from Benjamin Cremaschi in the 54th minute and Sailor scored in the 79th minute after a scramble in front of goal; he came into the pitch just eight minutes earlier.
The Herons won their second straight friendly in Central America after draws in their first two preseason matches (Inter Miami won penalty shootouts after both ties).
The Olimpia match was the first this preseason in which Messi played fewer than 70 minutes.
One of new coach Javier Mascheranos’ biggest challenges will be managing his 37-year-old superstar’s minutes. The Pink & Black set a Major League Soccer record with 74 points last season, earning them the 2025 Supporters’ Shield as the league’s best regular season team. But the trophy was no consolation to Inter Miami’s players, fans or brass as the Herons suffered early exits from the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Liga MX/MLS Leagues Cup and the MLS Cup playoffs — the latter an embarrassing first-round loss to ninth-seeded Atlanta United.
The Herons have focused on shoring up the defense and improving talent in every position to help navigate the club’s ambitious 2025 schedule, which includes competing in the FIFA Club World Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup and Leagues Cup (after skipping the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup last year, the Herons will enter Inter Miami II in the nation’s oldest and, some would say, most prominent soccer competition in 2025).
Inter Miami has one preseason match to play, against in-state rival Orlando City SC on Friday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The Herons will begin pursuit of the CONCACAF Champions Cup at Sporting KC on Feb. 18 and begin the MLS regular season Feb. 22 by hosting New York City FC.