Anger, frustration and two more goals — Messi shows it all as Inter Miami tops rival Orlando | Opinion

Lionel Messi in three games for Inter Miami has shown the brilliance that made him world-renowned. Wednesday night vs. rival Orlando City we also saw, for the first time here, the megastar’s temper and anger. His frustration, too — and the brilliance, of course. Mostly that.

We saw the full measure of Messi this time, the power and the passion, the foot and the fire, as the new era in Miami continued almost too perfectly to believe.

Miami is now 3-0 since Messi’s arrival, and he has five goals — including two more Wednesday to spark a 3-1 home victory over rival Orlando City. Miami advances to the Round of 16 in the Leagues Cup, in a knockout (elimination) game that ended Orlando’s run and left Messi’s new team still with championship hopes in the tournament .

Miami also would score on Josef Martinez’s penalty-kick goal in the 51st minute, but the result again revolved around Messi, this time inspired by the emotion he showed against a defensively aggressive Orlando City.

Messi not only scored twice but also drew a yellow card, probably should have gotten a second one that would have caused his ejection and spent much time gesturing at and jawing with the referee over perceived fouls not whistled. In the tunnel after the first half Messi yelled at Orlando’s Cesar Araujo and appeared to briefly shove him before a teammate stepped between them.

In the 58th minute Messi was knocked to the ground and lay wincing in pain for two minutes after a hard chest-to-chest collision initiated by Mauricio Pereyra, who drew a yellow.

But the frustration was not Messi’s alone.

Orlando coach Oscar Pareja blasted the officiating afterward, especially the referee’s failure to call for a video review of the disputed penalty-kick call that Martinez converted.

“It becomes a circus. Today was a circus,” Pareja said. “The PK, just go to see it. We are very frustrated. People want to see soccer. The thing has to be fair. This was not the case.”

Miami coach Tata Martino called Orlando’s physical tactics against Messi are something opponents will continue to try.

“Just like when Barcelona play Real Madrid, these same things happen,” he said. “We faced a very difficult opponent. It was very demanding.”

On Messi’s part, we saw a temper not seen in his first two appearances for Inter Miami as the Lions tried and failed to jostle and manhandle him off his game.

Messi just won a World Cup for Argentina. He as won seven Ballon d’Or trophies as global player of the year. He has known, and caused, success throughout his epic career.

Now he has joined what has been the worst team in Major League Soccer and, after leading consecutive wins, Messi on Wednesday at times showed a frustration we wondered if he might have dealing with losses.

We shall see, because none of those losses yet, three games in.

Comically, at 8:30 p.m. as the rain finally let up at an again-sold-out DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, four men with giant squeegees were pushing puddling water from midfield to another part of the pitch. Seriously. Are squeegees the height of available technology? Just asking. Like, nobody has invented a machine that drives across a field sucking up rainfall? (Can I get a patent on that, please?)

I would have had Messi up in a biplane cloud-seeding or something. Or better yet in the center circle in a Biblical robe holding up a giant staff commanding the rain and lightning desist. (I mean, you have a supernatural being such as a Lionel Messi, you take advantage, no?)

Left to squeegees and meteorological fates, the match finally kicked off at 9:35 p.m. — more than 1 1/2 hours late.

Lesson: Messi is always worth the wait.

South Florida waited 36 years and against all odds to call him our own. What was another 95 minutes waiting out the lightning and deluge of rain Wednesday night for the soccer match to finally start?

Inter Miami faced its MLS arch rival in Orlando City. “Arch rival” might be a stretch when the shared history of the teams is all of four years. But these are state rivals, and all the more so because Orlando has been the big brother, the older, better team.

Well, until now.

Everything has changed in a fast minute.

Now Inter Miami fans can play the following game with fans of any other MLS team (or most the teams on Earth):

“The two faces out front of our team are Lionel Messi and David Beckham. Who you got, Mouseville?”

That’s not to mention Messi’s former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba both also joining him in Miami — the new Big 3 in local sports, with Alba introduced Wednesday night and entering to big applause in the second half.

Orlando had won or drawn eight of 11 all-time meetings with Inter Miami, including a 3-1 MLS win in May. The northern rival is fifth in the MLS East this season and on playoff pace. Miami — all without Messi — stands dead last at 15th in the East and would need a late miracle to reach the playoffs.

But that’s for later. MLS games do not resume for Miami until Aug. 20.

And Wednesday was another indication of Messi’s immediate impact as the script flipped in one night against the rival that mostly had had its way in this series.

Before the MLS schedule resumes there is the interlude for the Leagues Cup, a bragging-rights event pitting MLS teams vs. those of Liga MX, Mexico’;s premier pro league.

Miami advanced in the Leagues Cup by beating Cruz Azul 2-1 on Messi’s late winning free kick off the bench in his debut, then routing MLS team Atlanta United 4-0 on two more goals from Messi in his first start.

Orlando would be the best MLS team that Messi had yet faced.

No worry. Two more goals from him and another triumph.

Wednesday we saw firsthand what anger and frustration in Messi looked like.

But it’s the brilliance that again showed most of all.

Expectations for Messi coming to America were absurdly, unrealistically high.

Three games in, he has met them all.