American podcasters question whether Lionel Messi's Inter Miami debut was 'rigged'

A bunch of American podcasters have questioned whether Lionel Messi's debut for Inter Miami was 'rigged'.

Messi joined the MLS side following his Paris Saint-Germain departure and he made an instant impact on his first appearance for the club.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner entered the fray against Cruz Azul as a second-half substitute and scored a last-minute winner.

He produced a moment of magic to convert a free-kick deep, deep into stoppage time to hand his team the win.

Some American podcasters, however, aren't convinced with the authenticity of Messi's debut, suggesting it was 'rigged' while constantly describing the free-kick as a 'penalty'.

One podcaster says: "Do you think it's rigged or nah?

"So, Messi, it's his first game in the MLS. The game it's tied up. So when it's tied up, it goes to penalty kicks, right?

"And Messi, he comes in and scores the winning penalty kick."

Another podcaster exclaimed: "He scored the winning penalty kick in his first game."

A third podcaster chimes in, adding: "That can just be coincidence though."

A podcaster replied: "It could be. Yeah he's a legend too."

One of the podcasters then couldn't wrap his head around who takes the 'penalty'.

He said: "So my question is how do they pick the person that's going to do the penalty? Is that the person that gets penalised or that gets the penalty against them."

Someone from out of the frame said: "They do it by like team captain, and then from there they do it in order of like..."

Lionel Messi in action for Inter Miami. Image: Getty

Naturally, people on social media couldn't believe the exchange between the American podcasters.

One Twitter user wrote: "Maybe they should learn about football before speaking about it first."

A second tweeted: "It’s a free kick. You can’t captain an entire league. Please please please stay away from this sport."

A third added: "We shouldn’t allow Americans to talk about football."

A fourth commented: "Must be a parody. This can't be real."

Another said: "People just straight up start talking about anything on podcasts without understanding it."

Topics: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, Football, Fan Reactions

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

@NasJabbar