“He gotta go play against these cupcakes?” – NFL icon says MLS is ‘just too easy’ for Lionel Messi after sparkling start at Inter Miami

Former NFL star Damien Woody, who played for teams like New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, and New York Jets, thinks that the Major League Soccer (MLS) is too easy for Lionel Messi.

Messi has gotten off to a stunning start to life as an Inter Miami player, scoring five goals and providing one assist in three matches across competitions. Woody has now said that playing in US Soccer looks too easy for the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner.

Speaking about Messi, Woody told ESPN:

“Messi makes soccer look easy. This is just too easy. It is just too easy. It’s like taking candy from a baby. It’s almost like he is stealing right now. With the revenue and everything that’s coming his way, he gotta go play against these cupcakes? Life is sweet.”

Lionel Messi has helped Inter Miami win all three matches since joining the MLS club as a free agent. The team, co-owned by David Beckham, have reached the round of 16 of the Leagues Cup after defeating Orlando City in the round of 32, in a game where Messi scored a brace.

They will play FC Dallas on Sunday in the last-16 showdown. The game will mark the first away match of Messi's Inter Miami career.

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Sergio Aguero spoke about Lionel Messi's decision to join Inter Miami

Lionel Messi looked certain to leave Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent for a while. He was heavily linked with a return to Barcelona while Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal were also interested in the Argentina captain.

Messi, however, decided to join Inter Miami and pursue the next chapter of his career at the MLS club. Sergio Aguero explained that Messi might have taken the decision after thinking from the perspective of his family. He told Stake.com:

“I think that at the end of this stage, with the age that Leo [Lionel Messi] and Cristiano are, and many players aged 32 and 33, maybe they are tired of so much demand to be at a high level. I think that Leo opted for him and his family to be well and to be able to play as relaxed as possible; and in the other case if he had been playing in Europe, obviously that the requirement is different and so he can’t play his last years the way he wanted, which is to enjoy, right?"

Aguero further added that Messi chose Miami over a move to Saudi Arabia as the Argentine feels that his family will feel more convenient in the American city. Lionel Messi has certainly gotten on well with his life in Miami so far.