David Beckham reflects on a whirlwind five weeks at Inter Miami after Lionel Messi transformed the team into cup winners – but admits he still doesn’t like penalties despite his team’s shootout win over Nashville!

An emotional David Beckham admitted he can hardly believe how much Inter Miami have improved after Lionel Messi arrived just five weeks ago and turned them into Leagues Cup winners. 

Miami won their first ever trophy with a 10-9 victory on penalties after finishing tied 1-1 with Nashville after 90 minutes. Lionel Messi scored another sensational strike before goalkeeper Drake Callendar became the hero in the shootout, saving from opposite number Elliot Panicco after scoring his spot-kick for Miami.

‘I mean, I’m not the biggest fan of penalties,’ Beckham said in the tunnel of Geodis Park after watching his team lift the trophy. ‘It’s never easy watching these games end like this. 

‘Every penalty was incredible, it was a hell of a night. Nashville put up an incredible fight but it was our night tonight.

‘People keep saying it looks like a movie – every time Leo scores one of these goals, Busi makes one of these passes, Jordi makes one of these runs. 

Beckham was emotional after the game as he took in the scenes with wife Victoria

‘People say is it a fix and it is the biggest compliment you can give these players because it is like a movie.

‘You watch them play and it is emotional. Everything about their play is beautiful.’ 

It crowned a whirlwind five weeks for Miami who went into the Leagues Cup as the worst team in Major League Soccer. But with Messi, they haven’t yet been beaten.

And Beckham looked visibly moved as he took a moment to soak up the celebrations on the field in Nashville after the game with his wife Victoria and two of his children, son Cruz and daughter Harper.

‘A lot can happen in five weeks!’ Beckham admitted. ‘A lot has changed for us, we will enjoy tonight and then we have to look to the future and continue to build. 

‘We have some of the best players, if not the best player, in the world out there for us wearing pink. We have a bunch of academy players out there too and that is incredibly important.’

‘It’s an emotional night for all of us. It has been a long journey for me. It has been a long journey, I always knew there would be bumps in the road along the way and there was too many, to be honest. Tonight is a night we are going to enjoy.’

DeAndre Yedlin, who gave the Miami captain’s armband to Messi when he arrived, admitted things have changed for the better around the locker room. But Messi insisted on lifting the trophy alongside his new teammate.

Beckham, a Miami co-owner, poses with the trophy after his team’s win against Nashville

Beckham admitted he struggled watching the penalty shootout even with his side winning it

‘We walk in to places now, we expect to win. I can’t say that was a factor every time we played before,’ Yedlin said. ‘It was incredible (they lifted the trophy together) and it says it all about his character.

‘It is our seventh game together as a group. It is strange, we are still kind of learning on the go. 

‘But now we have a semifinal in four days (against Cincinnati in the US Open Cup). It’s an opportunity for another trophy.’