Lionel Messi finally puts ‘cold Tuesday night in Stoke’ theory to bed

LIONEL MESSI has finally put an age-old argument to bed after playing in conditions that are COLDER than a Tuesday night in Stoke.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner is seen by many as the greatest footballer of all time.

However, one of the main arguments against his legacy is his lack of game time in colder weather due to his career mainly being played out in sunny Spain or Argentina.

This is commonly related to Stoke, where games are typically dogged by windy, wet and cold weather in the evenings, hence the phrase: "Can they do it on a cold, rainy night in Stoke?"

But in Inter Miami's first competitive game of 2025 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup’s first round, Lionel Messi was forced to swap the pristine weather of Florida for the brisk conditions in Kansas City.

It had sensationally been reported the 37-year-old did not want to play in the "blistering cold" the game was set to be played through.

Temperatures dropped as low as -17 degrees Celsius (1.4 Fahrenheit) during the game.

Regardless, Messi was named in the starting XI by Inter Miami boss Javier Mascherano and was seen wearing gloves for the occasion in a rare sight.

After a goalless first half, the Argentine made his impact known as he scored a stunning match-winner ten minutes into the half.

A pass was pinged forward by Sergio Busquets, with Messi taking the ball down on his chest and then dribbling to the right of a bamboozled defender with a left-foot touch to open up some space.

He then arrowed a shot across the goal from a tight angle, finding the bottom corner to give Inter a 1-0 advantage ahead of the home leg at Chase Stadium next week.

Fans were stunned at the goal but also believed it finally laid one of the arguments against him to rest.

One fan said on social media: "The argument 'Could Messi do it on a cold Tuesday night vs Stoke' is now put to bed, the Goat can do it with ease."

A second said: "No way people said he couldn’t do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke."

A third added: "GOAT for a reason."

His boss Mascherano was also impressed, calling his effort "fantastic" before adding: "(I’m) very proud because I think it’s impossible to play in these conditions.

"Is not human, you know. So I’m very proud, because they gave me 100 per cent...

"Maybe for the people that know him (Messi) it’s normal because he did goals like this 1,000 times.

"But we are very lucky to have him here."

Inter Miami's first Major League Soccer game of the season is this weekend against New York City FC at home.