Messi's last-second assist lifts Inter Miami over Atlas 2-1 in Leagues Cup

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi had two assists, including one in the final seconds of the match, to help lift Inter Miami over Atlas 2-1 in their Leagues Cup opener on Wednesday night.

It was Messi's first game since he and teammate Jordi Alba were suspended one match by Major League Soccer for skipping its All-Star game. He connected with Marcelo Weigandt for the winning score in the final minute of stoppage time.

“It's a competition that we always do well in,” Messi said in Spanish during a post-match interview with Apple TV. “I think we did a great job against a great team.”

Messi also assisted on Telasco Segovia's goal that opened scoring. He received a through ball from Sergio Busquets and sent it to Segovia for an easy finish in the 58th.

Rivaldo Lozano scored the equalizer for the Guadalajara club in the 80th minute before Weigandt's goal in the 96th that had to be confirmed by VAR after he was originally ruled offside.

That meant five assists in July for Messi, who was named the Major League Soccer Player of the Month after netting eight goals and helping Miami go 4-1-1 in league play.

Both sides had their chances during a chippy first half that saw a brief heated exchange between Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano and Atlas coach Gonzalo Pineda after an Atlas player went down.

“It’s just a soccer situation,” Pineda said through an interpreter, adding that he was upset when play continued. “I was protesting that play. I told him (Mascherano) that it was nothing against him, just a soccer play. We talked about it in the dressing room, nothing beyond that.”

Miami goalkeeper Rocco Ríos Novo had three saves in the first half, including one in which he slid over to deny Eduardo Aguirre on a header to the back post. Luis Suárez blasted a shot off the crossbar on the final play of the first half.

Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul made his Inter Miami debut. De Paul, Messi’s national team buddy, officially signed with the club last week.

After Weigandt's goal was confirmed, fireworks erupted at Chase Stadium. Messi pumped his fist in celebration as he embraced De Paul and Suárez.

Pineda said he was surprised to see Messi so happy to win the match, given how many high-stakes games the 38-year-old has played in.

“He’s won so much," Pineda said. "He’s usually quite (even-keeled) in general.”

Mascherano said the celebrations were a response to winning a tense match.

“We play to win,” Mascherano said through an interpreter. “That’s what this beautiful sport is about. ... The way that we celebrated is probably just a way to vent how we felt at the time. We won a game that we didn’t play brilliantly, and at the final second, in an epic way, we were able to win it.”

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Inter Miami midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, right, and forward Lionel Messi arrive ahead of a Leagues Cup group stage soccer match against Atlas, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, back, attempts to score past Atlas defender Doria (5) and goalkeeper Camilo Vargas (12) during the first half of a Leagues Cup group stage soccer match, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Atlas defender Jose Lozano (17) celebrates with substitutes warming up on the sideline after scoring his side's first goal against Inter Miami, during the second half of a Leagues Cup group stage soccer match, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Inter Miami midfielder Telasco Segovia, right, celebrates scoring his side's first goal, along with teammates forward Lionel Messi, second right, and midfielder Sergio Busquets, second left, during the second half of a Leagues Cup group stage soccer match against Atlas, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, right, is pursued by Atlas defender Doria (5) during the first half of a Leagues Cup group stage soccer match, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban soldiers wearing white gloves marched out of a plane on Thursday carrying urns with the remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela as trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport.

Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of the Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies of colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The shoes of Cuban soldiers clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, next to Revolution Square, with the urns and placed them on a long table next to the pictures of those slain so people could pay their respects.

Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized in almost half a century.

Hours earlier, state television showed images of more than a dozen wounded people accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. Some were in wheelchairs.

The official announcer indicated that they were “combatants” who had been “wounded” in Venezuela. They were greeted by the Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez, and the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Álvaro López Miera.

Those injured and the bodies of those killed arrived as tensions grow between Cuba and U.S., with President Donald Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.

Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb as commander of Cuba's Armed Forces, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those slain looking on nearby.

Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casa said Venezuela was not a distant land for those killed, but a “natural extension of their homeland.”

“The enemy speaks to an audience of high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy,” Álvarez said in apparent reference to the U.S. “We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”

Álvarez called those slain “heroes,” saying that they were example of honor and “a lesson for those who waver.”

“We reaffirm that if this painful chapter of history has demonstrated anything, it is that imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.

Thousands of Cubans lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.

“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” said Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, adding that she hopes no one invades given the ongoing threats.

When asked why she showed up despite the difficulties Cubans face, Gómez replied, "It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”

Cuba recently released the names and ranks of 32 military personnel — ranging in age from 26 to 60 — who were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the raid on his residence on January 3. They included members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the island’s two security agencies.

Cuban and Venezuelan authorities have said that the uniformed personnel were part of protection agreements between the two countries.

Meanwhile, a demonstration was planned for Friday across from the U.S. Embassy in an open-air forum known as the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Officials have said they expect the demonstration to be massive.

“People are upset and hurt. There’s a lot of talk on social media; but many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.

In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders living in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes returning to their island.

In December 1989, officials organized “Operation Tribute” to honor the remains of more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in the war that defeated the South African army and ended the apartheid system. In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.

A day before the remains of those slain arrived in Cuba, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced $3 million in relief aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa, which struck in late October.

The first flight took off from Florida on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.

“We have taken extraordinary measures to ensure that this assistance reaches the Cuban people directly, without interference or diversion by the illegitimate regime,” Rubio said, adding that the U.S. government was working with Cuba's Catholic Church.

The announcement riled Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.

“The U.S. government is exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes,” he said in a statement. “As a matter of principle, Cuba does not oppose assistance from governments or organizations, provided it benefits the people and the needs of those affected are not used for political gain under the guise of humanitarian aid.”

Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)