Lionel Messi steps into the unknown at rock-bottom MLS side Inter Miami

It was business as usual for Lionel Messi during the recent international break with the World Cup-winning Argentine scoring goals and winning games.

Messi's beautiful left-footed finish inside 80 seconds of the friendly victory over Australia in Beijing – delighting a capacity 68,000 crowd of Chinese fans, a vast majority of whom sported the blue and white kit of Argentina, most with the same five-letter name on the back – has been recognised as the fastest goal the 36-year-old has ever scored.

Initial reports were unsure whether it was merely the quickest he had scored for his country or in his entire career; when you have hit the target more than 800 times for club and country, lines can become blurred.

The next time Messi pulls on a football shirt it will be for his new club side Inter Miami. The reception he receives will be one of reverence as the biggest signing in Major League Soccer history.

Messi finished his time in France with Paris Saint-Germain by winning a second Ligue 1 title in a row – his 12th domestic championship as a player – but the chances of him making it 13 in the United States this season appear slim, to say the least.

At the weekend, Miami were hammered 4-1 away to Philadelphia Union, a result that leaves them bottom of the 15-team Eastern Conference. It was a seventh consecutive defeat, having also lost six on the trot earlier in the campaign.

Only Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference have accrued less than Miami's 15 points from 18 games and the club, co-owned by former England star David Beckham, are in dire straights.

To play a part in the end of season play-offs, Miami need to finish in the top nine; they are 11 points shy of the final spot.

“We are hurting and the feeling after this