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12/06 15:50 CST Messi and Inter Miami have completed their journey. They win the MLS Cup, topping Vancouver 3-1 Messi and Inter Miami have completed their journey. They win the MLS Cup, topping Vancouver 3-1 By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) --- Lionel Messi's legacy was long secured when he came to Inter Miami and joined Major League Soccer. He'd won a World Cup, won dozens of trophies, was generally considered the greatest player in the sport's history. He didn't need an MLS Cup. But he wanted one --- and got it. Messi and Inter Miami have completed their ascent, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 on Saturday in the MLS Cup final for the franchise's first championship. It came 2 1/2 years after the legend arrived in South Florida, a move that stunned plenty of onlookers at the time. He set up the title-clinching goal with a 72nd-minute assist to Rodrigo De Paul, a play where Messi stole the ball and threaded a pass through a tiny gap in a wall of Vancouver defenders. De Paul got it in stride, pushed it into the far corner of the net --- and Messi went airborne to hop into his arms a few seconds later, all smiles. And as the final minutes ticked away, Inter Miami's pink-clad fans --- most wearing Messi's No. 10 on their backs --- stood and stomped and cheered. South Florida has seen NFL and NBA and Major League Baseball and NHL titles in the past. It's a soccer town now, too. Messi made that happen. Tadeo Allende scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time --- off another Messi assist, of course --- to make it 3-1. Inter Miami became the 16th franchise in the league's 30-year history to win an MLS title. And this extends a run of parity for MLS, which has seen five different franchises win championships in the last five years and eight franchises claim a title in the last nine seasons --- only Columbus has won twice in that span. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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