Inter Miami nightmare own goal is a bad welcome back for Lionel Messi from World Cup

MLS ran an ad campaign in the closing stages of the World Cup that included the phrase, "We'll take it from here."

They want fans who grew to love soccer during this summer's global tournament to keep watching the sport domestically in the United States.

That's a great idea, but some fans have quickly mocked it.

Those who turned on Inter Miami's match with Chicago on Wednesday night were treated very early on to a horrific own goal.

This is not how a defense draws up navigating the ball out of their own end:

I decided to give the MLS a shot after watching the entire World Cup. Then this happened. 🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/BCOSW1RcL0

Obviously, MLS isn't close to that bad all the time. It's actually a pretty solid league, a mixture of older players who have achieved big things elsewhere, as well as younger players still on the rise.

There are plenty of moments of high quality, including this backheel assist to set up a Luis Suarez goal in that same game:

It's not going to be at the same level or intensity of a World Cup, though. That's just how it works.

In particular as players try to get integrated back within their teams after being away from the World Cup -- like Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, who isn't back on the pitch yet with his club team so soon after losing the World Cup Final -- it could all take some time.

It's definitely ironic that such a brutal own goal moment happened so soon into the league's return, right when fans were starting to tune in. MLS won't give up trying to bring in more fans, and it'll just have to overcome that serious blooper.

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