Messi no-show prompts boos in Hong Kong, but Inter Miami focus on bigger picture

The stands at Hong Kong Stadium were filled to capacity with a crowd of about 40,000 people, and chants occasionally broke out. Starting in just a few sections, whispers echo throughout the arena.

“Messi! Messi! Messi!”

Argentina’s star player was sitting on the bench. And if you needed a reminder that despite the sold-out crowd, this is still just a preseason game, Lionel Messi stayed there.

Inter Miami’s star forward missed the club’s first pre-season tour match, which was a 4-1 win against the Hong Kong all-star team. His absence was not announced before the game. Messi was listed on the team sheet and was announced as one of the substitutes to a huge ovation before kick-off. He also participated in open practice the day before the game, although he did not play in the short-sided game during the game.

Messi was ruled out due to inflammation in his adductor (groin muscle), but the club had been monitoring the inflammation since before the second of the tour’s two matches in Saudi Arabia, and Messi was absent from the match against Al Nasr. I had an MRI scan before. Head coach Tata Martino said Messi was tested at the team hotel on Sunday morning and the decision was made not to take any risks.

Messi appeared on the pitch before the match wearing a pink hoodie, black pants and white tennis shoes, and kept his sneakers on after half-time. When the substitutes warmed up midway through the second half and he was not among them, the crowd began to feel that he might not be able to play.

Messi chants echoed through the stadium. Then, as the game approached the 70th minute, “We Want Messi” was played. Messi remained seated on the bench. After that, whenever an Inter Miami substitute, not Messi, entered the field, the crowd booed loudly and eventually demanded a refund.

FW Luis Suarez also did not play. Suarez was absent due to knee inflammation that occurred after the match against Al Nasr. At the end of the game, many in the crowd booed when Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham tried to make a call, and booed again when Inter Miami received the trophy.

Beckham, who received hearty cheers during the pregame festivities, circled the field waving to fans, most of whom waved back and cheered. He also stopped security from removing a player who had invaded the pitch, hugged him (as the crowd cheered even more) and signed his shirt.

At the beginning of the post-match press conference, Coach Martino said that the team was happy with the support they received from the Hong Kong fans, and wondered why the fans reacted like that to Messi and Luis Suarez not playing. He said he understands why he was reacting.

“I understand the disappointment of the fans who filled the stadium today regarding the absence of Leo and Luis Suarez,” Martino said. “This decision was made in conjunction with the medical staff. We run a huge risk of aggravating their injuries, which is why they were unable to play in the match. We hope that people will be disappointed. I understand what you are doing.

“We apologize and hope you understand that if we had had the opportunity to let them play for a while, we would have done so. But we were taking a serious risk, and we worked with our medical staff to I have made a decision.”

hong kong government then issued a statement He said he was “very disappointed” that Messi did not play and would ask the organizers for an explanation. The statement also said the organizers had received a matching subsidy of HK$15 million (approximately JPY 190 million) and a venue subsidy of HK$1 million from the Major Sporting Events Commission, with sponsorship reduced due to Messi’s absence. He also said that there is a possibility that

Perhaps they should have foreseen this coming. Three days ago, Messi played only the last seven minutes of a 6-0 loss against Al Nasr. Ahead of the game, he felt discomfort during training and underwent an MRI as a precaution. He was initially not expected to play at all against Al Nasr until his cameo appearance.

Martino said medical staff have been assessing Messi’s condition on a daily basis since then and believes the injury will continue to improve, but said the risk was too high to play with Messi on Sunday.

“Coincidentally, we have an obligation to look ahead to the start of the league,” Martino said. “And when I spoke to the medical staff, they said it was extremely dangerous for this football player to be able to play today.”

Despite Messi not playing, Inter Miami achieved their first win on this international tour. It was a slightly different atmosphere for most of the players on the team.

“This is not a normal pre-season game that I have played in the past, where I play in training clothes against all the teams in MLS,” said the player, who played in MLS for eight years and signed with Inter Miami this winter. veteran Julian Gressel said. Free agent.

That’s a bit of an understatement.

Inter Miami currently plays against the El Salvadoran national team at the Estadio Cuscatlan, against fellow MLS team FC Dallas in front of over 32,000 fans at the Cotton Bowl, and in a friendly in Saudi Arabia in front of a sold-out crowd. We are playing 2 games. Al Hilal and Al Nasr, and the match will take on an all-star team from the local league in front of a crowd of around 40,000 people in Hong Kong.

This weekend’s game was their only win.

Thursday night’s heavy defeat against Al Nasr raised questions about how much value should be placed on pre-season. Inter He Miami He went through a month-long offseason and consider that he is just three weeks into the start of 2024. The team’s opponents, two Saudi players, are ranked first and second in the Saudi Professional League midway through the season, and boast a squad that any MLS team would envy.

Every MLS preseason produces surprising scorelines and win-loss records that have little to do with the regular season. In the summer, European-based teams would come to America and sometimes lose in friendly games against MLS teams. This is rarely cited as an example of MLS catching up to the Premier League.

But expectations change when you have Messi in your team and three world-class players who have won multiple trophies: the Champions League, Copa America and the World Cup. When preseason games are aired on his Apple TV and promoted as international events, the discourse surrounding the games tends to change. When a venue half a world away from the team’s home base is filled to capacity and a training session is in full swing, as was the case at Hong Kong Stadium on the Saturday before the match, Inter Miami, even in an inferior game, The belief that we must win increases. Don’t count.

Sunday’s scene was much the same in this Inter Miami contest. Fans filled the streets surrounding the stadium several hours before the game started. Long lines of cars forced people to get out of taxis and walk several blocks to their destinations. Police closed roads to ease the flow.

Before the game began, several famous pop artists performed on the field. Before the game, the crowd erupted as movie stars and singers were shown mingling with Beckham pitchside.

It was nothing like your average preseason game.

Gressel said last week that he doesn’t think the hype and hype surrounding these games is necessarily a bad thing.

“These are real games and it bodes well for the season with real games coming soon,” Gressel said. “Obviously it’s a matter of balance, but we’re trying to grow and come together as a team and find ways to beat good teams. And ultimately, in the second half of the season, when the (real) games are coming up, it’s really important. I hope I’ll be ready when the time comes.”

Martino said the team must be cautious about this final part of the tour, which concludes with a match against Vissel Kobe on February 7 in Japan.

The team has been training in Saudi Arabia for a week, but there are only three days between games, with considerable flying distance. The team flew directly from Riyadh’s stadium to the airport on Thursday for a roughly eight-hour flight to Hong Kong. He is scheduled to take another four-hour flight to Tokyo on Monday, giving him just two days to prepare.

“The reality is that this is a big tour. Obviously, at some point you’re going to start to feel the fatigue,” Martino said shortly after arriving in Hong Kong.

Sunday’s starting lineup was indicative of the fact that Martino was keen to limit the playing time of his star players, all of whom are in their mid-30s.

Inter Miami’s four former Barcelona stars – Messi, Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba – were all on the bench. The starting team included several substitutes and young players. That showed up in the first half.

In the early stages of the match, players could be seen trying to adapt to the slow and heavy pitch. The match started to improve late in the second half, with Robert Taylor scoring in the 40th minute. However, the sloppy mistakes that have plagued Inter Miami this pre-season were on display again just three minutes later, as Homegrown player David Luiz was given the ball too easily in the defensive third and Inter Miami’s The final line struggled to respond to crosses and conceded a goal. Hong Kong catches up with the score.

Inter Miami eventually took over as the All-Star team made all of their substitutions at halftime. Lawson Sunderland scored in the 50th minute, Leo Campana added another six minutes later, and Ryan Sailer’s header sealed the match.

However, the headline was that Messi never came off the bench, much to the dismay of the fans in attendance.

This victory signaled progress, or at least some positivity. However, while the results were far from perfect, there is no doubt that the tour was commercially worthwhile.

The match in Riyadh was played in front of a packed crowd, as were the training sessions and matches in Hong Kong. The stands were filled with Inter Miami’s signature pink jerseys. At multiple Adidas stores in the city, in-store displays were filled with Inter Miami jerseys (in one store, you had to go all the way to the third floor to find Manchester United kits). Inter Miami players were featured on billboards across Hong Kong.

The challenge is to find a way to balance the sporting side.

Inter Miami are hoping to have centre-back Nicola Freire on the pitch soon to solve their problems in the backline, but it is clear that there is work to be done in other areas of the field as well. It’s not just the defense that is causing some breakdowns.

That became clear again on Sunday, with just over two weeks until the MLS regular season opener against Real Salt Lake, and Inter Miami will try to get things under control, first in Tokyo and then finally back in Florida.

“We had imperfections in various games in the preseason. There are no special problems,” Martino said on Friday. “Does the team need to win?” We always want to win, even if it’s a preseason game, but make no mistake, these things happen and the results happen on the field. If we have to find time to cause problems in being, we hope it is before. The season is starting. ”

Most importantly, Inter Miami will want Messi to be healthy and on the field once the season starts.

(Top photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images)