Lionel Messi’s Disappointing Asian Tour with Inter Miami: Frustration, Media Outcry, and Apology

The Asian tour did not have the desired effect for Inter Miami.Image: keystone

The fact that Lionel Messi sat on the bench for 90 minutes in the friendly match between Hong Kong and Inter Miami caused a lot of frustration among fans and in the Chinese media. Now the footballer contacted the disappointed fans with a video message.

When Inter Miami set off on a pre-season tour of Asia with stops in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan with its prominent striker Lionel Messi, the fans were very happy – many were hoping to admire the Argentinean exceptional ball skills live in the stadium can.

The organizers of the promotional tournament are unlikely to be satisfied with the outcome, either from a sporting or image perspective. In the games against the Saudi teams Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal as well as against the Japanese team Vissel Kobe, Miami left the field as losers – the Americans only prevailed against Hong Kong.

Added to this was the fact that many fans had come to the games solely because of the Argentine superstar Lionel Messi – and were therefore disappointed that the “magic flea” was only present on the substitutes’ bench. Already in Al-Nassr, the hoped-for rematch between Messi and Ronaldo did not take place. The Portuguese was sitting in the stands injured and the Argentine was only substituted on during the game.

“Brutal Flamingo”

In Hong Kong, things got even worse for the fans, some of whom had come especially from Australia – in the former British colony, the superstar was particularly conspicuous by his absence. The fact that the object of desire – according to the club, Messi was spared due to abductor problems – stayed away from the pitch in the game against Hong Kong angered the residents of the special administrative region so much that a government advisor was carried away with the statement “that the Hong Kong Messi and “Hating Inter Miami for their deliberate and calculated disregard for Hong Kong.”

After the great disappointment, the Chinese media also didn’t give the Argentine a good look. A journalist from the “South China Morning Post” described Messi – inspired by the pink Miami jerseys – as a “brutal flamingo”. The obviously angry media worker went on to write: “Anyone who looked at him might as well have been staring at a ballerina in a tutu.” Since Messi was back on the pitch a short time later in Japan against Vissel Kobe, the Global Times even suspected political motives behind Messi’s absence.

“I’ve tried everything”

In view of the malice that rained down on him, Messi now wrote a personal message to his disappointed fans. In a video that he published on the Chinese social media platform “Weibo”, Messi explained that a minor injury was actually the reason why he did not play against Hong Kong: “I tried everything, but I really couldn’t play. I felt unwell and there was a risk that it would get worse.”

The Argentine vehemently denied that he did not appear for political reasons: “If that were the case, I would not have traveled to China as often as I did,” he explained. He has had a close and wonderful connection to China since the beginning of his career and has also played with Barcelona and the national team in the Middle Kingdom.

Hong Kong match organizer Tatler Asia apologized to disappointed Messi fans earlier this month and offered a 50 percent refund to those who had purchased tickets for the match through official channels. Tickets for the game cost up to 550 francs. (cat)

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