The world tour of Lionel Messi’s American club Inter Miami turns into a debacle because the aging star’s thigh is pinched.
The fans paid a lot of money for their tickets, then Lionel Messi sat on the bench injured. Now people never want to see him in Hong Kong again.
Justin Chin / Bloomberg
For months, Lionel Messi was everywhere: on billboards, as a giant on skyscrapers and even on the pink sails of the traditional ships in Hong Kong harbor. The only thing he wasn’t on the pitch was when his team, Inter Miami, finally arrived in the flesh in China and played against a local club last Sunday. The overhype that had been cultivated over weeks resulted in immense disappointment.
With the affair surrounding the absent superstar, who had apparently suffered a strain in training, the American club’s trouble-filled world tour seemed to have reached its lowest point. Rarely has the conflict between a club’s commercial interests and the unpredictability of sport been clearer. One wonders how the organizers could seriously suggest that there was a virtual guarantee of the appearance of Messi, a player who is 36 years old and increasingly fragile.
The PR debacle even affected the club owner David Beckham, actually Everybody’s Darling. Becks was painfully reminded of his time as a player when he was almost whistled off the field in the Hong Kong stadium while greeting the Chinese fans.
The beaten team around their Argentine superstar urgently needed encouragement. The reunion in Saudi Arabia with Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi’s favorite rival from better times, was cheesily announced as “the last dance” and failed miserably: CR7 sat injured in the stands, Messi played 7 minutes against al-Nassr, and Inter Miami lost 0: 6.
The boos from the 38,000 fans in Hong Kong last Sunday, who had paid several hundred francs for a ticket, were only the first wave of outrage. A further level of escalation was reached when Messi played 30 minutes against Vissel Kobe three days later in Japan, the next stop on the ill-fated trip.
Now there was no stopping it; the affair threatened to take on geopolitical dimensions. Regina Ip, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Executive Council, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Hong Kong people hate Messi.” The hatred not only affects him alone, but also, according to Ip, “Inter Miami and the black hand behind it for the deliberate and calculated snub of Hong Kong.” It is not very clear what kind of black hand this is, but Ip’s demand is crystal clear: “Messi should never be allowed to return to Hong Kong. His lies and hypocrisy are disgusting.”
Hong Kong people hate Messi, Inter-Miami, and the black hand behind them, for the deliberate and calculated snub to Hong Kong.https://t.co/jMALNyGASt
— Regina Ip Lau Suk Yee (@ReginaIplau) February 7, 2024
Incidentally, Inter Miami also lost against Vissel Kobe, but only on penalties. Messi decided not to take a penalty, but had to laugh a lot when a teammate didn’t score.
After traveling almost 40,000 kilometers around the world, Inter Miami will meet Newell’s Old Boys, Messi’s Argentine youth club, in Fort Lauderdale next week at the end of their pre-season. As emotionally charged as this game is sold, it can only end in disaster.
2024-02-10 23:31:23
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