The hype beforehand was huge, and the disappointment was even greater. And so the world football star Lionel Messi had to listen to an ever-increasing chorus of whistles when he appeared on the bench with Inter Miami in Hong Kong, which culminated with the final whistle of the exhibition game against a local selection.
Argentina’s world champion captain triggered a real “Messi mania”, with almost 40,000 spectators coming to the Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday. They had paid up to 115 euros for a ticket to see the supposedly best player of his time once in their life. Ten minutes before the end, the bitter disappointment turned to anger.
“We want Messi”
After the game, Miami’s co-owner David Beckham tried in vain to thank him for the “incredible support” – he was booed like Messi, who was probably suffering from a thigh injury, and the Uruguayan Luis Suarez (knee injury), who also did not appear on the pitch .
“We understand the disappointment of the fans,” said Inter coach Gerardo Martino later, “we ask for your forgiveness. We would have liked to have sent Lio and Luis onto the pitch at least briefly, but the risk was too high.”
The fans’ chants of “We want Messi” had received no response. On a five-game tour before the start of the MLS season, Messi last played a few minutes in Saudi Arabia – his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo missed the duel with Al-Nassr due to injury.
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In Hong Kong, tens of thousands had already turned up for Inter training on Saturday, and the team hotel was almost besieged. The tickets were completely sold within an hour in December.
