Major League Soccer’s most famous team has completed a preseason trip around the world, with the team flying more than 23,000 miles from Miami to El Salvador, Dallas, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan.
The tour was organized by Inter Miami to take advantage of the team’s legendary soccer players, especially Lionel Messi. The world tour has been so popular that the team has become soccer’s version of the Beatles, and Major League Soccer has also helped by including the games on the MLS Season Pass.
But while this was expected to be a showcase for one of the greatest players of all time, and a team destined to contend for several trophies this year, including the MLS Cup, it was anything but. Instead, it is Remote island music festival It was the biggest farce in history.
Even before the tour started, the young people USMNT Midfielder Benjamin Klemaski was ruled out of the trip and ultimately underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia. He will be out for a few months. Inter Miami started their away game against El Salvador, where they played Los Catrachos in a scoreless draw. In the process, they lost midfielder Facundo Farias to a torn ACL, further depleting the core of his midfield.
They then returned to the United States and played against FC Dallas in the Cotton Bowl, thinking they would fill the historic 92,000-seat stadium to near capacity. Instead, due to the monsoon, only 32,000 people attended and FC Dallas won with a score of 1-0.
So, with two midfielders down, the team made the long-awaited trip to Saudi Arabia, where they played two games and opened the brand new Kingdom Arena. They lost 3-0 to Al Hilal and drew in what turned out to be the most exciting match of Miami’s preseason. Lionel Messi scored his first goal from the penalty spot, much to the delight of the 26,000-strong crowd. However, the winning goal was scored just minutes after Messi left the match, giving Al Hilal a 4-3 victory.
A few days later, Inter Miami faced Al Nasr in what was billed as the last official match between Lionel Messi and fellow legend Cristiano Ronaldo. However, Cristiano Ronaldo was absent due to injury, and Messi started on the bench. Al Nasr thrashed Miami 6-0, forcing Messi to come on in the 75th minute after Al Nasr’s sixth goal found the back of the net.
Inter Miami’s best game on the field came in a trip to Hong Kong, where they defeated Hong Kong’s Best Eleven 4-1. However, the topic of the game was that Lionel Messi did not play despite being available due to inflammation of his adductor muscle. This didn’t sit well with either the 38,417 people in attendance or the Hong Kong government. Who asked for an explanation? I felt they were bait.
Messi was also expected to play against Vissel Kobe, who are coached by his long-time Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta. However, like any other match, this production also ran into problems. MLS has announced that the stadium’s production quality will prevent the game from being broadcast on the MLS Season Pass. That means the game won’t be shown on TV for most people around the world. And in a press conference in the days leading up to the match, Lionel Messi acknowledged the pressures of the world tour. exhausted him. “I was a little tired from the whole tour, but [I have] “It’s the desire to finish the last game and go home,” he said.
Like most of the games, it was a dud for Miami, resulting in another scoreless loss, losing 4-3 on penalties. The biggest blow of the entire preseason may have come in the 25th minute, when Sergio Busquets was forced off the bench with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury. Former Barcelona stars such as Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez also suffered from mental and physical gas build-up after logging long minutes and not producing much during pre-season trips. It looked like there was.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25284602/usa_today_22462764.jpg)
Inter Miami will therefore return home to prepare for the 2024 MLS season. They play one more friendly against Newell’s Old Boys, Lionel Messi’s boyhood club, at the DRV PNK Stadium on February 15, before opening the season six days later. The Concacaf Champions Cup will also be held from next month.
It remains to be seen whether the tour prepared this team for a busy calendar, but it didn’t add anything to their performance. Inter Miami have the highest expectations, but their preseason tour got off to a bad start.
And unfortunately, it was revealed to the world.
