Lionel Messi (37) of Inter Miami, who was embroiled in controversy over his “no-show” in Hong Kong, eventually played in Japan. Then he got up like a fire in Hong Kong and China.
Inter Miami, which is currently on a world tour, played a pre-season friendly match against J-League 1 champion Vissel Kobe at Tokyo National Stadium on Wednesday. Kobe won the game after penalty shootout with 0-0.
Kobe tried to shake the net several times from the first half, but failed every time. In response, Miami also had a dizzying scene where Sergio Busquets stepped on his ankle and soon returned to the bench. Miami showed aggressive performance in the second half, with Luis Suarez firing a bicycle kick, but neither team scored in the 90 minutes of the first half. Eventually, the game went into a penalty shootout, and Kobe led 4-3, which determined the game’s outcome.
What was more interesting than the result of the match was whether Messi will play or not. Messi was not included in the starting lineup, but he was preparing to take off his jacket in the second half. Eventually, Messi finally showed up at the stadium in the 15th minute of the second half. The Japanese spectators, who had been chanting “Messi, Messi” for a long time, cheered loudly and showed enthusiastic response to Messi’s every move.
Messi became a source of ball and created a decisive chance for his teammates, and after that, he fired a sharp left-footed shot, but was blocked by the goalkeeper. Messi did not score an offensive point on the day, but his participation itself became a hot topic.
However, this became a controversy in China. According to media outlets, Weibo, a Chinese social media outlet, received a flurry of cynical responses, saying, “It’s a medical miracle that you recovered from your injury in two days,” “Don’t come to China again,” and “I laughed so hard that I couldn’t believe Messi was playing.” Some pointed out that Messi missed only one of Miami’s six pre-season games against Hong Kong.
Chinese and Hong Kong fans were furious because Messi did not even snore during his recent tour in Hong Kong. He was on the substitute list at a pre-season game between Inter Miami and Hong Kong’s Best 11 held at Hong Kong Stadium in Hong Kong on Tuesday, but did not play with Suarez in the end.
The stadium was filled with some 40,000 Hong Kong fans, wearing sky blue-white striped uniforms representing Argentina and light pink uniforms of Inter Miami. However, as Messi did not appear until the middle of the second half, fans started chanting “Messi, come out.” Then, around the 35th minute of the second half, his voice changed to an angry one, shouting “refund, refund.” However, Messi sat on the bench watching his fellow players’ matches silently, regardless of the booing from the audience. As Messi did not play in the match, fans’ anger reached its peak after the match.
David Beckham, the club’s co-owner, also couldn’t avoid the fans’ booing. He grabbed a microphone to thank the audience after the game, but the fans booed Beckham with their thumbs down. Beckham also looked awkward.
Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino explained after the game why Messi did not play. It was because Messi had an adductor muscle and Suarez had a knee injury. Martino said, “I know many fans are disappointed. I want to ask for forgiveness. I wanted to make Messi play even for a short time, but the risk was high.” “I received a report from the team’s medical team that if they play, their injuries could worsen,” he said.
However, they were unable to calm down their anger. Due to the “Messi Effect,” tickets were very expensive. “The ticket price for this match was 5,000 Hong Kong dollars. Why did you buy it at such a high price when it was almost the same as the 80 Hong Kong dollars game?” A fan raged. Videos of fans kicking and smashing Messi’s large sign were uploaded on social networking services and the Internet. Some parts of Messi’s face on the sign disappeared.
The Hong Kong government is also angry. “We are deeply disappointed that Messi is absent,” the Hong Kong authorities said in a statement. In addition, the Hong Kong government said it will cut funding for Tatler Asia, the host of the friendly matches. Earlier, the Hong Kong government designated the friendly matches as a “major sporting event” and provided 15 million Hong Kong dollars to Tatler Asia. It also provided 1 million Hong Kong dollars in subsidies for the use of stadiums.
Tatler Asia promoted the upcoming friendly match with Messi in large part. Fans who came to the stadium to see Messi willingly paid from 880 U.S. dollars to up to 5,000 Hong Kong dollars. Tatler Asia said, “We didn’t know until right before the match that Messi and Suarez could not play. It is very disappointing.”
Messi himself started explaining and apologizing for this. According to Japanese media Soccer Digest, Messi said in a press conference held on Monday, “I felt discomfort in my adductor muscle in the first match (against Al-Hilal) held in Saudi Arabia (before coming to Hong Kong). In the second match (against Al-Nasr), 헤라카지노 he played for a short time at the end of the match to check his condition,” adding, “I was not seriously hurt but I still feel uncomfortable after tests,” due to injury.
“There were a lot of fans in Hong Kong and I wanted to play for them, but it was difficult. This can happen enough in football and games. I was really disappointed as there were a lot of fans who looked forward to it. I hope there will be another opportunity to play in Hong Kong,” he said.
His participation in the match against Kobe was uncertain at first. “I will check my physical condition during training today (June 6). I don’t know if I can play yet, but my condition is better than the past few days,” Messi said. However, Messi eventually appeared in a match against Kobe as normal, which fueled anger among Chinese fans.
Earlier, according to Tokyo Sports, a Japanese media outlet, a high-ranking official in Hong Kong said, “If Messi does not play in Hong Kong and plays in Japan, everyone will be unhappy and uncomfortable.” “I understand all the feelings of the fans. The atmosphere was good from the beginning, and there was hope that Messi would play in the second half. However, the atmosphere suddenly changed to disappointment. “If Messi does not play in Hong Kong and plays in Japan, we will be unhappy and uncomfortable.” The Global Times, a Chinese daily, also pointed out that Messi is adding fuel to the flames of anger that will engulf Hong Kong (if he plays in Japan), adding, “What decision will Messi make?” However, Messi did not care and played in Japan.
There was also a controversy over a soccer star’s “no-show” in Korea. Coincidentally, Ronaldo is Messi’s eternal rival and divided the glory days. Ronaldo became controversial because he did not play during a friendly match with Juventus and the K-League All-Star team, citing his injury. At the time, fans expressed their anger by chanting “Messi” when Ronaldo did not play. Both caused no-show, but there is a difference. Ronaldo left the fans’ anger behind and remained silent without making any apology. However, Messi made an apology to the fans in public two days after the no-show incident.
Meanwhile, Messi moved from Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami, a Major League Soccer team, in this season, and continued his “god of soccer” performance. He has 11 goals and five assists in the MLS stage. He has 10 goals and one assist in the League Cup, two assists in the U.S. Open Cup, and one goal and two assists in the league. Notably, he has posted offensive points in nine consecutive games since his debut game, drawing cheers from fans of MLS and leading the lowest ranking Inter Miami to the North-Central American League Cup championship.
In October last year, Messi won the 2023 Ballon d’Or award, which is given to the player who showed the best performance in the world. At the time, Beckham called Messi, not Erling Holland (Manchester City) or Kylian Mbappe (PSG). As a result of the final ranking, Holland came in second and Mbappe came in third. Last season, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri, the main players of Manchester City’s treble, ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.
Messi thus acquired the Ballon d’Or trophy for the eighth time in his career. Messi won the Ballon d’Or trophy in 2009 for the fourth consecutive year until 2012. Since then, he has been honored in 2015, 2019, 2021 and this year. He has achieved unprecedented achievements in the soccer world. He has widened the gap with his rival Ronaldo. Ronaldo had won the honor five times between 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2017. At the time, Messi said, “I am grateful to the many people who voted for me. Thanks to that, I am able to stand here again. I want to share the honor with my colleagues in Argentina.”
Messi’s biggest achievement is that he led his country Argentina to the championship at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Messi started all seven World Cup matches, scoring seven goals and three assists. Notably, he displayed stellar performance by scoring multiple goals in the final against France. Messi lifted the trophy after five attempts at the World Cup. He also won the Golden Ball, which is given to the best player in the tournament.
