This wasn’t the plan. Luis Suarez had joined Messi at Inter Miami. Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets were now settled in the 305 and The Herons had made strong additions to their squad over the break. Yet Inter Miami are yet to click in this pre-season tour of, well, the whole world. This trip starts in San Salvador, then moves to Texas, over to Saudi Arabia, and has a quick pitstop in Hong Kong and Japan before returning to Miami to host Newell’s, Messi’s first club. This is a crazy tour and the tolls of travelling such distances, as well as the media commitments, may be overbearing for the players.
It is also possible that more time is still needed to settle in for the stars as the anticipation surrounding Lionel Messi’s move to Inter Miami has been nothing short of monumental and the expectations are enormous. As Inter Miami braces for an upcoming clash against Vissel Kobe, the former team of Andres Iniesta, the pre-season turbulence adds an extra layer of intrigue to an already high-profile encounter.
Saturday 20th January – El Salvador 0-0 Inter Miami – Rough Beginnings
In their highly-anticipated Inter Miami reunion, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were unable to find the back of the net, contributing to the team’s lacklustre 0-0 draw against El Salvador. The attacking duo featured during the first 45 minutes of the match before being substituted off at halftime, along with Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, as they logged their initial minutes in the preseason. As well as Suarez, Julian Gressel also made his unofficial debut for Inter Miami.
During his stint on the pitch, Messi exhibited some moments of brilliance, showcasing his exceptional close control and orchestrating a sublime pass from a deeper position. The synergy between Messi and Alba, as the latter surged down the left flank, mirrored the successful combination that had flourished in the previous season and an incredible goal was almost scored after a move which resembled the prime Barcelona tiki-taka style of the early 2010s. Yet, Miami were held to a draw and key player Facundo Farias had to leave the pitch on a stretcher.
Monday 22nd January – FC Dallas 1-0 Inter Miami – Still no goal
And Inter Miami’s mini-goal drought continued. Although Miami showed some attacking impetus, it was far from the days of 2015 when Messi and Suarez ran riot in the Champions League Final, and it was Dallas who pulled through. Lionel Messi’s initial two attempts were thwarted by Dallas goalkeeper Michael Collodi, who made a diving save to his left to parry away the World Cup winner’s second shot in the 12th minute. In the first half, Luis Suarez also had two shots but failed the find the net. The first was saved by Collodi, and the second sailed wide to the right.
In August, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner managed to score twice in Inter Miami’s comeback win over FC Dallas in their monumental Leagues Cup battle. Miami went on to win the game via a shootout en route to the Leagues Cup title. Yet it wasn’t to be this time round and Messi will have to wait until the MLS season gets underway in order to set the record straight.
Monday 29th January – Al-Hilal 4-3 Inter Miami – Attacking improvements
Alas, some goals! Donning their bright pink new home shirt against a fairly formidable Al-Hilal side, even without Neymar, Inter Miami scored their first goals of the pre-season, yet still came up short. Luis Suarez scored his first goal with a finish from close range into an empty net. Messi scored before 19-year-old David Ruiz scored a screamer to level the game. It wasn’t to be however as ex-Barcelona player Malcom scored for Al-Hilal in the 88th minute to win it for the Saudi Arabian side.
It must be said that Inter Miami continued to struggle defensively and with injuries already piling up, they might have to dive back into the transfer market for reinforcements.
Thursday 1st February – Al-Nassr 6-0 Inter Miami – Groundhog Day
It doesn’t get much worse than this. Against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr (although the Portuguese legend was sidelined), Miami crumbled. Within 12 minutes, the Saudi side were three goals to the good. Anderson Talisca scored a hat trick. Sergio Busquets punched defender Nawaf Boushal in the face. Aymeric Laporte scored a free-kick from behind the halfway line. Yes, you did read that correctly. From behind the halfway line. Luis Suarez had an evening to forget as he missed two big chances and didn’t have the positive impact on the game that he might’ve hoped for. By the time Messi was introduced to the crowd from the bench, The Herons were six goals down and any hope of a comeback was long gone. Ronaldo watched on gleefully from his box.
Sunday 4th February – Hong Kong 1-4 Inter Miami – Expected, but a welcome improvement nonetheless
Serious questions would’ve been asked of the squad had Miami lost to Hong Kong. They came away with a convincing win, yet still managed to stir up a controversy. Messi didn’t make an appearance in the match which led to widespread boos around the stadium at the end of the match. Even worse, the Hong Kong government has requested an explanation from the event organiser after the little wizard, nor Luis Suarez, did not feature in the friendly match.
Miami’s coach Gerardo Martino explained after the game that he “understood the disappointment of the fans” and justified that Messi’s absence was due to injury.
What comes next?
Inter Miami continue their whistlestop tour of the world with a fixture against Vissel Kobe before heading back to the 305 to face Messi’s boyhood club, Newell’s Old Boys.
Keep up with all the latest Inter Miami scores and news on the 365Scores website!
By Nicky Helfgott / @NickyH3lfgott on Twitter
