Inter Miami can’t ever generate good news, even when there is good news, on one side Tata Martino’s side finally won a game for the first time since September 2023 against Hong Kong best XI. The 4-1 scoreline was of little concern for the 38,000 in attendance, seeing Lionel Messi was, but an injury continues to keep the Argentine world champion off the starting lineup.
Unlike the game in Saudi Arabia against Al Nassr, Messi did not play in Hong Kong, and neither did Luis Suarez, who was also nursing a slight injury, to make matters worse Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets were also subbed in past the halfway point of the match, naturally the fans in attendance felt cheated.
When the final whistle blew a chorus of boos rained down the stadium with fans chanting “refund! refund!” Eventually the fans would take their frustrations out on pictures of Lionel Messi.
Fan kicks picture of Lionel Messi
The frustration of not seeing Messi spilled out as the fans left the stadium, with a video going viral of one angry fan kicking a Messi and Inter Miami group picture in the face. David Beckham was also booed for not putting his star player on the pitch.
The government in Hong Kong went as far as to probe and question if the fans in attendance deserve a refund. Tata Martino tried to calm waters in his post-game press conference:
“We understand the disappointment of the fans for the absence of Leo (Messi) and Luis Suarez,” Martino said. “We understand a lot of fans are very disappointed and we ask for their forgiveness. We wish we could have sent Leo and Luis on for at least a while, but the risk was too big.”
Messi missed the match due to a hamstring strain, Luis Suarez, to the shock of no one, has knee inflammation. With their two biggest stars out of the line-up, the team produced their best performance in months, with Robert Taylor showing a lot of promise scoring one of the four goals.
Inter Miami is now heading to Japan to take on J League side Vissel Kobe on Wednesday.
