A preseason game in Saudi Arabia, hyped around the world as a showdown between the legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, turned into a nightmare for Inter Miami on Thursday.
Messi spent the first 82 minutes of the match against Al Nassr on the bench as a precaution after feeling discomfort following Monday’s defeat to Al Hilal. Inter Miami conceded three goals in the first 12 minutes and lost 6-0 to the Saudi team.
The Argentine star came for a cameo in 83third A minute later, Saudi fans at the Kingdom Arena spent most of the game chanting his name. But it was a lost cause for Miami long before his arrival.
Despite its expensive star-studded roster, Inter Miami is winless in four games of its seven-game preseason world tour and has fallen to 11-3.
According to a club source, Messi felt cramps after Monday’s game, he tried to train on Wednesday, but still had some discomfort, so he had an MRI. As a precaution, the coaches and medical staff planned to give the Argentine star a few days to recover, depending on the test results and how he felt.
He was expected to be left off the roster for Thursday’s game, but instead he was on the bench.
Ronaldo watched the entire match sitting in a room due to a calf injury that forced Al Nassr to cancel two matches in China last week. The TV cameras panned towards Ronaldo and Messi during the first half and the Portuguese star was all smiles while his Argentinian rivals looked frustrated as their teammates struggled all over the field.
Brazilian player Anderson Talisca scored a hat-trick for Al Nassr. His first goal came in 10th minutes. His second penalty kick was in the 51stscheduled tribe minutes, and his third goal was in the 73third, Otavio gave Saudi the lead by scoring a goal in the third minute. Aymeric Laporte scored in 12th and Mohammed Khalil Marran in 68th,
With each Al Nassr goal, criticism from Inter Miami fans on social media became more harsh.
Al Nassr defeated Miami 21–12 and had 14 shots on goal while Miami had only three.
Inter Miami coach Tata Martino was not made available to the media, but wingback Julian Gressel said the coach was more animated than usual during halftime, as Miami trailed 3–0.
“Obviously not the outcome we wanted, but obviously a lot of lessons to be learned,” Gressel said. “We have a lot to learn, to grow. There are a lot of things we can see in the film, but it starts with a good start to the game. You can’t be down 3-nil 12 minutes into a game. Those are lessons you learn in the preseason.
Martino has said that the team will be careful about managing players’ minutes during the seven-game, five-nation preseason tour and that his primary focus is to keep the team healthy and fit for the start of the MLS season at home on February 21. . The real salt lake.
Gressel stressed that the team wants to be at its best when the season starts.
“At the end of the day, when the time comes, when it matters to us, that’s when we want to play our best and these games are valuable, even if they sting a lot,” Gressel said.
Asked how difficult it is to play preseason games when there is such a bright spotlight and pressure on Inter Miami, Gressel said: “I think it’s really good to have games like this to prepare for the season. These are not your regular preseason games that I have played before where you play in your training gear multiple times against other MLS teams. “This is a real game and it will be good for us.”
Gressel said it was good to see the support for Messi and Inter Miami from Saudi fans. “He’s definitely a popular guy.”
The team has three preseason matches left, on Sunday in Hong Kong, on Wednesday in Tokyo and on February 15 at home against Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys, the hometown team of Messi and Martino.
The details of Messi’s latest injury are unknown. He missed the final stages of the 2023 season due to a serious hamstring injury.
The Inter Miami vs. Al Nassr game was being billed as “The Last Dance”, as it could potentially be the last time fans would get the chance to see the icons face each other.
Miami’s starters on Thursday were: Leo Campana, Luis Suarez, David Ruiz, Sergio Busquets, Gregor, Jordi Alba, Noah Allen, Serhiy Krivtsov, Tomas Aviles, Julian Gressel and Drake Callender. In the 69th minute, DeAndre Yedlin replaced Alba and Robert Taylor replaced Suárez. Messi replaced Campana in the 83rd and Lawson Sunderland came on for Ruiz in the 84th.
Argentine center back Nicolas Freire, who was recently signed on loan from Mexican league side PUMAS, has not yet played for Inter Miami. According to the team spokesperson, he is still being integrated into the team as he arrived at the training camp late compared to the rest of the players.
Gressel was asked if Thursday’s result was an indictment of MLS and a sign that the Saudi Pro League is next. He replied: “I don’t think you can compare. We’re very early in the process, only in our third week as a team after a few months of long vacation. So, you can’t really compare. I think we would love to have a rematch at some point. That’s the competitor in me, maybe in an official competition like the Club World Cup.”
NOTE: Inter Miami traded defender Christopher McVey to D.C. United in exchange for a 2024 international roster spot and up to $100,000 in general allocation money if he meets certain performance metrics. The team also transferred midfielder Nicolas Stefanelli to Fehrvar FC in Hungary.
This story was originally published February 1, 2024, 1:40 pm.
