Football fans in Hong Kong booed the owner of Inter Miami, David Beckham, because they were disappointed that Lionel Messi was not played. Lionel Messi only sat on the bench in the Inter Miami vs Hong Kong XI pre-season match at Hong Kong Stadium, Sunday (4/2/2024). Messi did not play because he suffered a hamstring injury.
This caused disappointment and anger from the 38,323 spectators who came directly to Hong Kong Stadium. They paid more than 1,000 Hong Kong dollars to watch Messi in action with Inter Miami.
Midway through the second half, chants of “We want Messi” blared across the Hong Kong Stadium. The chants grew louder during the final 10 minutes of the match after the fans realized that Messi would not be playing.
David Beckham was also the target of ridicule when thanking the audience. The fans signaled their anger by raising their thumbs down. “I’m very disappointed. I am here to see Messi, I feel a little cheated,” said a fan, Jonathan Wong.
Jonathan Wong believes that without Messi, matches like the Hong Kong League in general, tickets are only sold for 80 Hong Kong dollars. This price is much cheaper than tickets for the Inter Miami vs Hong Kong XI duel which can reach 5,000 Hong Kong dollars. “Without him, it was like a normal Hong Kong Premier League match where tickets only cost 80 dollars. This time we paid 5,000 dollars,” he said.
The Hong Kong government also expressed disappointment. “The government and all football fans are very disappointed. The organizers owe all fans an explanation,” read a statement from the Hong Kong government.
Inter Miami coach, Gerardo “Tata” Martino, apologized to fans. However, he said it was too risky to play Messi. The decision to keep Messi was made after checking the player’s condition on Sunday morning. “We understand the fans’ disappointment with Leo’s absence. We understand that many fans are very disappointed and we apologize to them,” said Martino. “We hope we can put Leo down for at least a while, but the risk is too great,” he continued.
Lionel Messi also only played seven minutes when Inter Miami was defeated by Al Nassr in the Riyadh Season Cup with a score of 0-6 on February 1 2024. The Inter Miami vs Hong Kong XI duel finished with a score of 4-1. Inter Miami’s four goals were scored by Robert Taylor, Lawson Connery Sunderland, Leonardo Campana and Ryan Sailor.
This was Inter Miami’s first win in a pre-season match after a draw against El Salvador (0-0) and consecutive defeats to FC Dallas (0-1), Al Hilal (3-4), and Al Nassr (0-6). Next, Inter Miami will fly to Japan to play a match against Vissel Kobe on Wednesday (7/2/2024).
