Lionel Messi Sell Out 40,000 Capacity Hong Kong Stadium for Inter Miami Training

Lionel Messi Sell Out 40,000 Capacity Hong Kong Stadium for Inter Miami Training

Elijah Odetokun
updated at February 3, 2024 at 2:37 PM
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  • Inter Miami are in Hong Kong for another round of pre-season
  • The Herons previously participated in the Riyadh Season Cup
  • Lionel Messi’s presence sold out the stadium for training only

Lionel Messi’s influence continues to pull numbers for Inter Miami, even away from home and during a preseason game in their tour of Asia.

Miami began their pre-season tour ahead of the 2024 Major League Soccer season with a draw against El Salvador and a home loss to FC Dallas at the DRV PNK Stadium.

Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, Hong Kong.
Lionel Messi stretching it out at Inter Miami training in front of a packed Hong Kong stadium. Photo by Peter Parks/AFP.
Source: Getty Images

They headed to Saudi Arabia for the Riyadh Season Cup 2024, where they played against Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. However, the highly anticipated ‘Last Dance’ between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did not happen due to an injury to the Portugal star.

The Herons immediately jetted out to Hong Kong after their 6-0 loss to Al-Nassr and will play against the country’s XI tomorrow.

Messi sell out Hong Kong stadium

Miami trained earlier today at the Hong Kong Stadium in preparation for tomorrow's game and has thousands of fans in attendance to see them kick the ball around.

Per SportStar, the 40,000-capacity stadium was sold out just for training, with the tickets to the game already sold out since December 2023, when the game was announced.

Messi took part in light training to avoid aggravating his hamstring injury, which almost kept him out of the game against Al-Nassr, where he played for only 13 minutes.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner later joined kids in a kickabout for the coaching clinic, a session which also had co-owner and former Manchester United star David Beckham.

Miami's pre-season tour will continue in Japan, where they will face Vissel Kobe before playing Messi's boyhood club in the final pre-season game of 2024.

Their 2024 MLS season kicks off against Real Salt Lake on February 24.

Hazard names Messi as GOAT

Sports Brief reported on Eden Hazard naming Messi as GOAT while also acknowledging him as the only player better than him in terms of pure football talent.

However, he agreed with the statement that talent is never enough when he added that Cristiano Ronaldo was a bigger footballer, though not better than him.

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Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.