Argentinan and his team come by private jet from Riyadh for a three-day trip. They will play a game at Hong Kong Stadium while they are there.
On their way to their Ocean Park hotel, where they were going to hold a press statement,Finally, Lionel Messi’s long-awaited trip to Hong Kong has come. He and his Inter Miami teammates arrived in the city.
Their private jet got to Hong Kong International Airport on Friday around 2:30 p.m. local time. It had been in Riyadh, where they played two games against Saudi teams.
Due to delays at the airport in Riyadh, the plane arrived an hour later than planned, which meant that the welcome event had to be moved back an hour.
That’s when Messi’s protection, Yassine Cheuko, was ready when the plane door opened in Hong Kong. Messi walked down the stairs and onto the runway with his suitcase and two drink bottles in his hands. Cheuko stayed right behind him the whole time.
A neighborhood child gave the Miami players and staff a bouquet of flowers as they gathered on a red and pink stage set up next to the plane. The master of ceremonies, who spoke both English and Cantonese, then asked the squad to stay for more formalities, but they left the stage. This caused uncertainty.The few people who were allowed to be there—eight kids wearing Argentina jerseys and some reporters—were confused as the team got on a waiting bus.
At the scene, a writer for The Post said it was “awkward,” and there were “very excited” Hong Kong kids waiting to take pictures with the players.
The team didn’t have to go through the arrivals hall because they were going straight to their hotel, the Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel Hong Kong in Aberdeen.On Sunday, Miami will play an exhibition game at Hong Kong Stadium against a team from the city’s Premier League. Messi, who is generally regarded as the best player of his era, will be the main attraction for fans from Hong Kong.
David Beckham, a co-owner of the American club, is said to have arrived before the team to attend a business event behind closed doors.
Notable players on the Miami team include Luis Suarez (Uruguay) and Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets (Spain). They were scheduled to hold a pre-game news conference at the Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel later on Friday afternoon. There were going to be head coach Gerardo Martino and some players who weren’t named.
The game on Sunday is part of a practice tour that will go to five countries and cover about 24,000 miles (39,000 km).
Football fans went crazy when they heard that Messi, winner of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or award for best player in the world, would be going to Hong Kong.
When tickets priced at HK$880 to HK$4,880 (US$113 to US$624) went on sale in December, they were gone in an hour.Inter Miami will have an open practice on Saturday as well, this time at Hong Kong Stadium. Tickets for that, which cost between HK$580 and HK$780 on Klook, also sold out. The city’s government gave out about 15,000 tickets to people in the area.
The staff at the Inter Miami club will also hold two football clinics for kids ages 9 to 14 and for some causes.
Messi only played seven minutes of Miami’s 6-0 loss to Al Nassr in Riyadh late on Thursday. He was said to have hurt his leg.Messi was meant to play against Cristiano Ronaldo in that game, but Ronaldo didn’t play at all because he was also hurt.
Last week, fans in Shenzhen, a city on mainland China that borders Hong Kong, were angry when Al Nassr abruptly canceled two games there because of Ronaldo’s calf problem. The club stayed to do media chores, though.
A government source told the Post last month that Messi was required by contract to play in the game against the Hong Kong XI, unless he was sick or hurt.
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