November will see Lionel Messi and Inter Miami go to China. The MLS regular season ended last week.
Asia’s football supporters were ecstatic to hear that World Cup winner Lionel Messi would be visiting the region soon after the Ballon d’Or event on October 30, where the Argentine is favoured to win a record eighth championship.
Inter Miami was scheduled to play two Chinese Super League teams in as many days—Qingdao Hainiu and Chengdu Rongcheng. The latter match has been cancelled, with organisers citing “various reasons” for the last-minute change.
The MLS team is still scheduled to play Qingdao, but as the team continues to tweak their tour schedule, the game’s location has been changed.
It will now be held at the 41,500-seat Wuyuan River Stadium in Haikou instead of the 50,000-seat Qingdao Youth Football Stadium.
Since there will only be one game for fans to attend, organisers have also made a number of inconsistent comments regarding when tickets will be available for purchase.
Many of the fans who were anticipating seeing their idol perform have been quick to vent their dissatisfaction and disappointment on social media as, over the past few days, their elation and excitement have given way to annoyance and frustration.
The tour is still scheduled to go ahead, with the only game scheduled in China for November 5th, unless there are any last-minute alterations.
Messi’s season with Inter Miami did not go well; he finished ninth in the Eastern Conference and two spots below the final series play-off spot.
Nevertheless, Inter Miami did manage to win the Leagues Cup in August, and the Argentinean was a major factor in that cup run, with 10 goals and one assist in seven games to secure the team’s first-ever trophy.
Fans are hoping that when Messi plays against Qingdao Hainiu, he can show a bit of that form.