Lionel Messi promises ‘great things’ at Inter Miami ‘Unveil’

Soccer

By Christian Arnold

July 17, 2023 | 12:31am

The rain was still falling as Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas finally introduced the man everyone had been waiting hours to see at DRV PNK Stadium. 

“Inter Miami No.10. America’s No.10. The best No.10 in the world, Lionel Andres Messi!” Mas exclaimed as the soccer superstar emerged from beneath the stadium and onto the field he’ll now call home. 

Two hours later and much wetter than everyone expected, the Messi era began in South Florida on Sunday night.

Mas said the team was doing it “Miami style” and called the falling rain “holy water” as they ushered in what the Inter Miami owner hoped would be a shift in the sport in the United States.

“Today a new journey and a new chapter starts. There will always be a before and after Lionel Messi,” Mas told the crowd. ‘We are recipients of a legacy of the greatest player in the world that started at Newell’s Old Boys. Went to Barcelona and ended at PSG, but today it sits in the hands of Inter Miami and its fans. 

“This is our moment to change the football landscape in this country.”

The arrival of Messi to the struggling Inter Miami club was seen as a coup for both the team and the league, and it’s already paid dividends in raising the profile of both.

“I am very happy to have chosen to come to this city with my family, to have chosen this project and I have no doubt that we are going to enjoy it very much,” Messi said, according to ESPN. “We are going to have a good time and great things are going to happen. Thank you very much, thank you all for this day.

DRV PNK Stadium was filled to capacity on Sunday as Messi made his first official appearance as a member of the team. 

This is despite the fact that torrential rain forced the introductory event to be delayed nearly two hours from its originally scheduled 6:30 p.m. start time. 

Some fans appeared to flood through one of the stadium gates unchecked in an attempt to see Messi and get out of the poor weather.

“Tonight is a typical Miami welcome for one of the greatest players to ever have played the game,” team co-owner David Beckham said, according to the Associated Press. “The fact that we have our fans in here, celebrating this moment … this is what we have created and we’re very proud of that.”

Messi briefly addressed the crowd that had made the trip to see him and sat through the wicked weather.

‘I really want to start training and compete,” Messi told the crowd in Spanish, according to the Daily Mail. “I want to win, for the club to continue growing. I hope that you will join us as you have since the season began. I thank my new colleagues for the welcome.”

Messi was given a hero’s welcome by his new club and their fans, which included a starstudded welcome video with messages from the likes of DJ Kalid, Stephen Curry and Tom Brady among other A-list celebrities. 

But that will give way to training and his Inter Miami debut on Friday against Mexican side Cruz Azul.