Ever since Lionel Messi rocked up at Inter Miami last summer, the Argentine icon has brought superstar status to David Beckham’s MLS franchise.
After a stunning impact at the back end of the 2023 season – which saw Inter Miami win their first ever trophy with the Leagues Cup – the eyeballs and attention on US football has only increased.
Ahead of his first full campaign, the expectations have risen again and Messi has spent the past month undertaking various pre-season engagements, ranging from the Florida-based outfit’s tour of Asia and the Far East, to christening a £1.59bn cruise ship and appearing in a Super Bowl advert.
But, it hasn’t all been plain sailing, with Messi at the centre of a political dispute, while his winter break was also hindered by a niggling injury and a failed reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo.
In light of the 36-year-old’s hectic month, Mail Sport takes a look inside Messi’s winter break below.
Lionel Messi has been kept busy with several engagements during Inter Miami’s winter break
But, it hasn’t been easy for the Argentine star, who has been mired in some controversies
However, Messi has been lining up alongside his former Barcelona team-mates over the past month (pictured, left to right – Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, himself and Sergio Busquets)
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Inter Miami kick-started their pre-season programme with a disappointing 0-0 draw with El Salvador.
Both Messi and Luis Suarez drew a blank on their Inter Miami reunion, with the attacking stars playing 45 minutes in the team’s draw.
Following that game, Messi and his Inter Miami team-mates featured in front of a near-empty Cotton Bowl stadium for a drab friendly against FC Dallas.
Incredible images from the game in a rainy Texas show the World Cup winner lining up alongside two fellow legends in Suarez and Sergio Busquets – but the rare appearance of soccer royalty failed to create the sort of buzz MLS had hoped for.
There were just 32,211 fans in attendance – a third of the capacity of the huge venue – with large swathes of empty seats seen throughout the stadium. Dallas’ Jesus Ferreira scored the only goal of the game inside three minutes.
Inter Miami then continued to clock up the miles during their off-season, flying to Saudi Arabia to face two more money-spinning games.
Their first match was a narrow 4-3 defeat to Al-Hilal, where Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Al-Hilal an early lead.
Shortly afterwards, midfielder Ruben Neves turned away from Messi, leaving the Argentine icon in a heap on the floor.
It did not take long for Al-Hilal to post an image of Neves getting the better of Messi on X, and they accompanied it with a mocking caption that read: ‘It’s ok Leo… you’re not the first one. #RollsRuben.’
Inter Miami trailed 3-1 at the interval, but scored two early second-half goals, including a Messi penalty, to pull level at 3-3. However, Malcom scored late on for Al-Hilal to hand them a 4-3 victory.
Inter Miami then moved onto a blockbuster showdown against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr, in a clash that had been billed as the ‘Last Dance’ between two great rivals.
However, the Portuguese striker was forced to pull out of the occasion with a muscle injury, while Messi took to the pitch for only seven minutes, with his side already 6-0 down by the time he was introduced.
This didn’t stop popular streamer IShowSpeed continuing his pantomime opposition to the Argentine.
As Messi was introduced, IShowSpeed proudly stood from his seat and booed the World Cup winner, blasted an Al-Nassr player for shaking hands with him and exclaimed his trademark phrase: ‘Ronaldo better.’
Al-Hilal quickly took to social media to mock Messi after Ruben Neves got the better of him
Messi was a late substitute as his side were thrashed 6-0 by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr
Popular streamer IShowSpeed also wasted no time in mocking the 36-year-old forward
After that, the MLS side headed out to Hong Kong, where things only went from bad to worse for Messi and his team-mates, as angry fans demanded a refund after paying up to £365 to watch the Argentine.
Their anger stemmed from the fact Messi, who featured prominently in the advertising ahead of the event, remained on the bench throughout Inter Miami’s 4-1 win over a Hong Kong XI.
Some fans quite literally took aim at Messi. A video shared on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, showed a fan kung-fu kicking an advertising board featuring a picture of the Argentine star and taking his head off.
All 40,000 tickets for the friendly were snapped up in a matter of hours in December with fans in Hong Kong desperate to see the World Cup winner in action.
But a hamstring injury meant Messi watched on from the sidelines, along with fellow high-profile superstars Suarez, Alba and Busquets.
Miami coach Gerardo Martino said the club’s medical team had taken the decision after an assessment pre-game.
‘We understand the disappointment of the fans for the absence of Leo [Messi],’ he told reporters.
‘We understand a lot of fans are very disappointed and we ask for their forgiveness.
‘This decision was made together with the medical staff. We ran a lot of risk of aggravating their injuries and that’s why they couldn’t be in the game.’
Martino acknowledged fans were left disappointed, but insisted Messi’s fitness was his main concern.
‘We apologise, but I hope you can understand that, if we had a chance to get them to play for a while, we would have done it,’ he continued.
Martino’s words did little to appease furious locals and officials with the incident elevated to international level.
This included Hong Kong’s government demanding an explanation from organisers, while they threatened to withdraw $2m (£1.6m) of funding to the organisers that helped bring Inter Miami to the city.
‘The organiser owes all football fans an explanation,’ they said in a statement. Hong Kong’s sports minister also claimed that Messi had been contracted to play for at least 45 minutes.
Halfway through the second half of the game, chants of ‘We want Messi’ had rose around the Hong Kong Stadium from fans desperate to see the greatest footballer of his generation in the much-hyped exhibition game.
Fans were left furious after Lionel Messi remained on the bench during a game in Hong Kong
Local fans couldn’t hide their frustration after paying as much as £365 to watch Messi play
Fans bought tickets thinking Messi would be featuring, but he was struggling with injury
Some of the advertising boards at Hong Kong Stadium featuring Messi were damaged
The booing became louder during the last 10 minutes when it became clear that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner would not make even the briefest of cameos.
In a statement, organisers of the event – dubbed ‘Tatler XFEST’ – expressed their ‘extreme disappointment’ that neither Messi nor his Uruguayan teammate Suarez took part in the match.
‘Despite some news reports, Tatler did not have any information about the non-participation of Messi or Suarez prior to kick off,’ they said.
Furious fans had similarly booed David Beckham, Inter Miami president and co-owner, as he greeted the 40,000 strong crowd after the game and thanked them for their ‘incredible welcome’.
The fall-out didn’t stop there however, with Chinese sporting authorities then stepping into to cancel next month’s international friendly between Argentina and Nigeria that was due to take place in Hangzhou amid the growing backlash against Messi.
Messi – who was accused of showing a ‘lack of respect’ – subsequently travelled to Japan to take on Vissel Kobe just three days later.
He came on in the 60th minute before his side lost on penalties, which didn’t help to calm the storm.
However, the Argentine did apologise to fans on Weibo, a platform similar to X, ahead of their match against Kobe.
He wrote: ‘Anyone who knows me knows that I always want to play… especially in these games where we travel so far and people are excited to see our games,’ he wrote in Chinese and Spanish.
‘Hopefully we can come back and play a game in Hong Kong.’
Despite that, China‘s state-controlled Global Times subsequently launched a fresh attack on Messi claiming his absence posed questions on the differential treatment for Hong Kong.
They accused the Argentine striker of ‘political motives’ with the aim of ’embarrassing’ Hong Kong after playing for Inter Miami in Japan.
‘The match in Hong Kong became the only one in Messi’s six pre-season friendly matches on this trip where he was absent,’ they said.
‘The situation … has magnified these doubts and suspicions on the integrity of Inter Miami and Messi himself.’
Some Chinese football fans then even started taunting him online over the Falklands War as the bizarre episode took an even stranger turn.
Messi also christened the world’s largest cruise liner, Royal Caribbean’s ‘Icon of the Seas’ during his winter break
The ship cost £1.59bn, has a capacity of 7,600 people and a weight of 250,800 gross tons
Messi also made a headline appearance in a Super Bowl advert for beer brand Michelob Ultra
After a hectic month, Messi returns to competitive action against Real Salt Lake next week
Messi was equally busy off the pitch during the winter break, with the 36-year-old christening the largest cruise ship in the world – Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas – back in January.
After attending a ceremony with his Inter Miami team-mates, Messi – who was the headliner at the event – placed a soccer ball atop a stand to ‘start’ the traditional breaking of a champagne bottle against the bow of the ship – something that is supposed to bring good luck to the vessel and its passengers.
The Icon of the Seas is the world’s longest liner at 1,198 feet. But, it didn’t come without a $2bn (£1.59bn) cost, funding the construction of 20 decks for a maximum capacity of 7,600 people and a weight of 250,800 gross tons.
Messi later declared his role in the ship’s introduction a ‘privilege’.
On the commercial side, Messi also made a headline appearance in a Super Bowl advertisement for Michelob Ultra, a beer brand.
He appeared with Dan Marino and Jason Sudeikis in the commercial and was seen playing football on the beach as passers-by watched on in awe.
Messi’s hectic winter break concluded with Inter Miami’s final friendly against his boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys on Thursday, with the Argentine playing 60 minutes of the 1-1 draw.
The footballing icon and his team-mates will finally return to competitive action with a home MLS game against Real Salt Lake on February 22.