Inter Miami faces its first international tour since its creation
.
With the figure of
Lionel Messi
as a magnet, the Florida team begins its tour of Asia this Monday with a friendly against
Al Hilal
, the powerful team from Saudi Arabia where Neymar - now injured in the knee - plays.
The match at the Kingdom Arena stadium will be played starting at 3:00 p.m. (Argentine time) and to watch it live you must subscribe to the
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
.
تجربة السمعات 😎💙🔥🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/tiTvIWBoeb
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) January 29, 2024
Before this match, coach Gerardo Martino already had two tests in which Inter was not able to convert against the El Salvador team (0-0 draw) and FC Dallas (1-0 loss), another franchise in the North American League (MLS).
Although Messi and the Uruguayan Luis Suárez left hints of the lethal connection of their time at Barcelona, 'Tata' Martino's offensive plans suffered a turnaround in recent days with the serious injuries of the promising Argentine playmaker Facundo Farías, who will miss the entire season, and the talented midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, who will be out of the field for between two and three months.
Neymar will miss the duel against his former teammates at Barcelona in Spain, due to the serious injury to his left knee that he suffered in October in a qualifying match with the 'Seleçao'.
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez during their time at Barcelona.
Photo: AP / Siu Wu, File
Even without the Brazilian, Al-Hilal leads the Saudi championship with seven points ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr after 19 games played.
Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus has at his disposal other old acquaintances of European football such as his compatriot Ruben Neves, the Serbians Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic and the Brazilians Renan Lodi and Malcom.
The Kingdom Arena stadium in the Saudi capital will be the same venue where Inter will face Al-Nassr three days later in a duel for which Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be ready.
Photo: AP / Hussein Malla
The Portuguese will try to be fully recovered from his calf injury to experience a possible last duel against Messi, with whom he starred in one of the great rivalries in football history during his time as a Real Madrid star.
Once the Saudi tour is over, Inter will travel to Hong Kong to face a local team on February 4 and Japan to play three days later against Vissel Kobe.
On February 15, Messi will experience an emotional close to the preseason in a friendly in Miami against Newell's Old Boys from Rosario.