The sun always shines in Florida
.
There are no mosquitoes like in Buenos Aires, but the wind blows hard, making it a little uncomfortable and forcing you to wear a coat.
The sea hits the wintery, although temperate, sand of Fort Lauderdale, the beautiful coastal city north of Miami that
Lionel Messi chose to travel the final stretch of his career as a showman of world football
.
However, even though retirement looms and is inevitably getting closer,
his magic and his magnetism are intact just hours before the MLS raises the curtain on the 2024 season
.
The first show will be this Wednesday, from 10:00 p.m. (Argentine time - two hours more than here), when
Inter Miami
will host
Real Salt Lake
at Chase Stadium.
Did the “star team” move stadiums?
Not for now.
Only the naming changed.
It left the DRV PNK banner, the product of an agreement with the automotive company AutoNation, to become sponsored by the largest bank in the United States and one of the largest financial companies in the world.
And that is also a product of Messi's impact on the increasingly globalized soccer
.
Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez during Inter Miami's last training session before their MLS debut.
Photo: Megan Briggs / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
The magnet Messi, the one who led the club on an intense and controversial tour of Asia with just four years of existence and two of competition, is not seen on the streets of the city.
But you do begin to feel the fury for Leo as you approach the stadium.
It has space for
21,500 spectators
, but it looks impressive for two no small factors: it is made of tubular structures because it was imagined as a temporary court and was built in just eight months.
First world express
.
Next to it stands the sports city and it is first world without adjectives.
The training camp has nothing to envy of the best clubs in Europe.
Facilities for the training divisions - the “academies”, as they are known here - and for the professional staff.
Lionel Messi appeared there after 10:00 this Tuesday.
It was a training session that began with a “Chinese bridge” for
Franco Negri
for his 29th birthday - he then received an effusive hug from captain Leo - and continued with light movements to wait for the game against Real Salt Lake, coached by
Pablo Mastroeni
, a Mendoza native. who not only shone in the “prehistoric” MLS – he played for Miami Fusion, the city's previous franchise – but he even became
captain of the United States National Team
.
Jordi Alba
, the eternal partner of the overflow and the center behind, warned that this season Inter Miami will go for everything.
“The idea is to win everything we play.
It won't be easy, but that's what we want.
That's why we keep playing.
"If not, we would stay in our homes
," the Catalan defender emphasized in a press conference with 25 journalists.
He also gave reassurance for the health of Messi and Luis Suárez, who dosed their energy during the tour of Asia.
“We are all fine
,” he remarked.
Photo: Megan Briggs / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
A smiling Gerardo Martino spoke precisely about that.
“The tour forced a balance between commercial and sporting.
And I think we got a pass, although I estimate that only between the third and fourth rounds will we find our best version
,” Tata said, relaxed and convinced that in Miami he enjoys being a coach and nothing more than a coach.
A different Martino than the one who had his guard up and fought against the Mexican journalists and who even joked about the shorts he chose to train in and the cold.
“It's cool, but I didn't feel comfortable changing
,” he summed up with full Argentinianness.
Magnet Messi can also be seen from behind the bars outside the stadium
.
A handful of live cell phones broadcast from the XXL parking lot.
Something unthinkable for any soccer team until the arrival of the Rosario star.
But the most curious thing is the pilgrimage of fans who come to the place to take selfies with the field in the background and in the hope that the Scaloneta captain will appear.
Why not have the same luck as that family of Argentinians who crossed him and chased him until they got him to sign a shirt.
Messi is God in Miami and surrounding areas.
He generates devotion.
And not only among fans.
He is also the spiritual fuel of a team that dreams of establishing a dynasty.
“Leo does something that is impossible every day: always play well.
He does it in games and also in training.
The normal thing is to play well some days, other times average and sometimes poorly.
He is always at his best.
And it never stops surprising.
Yesterday he scored a great goal in training and all of his teammates stopped to applaud him
,” revealed Argentine Javier Morales, one of Martino's assistants, in conversation with
Clarín
.
That's Messi.
In Argentina, in Barcelona and now in the United States.
The show is about to start and the host is the best showman you can get.
Although the years go by
.