Inter Miami suffered a humiliating start to Thursday’s preseason friendly against Al-Nassr, conceding three goals inside the first 12 minutes – including one from inside the opposition half.
With Lionel Messi watching on after suffering an injury scare, the MLS side fell 3-0 down in no time against the Saudi outfit – who was without Cristiano Ronaldo.
The embarrassing start to the game was epitomized by Al-Nassr’s third goal, scored by former Manchester City star Aymeric Laporte.
The defender fired a free kick from well inside his own half, which flew over Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender as he scrambled back towards his goal. That made it 3-0.
The home side had earlier taken the lead after only three minutes through Portuguese forward Otavio before Brazilian Talisca doubled the lead shortly after.
Lionel Messi watched from the bench as Inter Miami fell 3-0 down to Al-Nassr after 12 minutes
Jordi Alba (pictured), Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez all started for the MLS club on Thursday
Cristiano Ronaldo watched from the stands after being ruled out of the preseason friendly
Despite being without Messi, Miami still fielded a starting XI that included Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba.
Tata Martino’s side looked to have stopped the early bleeding – the score was still 3-0 at half time – only for Talisca to score Al-Nassr’s fourth six minutes into the second half.
Messi started the friendly on the bench after going for an MRI scan. It’s claimed he felt ‘discomfort’ after playing Al-Hilal and went to be examined.
It came after his long-time rival Ronaldo was ruled out of the friendly in Saudi Arabia, with the Portugal icon watching from the stands.
Miami are four matches into a gruelling preseason tour, which will see them travel 23,000 miles. Messi and Co still have games in Hong Kong and Japan to come before the new MLS season. The World Cup winner is expected to play at some point during the rest of the tour.
Former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte scored from inside his own half
Brazilian midfielder Talisca was also on the scoresheet during the first half in Riyadh
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Mail Online
