Lionel Messi is finally off the mark this MLS pre-season although Inter Miami has now lost back-to-back friendlies after Monday’s 4-3 loss to Al Hilal in front of a sold-out crowd in Saudi Arabia.
The 36-year-old Argentine coolly converted a penalty in the 55th minute to draw the Herons back into the contest at Kingdom Arena – a 40,000-seater – after they trailed 3-1 at the break.
Messi was substituted just seconds before Malcom’s winner in the 88th minute, as fans roared his name and applauded him while he made his way to the bench.
Miami lost to F.C. Dallas in Texas, last Monday, in front of a fan-deprived Cotton Bowl Stadium – a sparking contrast to this week’s game in Riyadh.
Barely a third of the college football stadium’s full capacity – 92,1000 – was filled, as only 32,211 fans showed up for what was Miami’s last pre-season game of the month on home soil.
Lionel Messi, of Inter Miami, celebrates after scoring a penalty in the second half vs. Al Hilal
Al-Hilal players celebrating a first-half goal after increasing their lead to 3-1 before halftime
Inter Miami midfielder David Ruiz looks dejected a full-time despite scoring a goal himself
Luis Suarez – one of Inter Miami’s winter signings – scored his first ever goal in a pink jersey, which recently revealed its new shirt sponsor last week, in the 34th minute. It was initially ruled out for offside but after a review check from VAR, the goal stood.
Ex-Fulham F.C. striker Aleksander Mitrovic opened the scoring on Monday night in the 10th minute before Abudllah Al-Hamdan doubled Al Hilal’s lead, three minutes later.
Brazilian winger Michael added a third for the Saudi Pro League club, 10 minutes after Suarez’s goal and just a minute before halftime, to give Al Hilal a two-goal cushion at the end of the first half.
David Ruiz – a 19-year-old Honduran midfielder for Miami – got the Herons back on level terms (3-3) with a goal in the 55th minute, as the second half of the first of two preseason, friendly matches in Saudi Arabia for Messi & Co. was largely uneventful.
That’s until Malcom showed up to spoil Miami’s comeback draw, as the former Barca and Zenit St. Petersburg winger scored, two minutes from stoppage time, to send fans into delirium.
THE POSITIVE: Luis Suarez scoring his first goal for Inter Miami since joining the club in Dec.
Messi and his teammates will now move on to face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on Thursday, although it is unsure if the Portuguese star will be fit in time for the high-profile friendly due to a calf injury.
The financial benefit of Inter Miami and Messi playing in Saudi Arabia hasn’t been revealed.
It’s reasonable to think it’s a big number, enough to help the MLS club offset at least some of Messi’s salary – he’s on a two-and-a-half-year contract that will pay him around $150 million – and what the team spent to land the likes of Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Suarez to play with him.
‘What I love about Saudi,’ Messi says in a marketing campaign for the country, ‘is that I always discover what I never expected.’
Messi and the remainder of the Inter Miami squad will then travel to Hong Kong to take on the country’s starting XI on February 4.
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