English soccer icon David Beckham sees his club Inter Miami’s signing of Lionel Messi as a “gift to America and the MLS.”
It’s “still hard for him to believe when someone turns to me and says that Inter Miami has Lionel Messi in its ranks,” said the club co-owner in an interview with the AFP news agency.
Messi – world footballer, world champion and idol of entire generations – is “changing the game,” said UNICEF Ambassador Beckham on the sidelines of a visit to India: “Of course we want to win championships. Of course we want to be the best team in the league. But one of the… Part of the reason we bought him was to inspire the next generation of soccer players in America.”
After two unhappy years at Paris St. Germain, the Argentinian Messi decided to move to Major League Soccer and triggered a hype in the country of the upcoming World Cup hosts.
Unlike his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo or the Brazilian Neymar, the attacker decided against an even higher-paying commitment to Saudi Arabia at the end of his career.
Messi scored 11 goals in his first 14 games for Miami and won the Leagues Cup, but the club missed the MLS play-offs.