Messi officially presented in Florida: ‘Welcome to Miami baby’ | Foreign football

The club of co-owner and chairman David Beckham had tackled the official presentation of the 36-year-old world champion grand and typically ‘showy’ American. The event, broadcast live on Twitter and YouTube, had been dubbed “The Unveil,” or “The Unveil,” as if something else was about to happen that we didn’t know yet.

But the slick show partly fell into the water. Storm and rain caused a few hours delay and a canned program. Nevertheless, it became clear what the intention is at Inter Miami: Messi, who signed a contract with Inter Miami until 2026 on Saturday, with an option for another season, must ensure attention, commotion, audience and performance.

This was evident, among other things, from the series of greats from the sports and show world who gave a warm welcome to the former star of Paris St-Germain and Barcelona via video messages. NBA star Stephen Curry, singer Alejandro Sanz, even the mayor of the city Francis Suarez warmly welcomed Messi and his family to the city. “Start getting used to Miami with a famous Miami coffee,” he said. The bouncer was for Puerto Rican singer Marc Anthony: ,,Hey Leo, my friend. Welcome to Miami, baby.’

The presentation show took place in Latin atmospheres. Applicable for Messi, but especially for the supporters of the club in Florida, where many Hispanics live. For example, the Colombian singer Camilo, known for his singles, performed Tutu with Shakira and Pedro Capo and Desconocidos with Mau y Ricky and Manuel Turizo.

In the center of all the glitz and glamor, Messi visibly felt quite overwhelmed. “Thank you all for this wonderful reception. I would also like to thank David (Beckham, ed.) and his family, as well as my new colleagues for how they welcomed me and my family here in Miami. I will, as always, fully commit myself to the club. I look forward to training and playing and helping this club grow and win”, was the short message, the last part of which in particular caused great enthusiasm in the stands.

The Argentinian will probably give his first press conference as a player of Inter Miami on Monday after his first training, around his first training. He will probably make his debut on Friday July 21 against the Mexican club Cruz Azul. That is a match in the context of the new Leagues Cup, a tournament between clubs from the MLS and the Mexican league. On Saturday, Inter Miami lost 3-0 at St. Louis and is firmly at the bottom of the Eastern Conference of the MLS, in which fifteen clubs are active.

Together with Messi, midfielder Sergio Busquets, who played with the Argentinian at Barcelona for years, and the new Argentinian coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino were also presented. Shortly before, on his 35th birthday, Busquets had signed a contract with Inter Miami until 2026.

Martina, who, like Messi, comes from the Argentine city of Rosario, is also no stranger to Messi. The two already worked together in the 2013/’14 season, when Martina coached Barcelona. After the team lost the title to Atlético Madrid on the last day of play, he announced his departure. After that year’s World Cup, where Argentina lost the final to Germany in Brazil (1-0), he became national coach of the Argentina national team. Of La Albiceleste and Messi in the squad, he reached the 2015 and 2016 Copa América finals, both of which were lost to Chile on penalties. After that second defeat, Martina resigned.