Lionel Messi continues to be soccer’s biggest draw, while Inter Miami and MLS benefit from his worldwide celebrity.
Messi and Inter Miami held a practice in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans at Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday as their worldwide preseason tour continues in China.
They expect another sell out for Sunday’s match between Inter Miami and Hong Kong XI at the venue.
“Amazing… a sold out stadium for our pre-season training session in Hong Kong,” Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham posted on Instagram.
“Thank you for all your incredible support and love, see you all tomorrow.”
The match is set for a 3 a.m. ET start, and will broadcast by MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Messi walked onto the pitch and fans cheered loudly just seeing him kick a ball toward his Inter Miami teammates.
Messi and Inter Miami’s players interacted with children allowed to share the pitch during the training session.
One young fan even ran onto the pitch and bowed to greet Messi, before getting an autograph and escorted away by Inter Miami security guard Yassine Chueko.
Messi is expected to play in Sunday’s preseason friendly despite injury discomfort he experienced in Saudi Arabia earlier this week.
“We want Leo [Messi] to play as much as possible,” Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said.
“We will evaluate the players. The hope is that Leo can play the most minutes. We will see in [Saturday’s] training, but it is likely he will play on Sunday.”
