Lionel Messi He assured that he feels better from an injury that prevented him from playing with Inter Miami on Sunday in Hong Kong, but is not sure if he will be able to play in their next friendly tomorrow in Japan.
“I don’t know if I can play or not, but I feel much better and I really want to be able to do so,” Messi declared at a press conference in Tokyo, on the eve of the match against the Japanese champion, andl Vissel Kobe.
“The truth is that I have very good feelings compared to how I was before,” added the star of the Argentina team, champion of the Qatar World Cup-2022.
Tickets for the game in Japan range from 10,000 to 200,000 yen ($68 to $1,360).
The absence of Messi It generated outrage among Hong Kong fans, who had paid at least US$125 to see him play on Sunday against a local team, which Inter Miami beat 4-1.
The Argentine was booed by fans who demanded a refund for the tickets.
Even the Government of this country asked the leaders of Inter Niami and the organizing company for explanations, since one of the main conditions of the agreement was that the player from Rosario played at least 45 minutes.
In addition, the company threatened to withdraw €1.9 million in public financing from the event organizer because it had secured the presence of the captain of the Argentine national team in the second half.
“Where is Messi? We have 40,000 people in the stadium but not a minute on the field. Why does Messi appear in the middle of the poster everywhere in the advertising?”, “In Hong Kong, Messi did not play for a second… We are all disappointed, it is a cheating game!! Do you know thousands of people who fly from Hong Kong to see you? “Liar football club!” were some of the comments in a post from the club involved.
For its part, upon arrival in Japan Messi explained: “The truth is that it was bad luck that I couldn’t be on the day of the Hong Kong match,” express.
He recalled that on January 29, in the first match in Saudi Arabia, against Al Hilal, he felt discomfort in his adductor.
In the next game against Al-Nassr “I played the minutes I played to see how I felt,” he said. “I had had an MRI and it came out that I had edema in the adductor, but it was not an injury.”
Messi’s team lost 4-3 against Al Hilal and 6-0 against Al-Nassr.
“Unfortunately, a football thing, in any game it can happen that we can have an injury. It happened to me, I couldn’t be in the Hong Kong game. It’s a shame because I always want to participate, I want to be, especially in these games that We travel so far and people are excited to see our games,” he said.
“Hopefully we can come back and we can play a game in Hong Kong,” he added.
He Inter Miami prepares to start the American MLS season on February 21.
Source: Ambito
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