Messi, Beckham booed after Argentina superstar sits out Inter Miami’s pre-season friendly in Hong Kong – Sport

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Lionel Messi and David Beckham were booed on Sunday after the Argentina superstar sat out Inter Miami’s pre-season friendly in Hong Kong.

The World Cup-winning captain, who has a hamstring strain, stayed rooted to the bench throughout the 4-1 friendly win against a Hong Kong select XI.

It brought a show of anger from the near-capacity crowd of 38,323 who had paid upwards of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars ($125) to see their hero, and in many cases five times that amount.

Halfway through the second-half, chants of “We want Messi” rose around the Hong Kong Stadium from fans desperate to see the greatest footballer of his generation in the much-hyped exhibition game.

The booing became louder during the last 10 minutes when it became clear that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner would not make even the briefest of cameos.

The jeers rose to a crescendo at the final whistle and Miami co-owner Beckham was drowned out by booing as he tried to thank the crowd for “their incredible support” while fans signalled their anger with thumbs-down gestures.

“I’m just really disappointed,” fan Jonathan Wong told AFP. “Everyone is here to see Messi, so I feel a bit cheated.

“Without him it’s just like another regular Hong Kong Premier League match, where a ticket only costs HK$80 ($11). This time we paid HK$5,000 ($625).”

Miami coach Gerardo Martino said the club’s medical team had taken the decision after an assessment on Sunday morning.

“We understand the disappointment of the fans for the absence of Leo (Messi),” Martino told reporters.

“We understand a lot of fans are very disappointed and we ask for their forgiveness.

“We wish we could have sent Leo on for at least a while but the risk was too big.”

The 36-year-old Messi played just six minutes in Miami’s last match, in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, and now faces a race against time to be fit for the new MLS season that starts on February 21.

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