TOKIO-. They are looking for Lionel Messi playing on wednesday Tokio when he Inter Miami opposite in a friendly Vissel Kobe.
And don’t expect another public relations disaster like what happened on Sunday when the captain of the world champion Argentina team stayed on the bench the entire game against a selection of players from the Hong Kong league and upset thousands of fans who asked to get their money back.
His teammate Luis Suárez also stayed on the bench.
Messi appeared at a five-star hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday for his second press conference since joining the team on June 7, the first being on August 17. He sat alone on a bench on stage in a pink jacket and humility.
It certainly shows that he is under pressure from partners in Japan, including Vissel Kobe where his former Barcelona teammate Andrés Iniesta became a fan favorite before leaving last year.
“The truth is that I have good feelings compared to a few days ago,” Messi warned, “depending on how (the training) goes I will see if I can. If I’m honest, I still don’t know if I’ll be able to or not, but I feel much better and I really want to be able to go out.”
Messi later trained in a suburb in Tokyo and looked fit, performed exercises and moved easily in a race at the Japan Football Association’s training facility. He did not speak to reporters afterward.
Messi tried to explain to the Hong Kong fans that he was unable to play due to a groin injury. Some suggested that he could have simply jogged for a few minutes and pleased the fans in a game of no importance except as a promotion.
“The truth is that it was bad luck that I couldn’t be in the Hong Kong game,” he commented and added that “I felt discomfort in my adductor that’s why I went out in the second game.”
“Unfortunately, things about football, in any game it can happen that one can have an injury. It happened to me and I couldn’t be at the Hong Kong game and it’s a shame because I always want to participate, I want to be there, especially when it comes to these types of games in which we travel so far and people are so excited about watch our games. I hope we can come back.”
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AP/Louise Delmotte
Inter Miami’s international tour has been disappointing as the club tries to build an image with veteran stars like Messi and Suarez. In five meetings in El Salvador, Dallas, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong, Inter has one victory and has been outscored 12-7.
The tour of Asia concludes on Wednesday at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
Source: AP
