David Beckham was on hand to welcome Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and the rest of the Inter Miami squad after arriving in Hong Kong to inject some life into a difficult pre-season.
The MLS team is halfway through a global tour that will see Messi and Co travel approximately 27,000 miles ahead of the 2024 season.
Tata Martino’s team landed in the Far East on Friday morning and a video on Inter Miami’s social media showed Beckham welcoming the players to the dressing room.
The team co-owner was photographed shaking hands with each player and hugging the likes of Messi, Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
Inter Miami will play a friendly match against Hong Kong XI on Sunday. It’s the fifth game of the grueling preseason for the MLS team.
David Beckham greets Lionel Messi after the Inter Miami team landed in Hong Kong this week
The team’s co-owner shared a hug and a short conversation with new star player Luis Suarez
In preparation for the match, Messi and Co enjoyed an open training session on Saturday, with the stadium in Hong Kong being flooded with jerseys with the World Cup winner’s name on them.
Messi and Beckham even enjoyed a short kickabout on the pitch with some local children.
Inter Miami played in El Salvador and Dallas before two friendlies in Saudi Arabia. The second, against an Al-Nassr side missing Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mané, ended in a humiliating 6–0 defeat.
Sergio Busquets – also an ex-Barcelona contingent – gives Beckham a hug in Hong Kong
The former England captain greeted all Miami players, including Jordi Alba (above)
Martino’s team still faces a trip to Japan to take on Vissel Kobe and a home match against Messi’s former club – Newell’s Old Boys – before the MLS season opener on February 21.
Messi started the match against Al-Nassr on the bench, amid reports that he had had an MRI scan beforehand due to a possible injury.
However, he came on in the 83rd minute, with the score already 6-0, and played the rest of the match while his old nemesis Ronaldo was in the stands watching.
It remains to be seen how serious Messi’s injury is, but he reportedly felt some ‘discomfort’ in the aftermath of their friendly with Al-Hilal on Monday.
Messi plays with local children during Inter Miami’s open training in Hong Kong
The stadium was flooded with Messi jerseys and fans of the World Cup winner on Saturday