A group of excited fans in Hong Kong went up a mountain to see Lionel Messi play, but he was sitting on the bench for Inter Miami.

 

Lionel Messi is in the Far East right now as part of Inter Miami’s long pre-season tour. But an injury has restricted the amount of time he can play. Messi only played for seven minutes in a friendly match in Saudi Arabia against Al-Nassr. Notably, he did not share the field with Cristiano Ronaldo, who is always up against him.

 

Fans in Hong Kong couldn’t wait for the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner to come back to their area. Messi, unfortunately, had to sit on the bench the whole game and watch Luis Suarez play as a replacement. Inter Miami won by a score of 4-1.

 

People inside the stadium were upset that they couldn’t see Messi play, even though they had paid a lot of money for seats. Some football fans went outside and climbed a nearby mountain to try to see the famous figure.

The next stop on Inter Miami’s pre-season trip is a game against Vissel Kobe in Asia on Wednesday. After this, they’ll go back to the United States for a home game against Newell’s Old Boys and the start of the 2024 MLS season on February 21.