Messi "fully" healthy as Inter Miami begins 2024 season
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Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi. Photo: David Santiago/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Lionel Messi hasn't even played a full season with Inter Miami, and he already won the club its first championship and sparked a futbol frenzy in South Florida.
Why it matters: As the 2024 season begins this week, expectations are higher for Inter after it signed yet another soccer superstar: the Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez.
What's happening: Inter Miami plays its opening match tomorrow night against Real Salt Lake.
Catch up fast: The club won the Leagues Cup tournament last year, but didn't make the playoffs.
- It was in last place in their conference — and on an 11-game regular season winless streak — when it signed Messi and former Barcelona stars Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets in the middle of the year.
- Inter will have its eyes set on the MLS Cup and the regional Concacaf Champions Cup this year.
Details: The 8pm match at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale will be broadcast on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass.
- Tickets start at $75 for the standing section and $100 for regular seats.
What we're watching: Can Messi stay healthy?
- The 36-year-old received international backlash after missing a Feb. 4 preseason match in Hong Kong with a groin injury, but Inter Miami coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino said he has "fully recovered."
💠Martin's thought bubble: I attended Inter Miami's final preseason match last week, and Messi looked sharp against Newell's Old Boys.
- He almost scored three times and assisted on another near-miss.
- Regardless of the 1–1 final score, fans were screaming and stomping on the bleachers all night. Die-hards set off pink smoke canisters and lined up outside the team parking lot.
Jose Jaen, a 27-year-old from Peru, traveled from Virginia to see her idol play. She made a sign that said, "I would die for Messi, the greatest!"
- "The team has a lot to improve, but Messi is incredible," she said in Spanish. "It's beautiful to see so many Hispanic fans united around him."
Pro tip: Order a churro dog.