(Fort Lauderdale) Seven-time Argentinian Ballon d’Or Lionel Messi starts on the bench on Friday for his first game in the colors of Inter Miami, his new club, in a League Cup match against Mexico’s Cruz Azul.
The 36-year-old world champion joined his new team’s training sessions at the beginning of the week and the soccer world hopes to see him play his first minutes with Inter Miami, in their stadium Dr V PNK located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
His former FC Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, who also recently arrived in Miami, is also not in the eleven of coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino, still a former Barça player.
The match, which was to start at 8 p.m., is the kick-off of the League Cup, a new summer tournament which brings together for the first time the 47 clubs of the MLS and the Mexican league.
This competition, which will be played in the United States and Canada until the final on August 19, has been of particular interest worldwide since the announcement of Messi’s participation.
The number 10 left Paris Saint-Germain for Florida this summer, at the end of his contract.