(Miami) Inter Miami, club of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, announced on Friday the holding of a friendly match against Japanese champion Vissel Kobe as part of its tour of the Middle East and Asia in February.
The MLS club will face Kobe on February 7 at the National Stadium, a 60,000-seat venue. The Japanese club is the former team of another ex-FC Barcelona star, Spaniard Andrés Iniesta, who will attend the match to reunite with his former teammates now at Inter, Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
Inter Miami will begin their 2024 pre-season tour in El Salvador on January 19. He will then go to Saudi Arabia to face Al-Hilal on January 29 and the next day Al-Nassr, the club of Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, for a new duel, perhaps the last, between the two football legends.
The American club will continue its tour in Hong Kong on February 4, then in Tokyo.
“We continue to look for the best ways to prepare for 2024 and we hope that this match (in Tokyo) and this tour will help us,” Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson explained in a statement.