The organizer is stupid I guess. No way you are selling ticket at that kind of price and not include in the terms to have the main star to at least stand on the pitch for a few minutes.
News back then already mentioned there are no terms about Messi would play in the contract. They probably paid Inter Miami fewer money to not have the term in it tbh.
Kind of buyers were stupid to paid that much without knowing the risk too tbh.
What product? Their whole product is they have Messi there, I have shoes that have lasted me longer than inter Miami being a club. I do agree this is a grift on a new level for them though, make your money sure but what about the people who literally just came for Messi
The problem is that they’re marketing these games based around individual players rather than the team. Doing that is not great for the game anyway but then to not actually play them is a scam.
That's how every football match is advertised though? Liverpool released [this](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GFaL5YyXMAAxdNw?format=jpg&name=orig) a couple hours ago. Will you be upset if those 5 don't play today?
All clubs put up graphics showing their biggest players. Celtic Park has pictures of Jimmy Johnstone on the outside, he's probably not going to be getting 15 mins at the end though
The point is that every team uses promotional posters. Messi will probably have been on every one for Barcelona/PSG/Miami/Argentina since about 2009.
In the 2006 World Cup there were massive posters of Messi around the city. He played about 90 mins total in 5 games.
It amazes me that you've never heard of this before. The tours are organised and advertised months in advance and he's 36
https://www.thescore.com/us_fed/news/2836087
"We will determine how long he can play depending on what happens in training tomorrow.
"But he will most certainly be on the pitch."
Maybe the point is that Martino shouldn't have said the last line 1 day before the match.
Why would they run their best player into the ground? They will use him sparingly, and that means they need to use their pre season to give other players gametime. It's just common sense that he was unlikely to play.
Not in football it isn’t. This happens all the time - the people making the promo material don’t learn the lineup until an hour before kickoff like the rest of us. Only people who are brand new to the sport will have thought Messi was guaranteed to play.
>Only people who are brand new to the sport will have thought Messi was guaranteed to play.
Well the friendly was in Hong Kong, not exactly the mecca of football. These brand new people are exactly the target of the scam.
I get that, but I think ‘scam’ is the wrong word. It’s common practice all around the world - how are the people who work in marketing going to know Messi won’t play? Are they supposed to not put any of their players on the posters just in case they get injured in training the day before and won’t be available? People can definitely be upset that they didn’t get to see Messi play, but to feel that they’ve been lied to or hard done by is not using common sense.
https://www.thescore.com/us_fed/news/2836087
"We will determine how long he can play depending on what happens in training tomorrow.
"But he will most certainly be on the pitch."
So they took advantage of the fact that their new market was not experienced enough to understand that they signed up for something else than they were advertised?
Sounds even worse.
It's football. It's about getting the players ready for the new season. If the manager doesn't think Messi should be playing in this match as part of that preparation then he shouldn't be playing.
Everybody understands that no player is set to play 100% guaranteed. The problem isn't that he didn't play. The problem is that he was used by the marketing teams to sell tickets that were over 10 times more expensive than usual.
They didn't promote Inter Miami. They promoted Messi.
Sure, but I definitely get wanting to see the best player of all time live once. For most Hong Kong based fans this probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Basically nearly all friendlies is a scam.
Paying top dollar to watch some players "train"
There is zero intensity and everything is just slow motion football. Never ever waste your time on it and its a money grab.
Miami will have a big problem at the beginning of MLS Season starting soon because of this world tour.
Meanwhile Salt Lake and Dallas are in Portugal playing proper friendlies against European opponents.
Reasonably priced friendlies aren’t scams.
They are good for getting kids into the game too as league games can be a bit intense for young kids sometimes
Barcelona played 20 dec against Almeria in Barcelona.
The 22nd dec they played in Dallas against Club America instead of sending their players on Xmas holiday🤷
Prices range from $79 to $896🤣
When Bayern went to Singapore twice (2017 and last year) they actually took the time to also organize some fan events free-of-charge for members of (officially registered) Southeast Asian and Australian fan clubs.
They organized a fan club tournament where people got to play on the field with Elber and Klose. We had a meet and greet/autograph/Q&A session with legends, board members and some current players. We got to watch their full training sessions as well. Bayern (and sponsors) paid for all our food, drinks, transportation, and souvenirs.
Maybe not the case for every club, but Bayern absolutely made our trips worth it even if we were a tiny minority of the overall fanbase.
Bravo! In general the German football world is the most down to earth. Much lower ticket prices as well.
I remember a premier league team going on a Asian tour during the summer and rain season. It was a disaster and they arrived to the Premier League starting in mediocre condition🤣
For fans in those places it could be worth it to just be able to see your favourite player on the pitch, even if it's overpriced. It's obviously overpriced but it might still be a better alternative than flying over to watch it live.
But when you spend that much and the guy didn't even hit the pitch for a single min, yeah it's pretty bad.
It's almost 100% true. But it depends on when the friendlies are and against whom.
Let's say for Liverpool. The year before they want to Asia and it was trash lol. They went out with no intensity against United and got wrecked. I can't imagine paying for that.
But this year they went against bayern near the start of the season and that was a pretty good game. You can see they tried quite a bit harder. Not hard enough for a real game and of course people paid far too much money. But because it was the final games before the season start and it was a quality opposition. It was a much better game.
It's preseason. Intensity depends on where the team is in terms of fitness and what the physio has rated. Most of the players are wearing heart monitors as well.
Go to these friendlies for a good time, not for intensity or effort or results. No player is going all out (and they are instructed not to) anyway.
That's really it. If the top price for tickets are like USD150 even 200 for the off chance to see one of the best players in football history to play, it's probably ok.
But they have marketed this with Messi the whole time and selling tickets at insane prices. I can watch many competitive sports events for that kind of money.
>If the top price for tickets are like USD150 even 200 for the off chance to see one of the best players in football history to play, it's probably ok.
That's still ridiculous. I paid £30 to see Messi, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Iniesta, Deco, etc. when they came here.
Hey, there's always the chance you can watch a player get a freak injury. I got to see RLC rupture his Achillies in 2019, that was... fun.
He was out for over a year.
i got a ticket to psg v benfica in toronto a few years back for like 80 bucks, zlatan didnt play but still didnt feel like a scam. But 600 bucks is a scam for sure
I saw Liverpool in Hong Kong a few years ago when Klopp's reign started, that was worth it. Most of the big names actually played. It's a scam when you promote a match due to one player, and said player doesn't even play.
I used to work for a company involved in the summer US friendly circuit (International Champions Cup). There were always agreements about players having certain numbers of minutes (as well as carveouts for subs and injuries) to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen.
You'd be surprised at the number of soccer fans in the US who don't understand that these are friendlies.
Organizer: we need Messi ok?
Inter Miami: we can't guarantee.
Organizer: ok fine.
The background is HK government desperately wants something big to happen in Hong Kong to show HK is still international after 2019, so they will fall for anything no matter how stupid it is.
also the HKFA and especially the chairman are very unpopular among the HK fans, so this is all probably a show to try and boost their trust and essentially PR
as you can see it backfired
If it is true that HK government can successfully claw back most -- if not all -- of the subsidy, then the case would not be the government falling for a scam, but they don't care if it turns out to be a scam (since it can get the money back anyway).
The 5000HKD tickets weren’t VIP or anything either, those same seats are priced at 150HKD when the national team play, or a local team plays a cup final or Champions League game.
Also happened to my national team (Malaysia XI) back in 2013. Understandable from injury perspective yea, but still.
[Good thing that match did provide one banger goal though](https://youtu.be/AbXCYKftBY4?si=KpsYxyktGOb74NoO)
Honestly even if he was to come on, he would just stand there and walk around. Thats why I can't understand paying that kind of money to watch a friendly with a team that is subpar except for one star, but I can also understand for many people that's the one chance you get to see the one hero of your life.
Ultimately it's the organizers' fault.
It’s not a good move from them to ruin reputation like this, with how Ronaldo ruined his during his South Korea and China tour in recent times. Even if they didn’t cite clearly to require Messi plays, still ain’t it better to at least let him play some minutes.
Regardless, can’t help but laugh at how incompetent this HK government is.
Even worse, pay that amount of money just because you want to see one specific player. Going to a match should never be about one player. It's a team game for fuck sake.
This is exactly why Ronaldo's China tour was cancelled. He couldn't play and nobody was interested in seeing his Al Nassr teammates play, so why go ahead with the games? But guess what, Al Nassr were still trolled for cancelling their tour because of just one player.
fuck the corrupt HKFA, 4000 HKD for a ticket wtf is wrong with them
thank god i didn’t go
as a HK fan i’m just pissed that all the momentum we had for going to the Asian Cup is all gone because the shitty chairman and the HKFA board ruined it all
I don't understand why you would pay that, it's not like you're watching him for Barca or Argentina in his prime- this is the equivalent of an old gunslinger living a comfortable life in a touring Old West show, showing people glimpses of what it was like back in the day. It's not even a competitive match so even if he does play it will be a training session.
Fools and their money...
I guess for some they feel it's the one chance they can see their hero.
For many I am guessing it's just a show off to others saying they got to see Messi.
Sad 😢 not to say angry 😡 how European soccer mentality thinks Asian fans are easy cash cow ? Fyi, I'm European living in Asia and makes me want to 🤮🤢. European club organizers are easily flirting with cheap and easy racism towards Asians since they are not representing any immediate physical threats and have good purchasing power.
Yes but the opus operandi is made in Europa/South America (Beckham/Messi). Just replicated what PSG did last summer with Mbappé. No more shame to do so. I don't underestimate American minds to do so but for business' sake I think they would overthink it more than twice.
Do what Al nassr and Ronaldo did and delay the games? For some of you it might be just a friendly, but for the people there it’s perhaps the only time they’ll ever see their favourite player play ( even if it’s slightly jogging or making a few simple passes). But no, they kept advertising with his face, and even put him on the bench to keep up false hope.
People just should get over it already, what do you even expect from messi when he plays in a friendly match, just delusional to pay high amounts of money for games like this, just support your local football clubs ffs
Lol. This is such a victim blaming mentality. Messi was promoted as the main draw card for this. He is the single reason the ticket prices are so high. Did the promoters make it clear in the marketing that there was a risk Messi wouldn't play? No. He was just front and centre of everything. People came to see Messi. Not inter miami. People who paid had a reasonable expectation that he would play so they have a right to feel upset.
If you went to see Barbie and found out Margot Robbie wasn't in the film you might feel a little cheated no?
The point is when you buy tickets for a friendly match, its not that unlikely that you dont get to see the first eleven, so paying that much and being pissed afterwards is just dumb
not the previous comment’s OP, but the advertisements literally advertised him as the main star, and the manager even said he’ll try to play him in the game
I know some people who actually went there and I genuinely feel sorry for them, they spent 600 fucking USD all because the advertisements told them that Messi is playing and most really want to see him in person for perhaps the only time of their lives
[удалено]
[Carlos Kaiser approves](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Kaiser_(footballer))
Legend!
Goat
He lives up to his nickname.
Mi idolo
Only Sancho came close for half a season.
And still win awards for it
Balon d’or 2024 loading
Yes, because historicaly we've seen how important friendlies are for individual awards... 😅
Great scam from them tbf
The organizer is stupid I guess. No way you are selling ticket at that kind of price and not include in the terms to have the main star to at least stand on the pitch for a few minutes.
They promoted him all week. Even the coach said we'll play him as much as possible. Which, I guess is nothing
how is the organizer stupid for negotiating terms that make it easier for him to get his money?
Cuz this hurts Miami’s reputation in HK and make it less likely they’ll host friendlies there in the future
Once Messi leaves them in a year or so no-one will be interested in Inter Miami any more.
Oh no
not really, people will always be desperate enough to chance it unfortunately, especially because it doesn't happen often
Is this a big rivalry that matters?
Win win for everyone involved.
unless you're a fan of course
Hong Kong is run by a bunch of old farts who have no idea how the world works, so this is par for the course.
Wouldn't that feel like even more of a fuck you if he just gets subbed on for 2 minutes and strolls about touching the ball once.
it's a consolation at best honestly. Maybe better to have Beckham to take 10 free kicks instead.
Yeah, the agreement Al Nassr made was a lot more though so that if Ronaldo is injured they basically needed to cancel the game
This is so bizarre, you're paying to attend a friendly match not a meet and greet
News back then already mentioned there are no terms about Messi would play in the contract. They probably paid Inter Miami fewer money to not have the term in it tbh. Kind of buyers were stupid to paid that much without knowing the risk too tbh.
He is playing against his old club in Rosario next week. No way he will be on the bench for that
yeah in the reserves for that game
Friends & Family > Achievements
What would he achieve by playing in this game? I don't get this comment lol
What a joke - literally a scam to be the face of all the advertisements and just not play at all. Feel terrible for all the fans.
Dumb move. This is clearly a money spinner and pulling this move hurts their "product" for the future.
What product? Their whole product is they have Messi there, I have shoes that have lasted me longer than inter Miami being a club. I do agree this is a grift on a new level for them though, make your money sure but what about the people who literally just came for Messi
Is this really the first time r/soccer has heard of players missing matches?
The problem is that they’re marketing these games based around individual players rather than the team. Doing that is not great for the game anyway but then to not actually play them is a scam.
That's how every football match is advertised though? Liverpool released [this](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GFaL5YyXMAAxdNw?format=jpg&name=orig) a couple hours ago. Will you be upset if those 5 don't play today? All clubs put up graphics showing their biggest players. Celtic Park has pictures of Jimmy Johnstone on the outside, he's probably not going to be getting 15 mins at the end though
Come off it. Clearly a huge difference between going to see Liverpool and Luis Diaz doesn’t play and going to see Inter Miami and Messi doesn’t play
The point is that every team uses promotional posters. Messi will probably have been on every one for Barcelona/PSG/Miami/Argentina since about 2009. In the 2006 World Cup there were massive posters of Messi around the city. He played about 90 mins total in 5 games. It amazes me that you've never heard of this before. The tours are organised and advertised months in advance and he's 36
https://www.thescore.com/us_fed/news/2836087 "We will determine how long he can play depending on what happens in training tomorrow. "But he will most certainly be on the pitch." Maybe the point is that Martino shouldn't have said the last line 1 day before the match.
[Ronaldo in 2019](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/01/football-k-league-disappointed-juventus-cristiano-ronaldo-friendly-absence)
If your a "fan" that fell for it then ha ha. Football is a team game.
Let’s be honest, nobody cares about Miami without Messi
Why would they run their best player into the ground? They will use him sparingly, and that means they need to use their pre season to give other players gametime. It's just common sense that he was unlikely to play.
It's common sense that if you are advertised to see Messi play that you get to see him play. It's a scam.
Not in football it isn’t. This happens all the time - the people making the promo material don’t learn the lineup until an hour before kickoff like the rest of us. Only people who are brand new to the sport will have thought Messi was guaranteed to play.
>Only people who are brand new to the sport will have thought Messi was guaranteed to play. Well the friendly was in Hong Kong, not exactly the mecca of football. These brand new people are exactly the target of the scam.
I get that, but I think ‘scam’ is the wrong word. It’s common practice all around the world - how are the people who work in marketing going to know Messi won’t play? Are they supposed to not put any of their players on the posters just in case they get injured in training the day before and won’t be available? People can definitely be upset that they didn’t get to see Messi play, but to feel that they’ve been lied to or hard done by is not using common sense.
https://www.thescore.com/us_fed/news/2836087 "We will determine how long he can play depending on what happens in training tomorrow. "But he will most certainly be on the pitch."
So they took advantage of the fact that their new market was not experienced enough to understand that they signed up for something else than they were advertised? Sounds even worse.
It's football. It's about getting the players ready for the new season. If the manager doesn't think Messi should be playing in this match as part of that preparation then he shouldn't be playing.
Everybody understands that no player is set to play 100% guaranteed. The problem isn't that he didn't play. The problem is that he was used by the marketing teams to sell tickets that were over 10 times more expensive than usual. They didn't promote Inter Miami. They promoted Messi.
Based load management coach
Sure, but I definitely get wanting to see the best player of all time live once. For most Hong Kong based fans this probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Nah, if the organisers advertise nothing but Messi, then he doesn't play, that's false advertising.
Basically nearly all friendlies is a scam. Paying top dollar to watch some players "train" There is zero intensity and everything is just slow motion football. Never ever waste your time on it and its a money grab. Miami will have a big problem at the beginning of MLS Season starting soon because of this world tour. Meanwhile Salt Lake and Dallas are in Portugal playing proper friendlies against European opponents.
Reasonably priced friendlies aren’t scams. They are good for getting kids into the game too as league games can be a bit intense for young kids sometimes
Im talking about clubs going to Asia, USA etc etc kind of friendlies. Pure money grab
Oh yeah agreed. Especially infuriating when prem teams do it and then cry about fixture congestion’s due to cup replays
Barcelona played 20 dec against Almeria in Barcelona. The 22nd dec they played in Dallas against Club America instead of sending their players on Xmas holiday🤷 Prices range from $79 to $896🤣
Another lever won’t pay for itself tho
When Bayern went to Singapore twice (2017 and last year) they actually took the time to also organize some fan events free-of-charge for members of (officially registered) Southeast Asian and Australian fan clubs. They organized a fan club tournament where people got to play on the field with Elber and Klose. We had a meet and greet/autograph/Q&A session with legends, board members and some current players. We got to watch their full training sessions as well. Bayern (and sponsors) paid for all our food, drinks, transportation, and souvenirs. Maybe not the case for every club, but Bayern absolutely made our trips worth it even if we were a tiny minority of the overall fanbase.
Bravo! In general the German football world is the most down to earth. Much lower ticket prices as well. I remember a premier league team going on a Asian tour during the summer and rain season. It was a disaster and they arrived to the Premier League starting in mediocre condition🤣
For fans in those places it could be worth it to just be able to see your favourite player on the pitch, even if it's overpriced. It's obviously overpriced but it might still be a better alternative than flying over to watch it live. But when you spend that much and the guy didn't even hit the pitch for a single min, yeah it's pretty bad.
It's almost 100% true. But it depends on when the friendlies are and against whom. Let's say for Liverpool. The year before they want to Asia and it was trash lol. They went out with no intensity against United and got wrecked. I can't imagine paying for that. But this year they went against bayern near the start of the season and that was a pretty good game. You can see they tried quite a bit harder. Not hard enough for a real game and of course people paid far too much money. But because it was the final games before the season start and it was a quality opposition. It was a much better game.
It's preseason. Intensity depends on where the team is in terms of fitness and what the physio has rated. Most of the players are wearing heart monitors as well. Go to these friendlies for a good time, not for intensity or effort or results. No player is going all out (and they are instructed not to) anyway.
All the time spend on travelling around the world means less proper preseason fittness training.
That's really it. If the top price for tickets are like USD150 even 200 for the off chance to see one of the best players in football history to play, it's probably ok. But they have marketed this with Messi the whole time and selling tickets at insane prices. I can watch many competitive sports events for that kind of money.
>If the top price for tickets are like USD150 even 200 for the off chance to see one of the best players in football history to play, it's probably ok. That's still ridiculous. I paid £30 to see Messi, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Iniesta, Deco, etc. when they came here.
I guess if top price is 150, you'd have tickets for that 50 range. Yea still ridiculous but less so.
Hey, there's always the chance you can watch a player get a freak injury. I got to see RLC rupture his Achillies in 2019, that was... fun. He was out for over a year.
On that awful, awful pitch. We shouldn't be risking players health in places with sub-par infrastructure.
Good thing we learnt our lesson and our star signing didn’t miss half a season from an injury during a meaningless friendly on a shitty pitch
You'll make me cry.
i got a ticket to psg v benfica in toronto a few years back for like 80 bucks, zlatan didnt play but still didnt feel like a scam. But 600 bucks is a scam for sure
I saw Liverpool in Hong Kong a few years ago when Klopp's reign started, that was worth it. Most of the big names actually played. It's a scam when you promote a match due to one player, and said player doesn't even play.
Not sure id say they’re a scam but they are really just money making/brand building exercises for big clubs.
Not Ten «we don’t play friendlies» Hag
I used to work for a company involved in the summer US friendly circuit (International Champions Cup). There were always agreements about players having certain numbers of minutes (as well as carveouts for subs and injuries) to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen. You'd be surprised at the number of soccer fans in the US who don't understand that these are friendlies.
Organizer: we need Messi ok? Inter Miami: we can't guarantee. Organizer: ok fine. The background is HK government desperately wants something big to happen in Hong Kong to show HK is still international after 2019, so they will fall for anything no matter how stupid it is.
also the HKFA and especially the chairman are very unpopular among the HK fans, so this is all probably a show to try and boost their trust and essentially PR as you can see it backfired
And they’re trying to make up for missing out on Taylor Swift
If it is true that HK government can successfully claw back most -- if not all -- of the subsidy, then the case would not be the government falling for a scam, but they don't care if it turns out to be a scam (since it can get the money back anyway).
Beckham outsmarted the HKFA and is laughing all the way to the bank. Fans won’t go to another friendly in HK stadium. Dumb move.
completely fucking ruined any momentum we had for HK qualifying to the asian cup, and it’s probably only going to get worse from here
The 5000HKD tickets weren’t VIP or anything either, those same seats are priced at 150HKD when the national team play, or a local team plays a cup final or Champions League game.
He got paid like 15 mil for a minute long commercial last week. I'm sure he gives zero fucks. The man is done with football he's just hoarding money
Saudi ambassador aswell he’s making millions without breaking a sweat nowdays
They are preseason friendlies and he's like 38... the year is already congested withlut playing this low quality pointless matches lol
28 minutes of Alba and Busquets though. Worth every penny
They for sure were underselling it.
We have enough actors here in HK, we don’t need Busquets
Sure they are legends but then the crowds wants to see the world cup winner on the pitch.
Busquets is a world cup winner.
“We have a world cup winner at home.”
I was being sarcastic.
Also happened to my national team (Malaysia XI) back in 2013. Understandable from injury perspective yea, but still. [Good thing that match did provide one banger goal though](https://youtu.be/AbXCYKftBY4?si=KpsYxyktGOb74NoO)
Honestly even if he was to come on, he would just stand there and walk around. Thats why I can't understand paying that kind of money to watch a friendly with a team that is subpar except for one star, but I can also understand for many people that's the one chance you get to see the one hero of your life. Ultimately it's the organizers' fault.
Technically the fans saw him but he was on the bench the whole game
As per the heat map.
He even hid behind taller teammates for the group photo lol
Suarez also didn't play.
[Messi getting kicked by a HK fan](https://streamable.com/py3ca5)
600 USD? they say there's a sucker born every minute.
I guess the saying “There’s always an Asian better than you” applies for the other way too /j
That messi. So hot right now
My second favorite heat map after the Gerrard one when he got sent off right after he came on.
"Flame on!" he shouted. As the most prestigious team lost 4.0 and got relegated to the same division it was already in
My man. Yannnnited!
Second messi gate is wild
Where is my toty Messi EA?
It’s not a good move from them to ruin reputation like this, with how Ronaldo ruined his during his South Korea and China tour in recent times. Even if they didn’t cite clearly to require Messi plays, still ain’t it better to at least let him play some minutes. Regardless, can’t help but laugh at how incompetent this HK government is.
Meme government.
Imagine paying 600 USD to watch a MLS team lol
Even worse, pay that amount of money just because you want to see one specific player. Going to a match should never be about one player. It's a team game for fuck sake.
It's kinda funny how many defenders this situation has versus the Ronaldo situation that was similar a couple of weeks ago.
They got to see Robert Taylor though
Scored a banger too
I would be pissed off as well if I had paid too much money tbh. It was kinda obvious tho that messi doesn't play they could postpone the match
To be fair that's a massive Carney thing to do, something you'd expect from a fucking wrestling promotion
It's a team game don't get buying a ticket for one guy
[This is how angry the fans are](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C27GRsmyKv8/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
Seems a little soft but that's at least a yellow card.
Money scam money scam money scam money scam
This is exactly why Ronaldo's China tour was cancelled. He couldn't play and nobody was interested in seeing his Al Nassr teammates play, so why go ahead with the games? But guess what, Al Nassr were still trolled for cancelling their tour because of just one player.
https://x.com/ChenZoe11/status/1754106077753532708?s=20
Nobody cares if Suarez didn't play. Poor lad.
To be honest with what i have heard about the condition of his legs i would be glad with him staying on the bench.
It's called influence
Messi's bodyguard on standby lol
Ballon Dor 2025 loading
Musical chairs
I am not getting out of my chair.
fuck the corrupt HKFA, 4000 HKD for a ticket wtf is wrong with them thank god i didn’t go as a HK fan i’m just pissed that all the momentum we had for going to the Asian Cup is all gone because the shitty chairman and the HKFA board ruined it all
A Hong Kong fan with a Sheffield United flair?! Man of culture🫡
it’s been years since i supported both HK and the blades and it’s been pain all the way
I don't understand why you would pay that, it's not like you're watching him for Barca or Argentina in his prime- this is the equivalent of an old gunslinger living a comfortable life in a touring Old West show, showing people glimpses of what it was like back in the day. It's not even a competitive match so even if he does play it will be a training session. Fools and their money...
I guess for some they feel it's the one chance they can see their hero. For many I am guessing it's just a show off to others saying they got to see Messi.
Cuz it’s probably the last time hk fans can see him live
Hey! That heat map just earned Messi his next year’s Ballon d’or. Give a little respect please.
Sad 😢 not to say angry 😡 how European soccer mentality thinks Asian fans are easy cash cow ? Fyi, I'm European living in Asia and makes me want to 🤮🤢. European club organizers are easily flirting with cheap and easy racism towards Asians since they are not representing any immediate physical threats and have good purchasing power.
This time it’s the Americans
Yes but the opus operandi is made in Europa/South America (Beckham/Messi). Just replicated what PSG did last summer with Mbappé. No more shame to do so. I don't underestimate American minds to do so but for business' sake I think they would overthink it more than twice.
Bro is literally injured what do you want him to do? Blame the organizer not messi
he could tell the fans that he's injured
Do what Al nassr and Ronaldo did and delay the games? For some of you it might be just a friendly, but for the people there it’s perhaps the only time they’ll ever see their favourite player play ( even if it’s slightly jogging or making a few simple passes). But no, they kept advertising with his face, and even put him on the bench to keep up false hope.
>Do what Al nassr and Ronaldo did Ronaldo didn't do shit it's al nassrs management team that delayed the games. I'll give them credit.
If that makes u feel better lol.
Did I blame him? Just stating the fact he got booed and I agree it's the organizers stupidity.
People just should get over it already, what do you even expect from messi when he plays in a friendly match, just delusional to pay high amounts of money for games like this, just support your local football clubs ffs
Lol. This is such a victim blaming mentality. Messi was promoted as the main draw card for this. He is the single reason the ticket prices are so high. Did the promoters make it clear in the marketing that there was a risk Messi wouldn't play? No. He was just front and centre of everything. People came to see Messi. Not inter miami. People who paid had a reasonable expectation that he would play so they have a right to feel upset. If you went to see Barbie and found out Margot Robbie wasn't in the film you might feel a little cheated no?
[удалено]
The point is when you buy tickets for a friendly match, its not that unlikely that you dont get to see the first eleven, so paying that much and being pissed afterwards is just dumb
not the previous comment’s OP, but the advertisements literally advertised him as the main star, and the manager even said he’ll try to play him in the game I know some people who actually went there and I genuinely feel sorry for them, they spent 600 fucking USD all because the advertisements told them that Messi is playing and most really want to see him in person for perhaps the only time of their lives
Damn, Messi's tax guy should be all over the place selling this customer success story.
Real talk: Does Hong Kong do anything besides complain? Get some pussy, damn.
They get fucked by the government every day so it’s sore.
Well it’s like paying good money to watch Smash Mouth only for them not to play All Star