InterMiamiwith Lionel Messi and the rest of his team, faces this Monday afternoon the first friendly match of his tour in Saudi Arabia against Al-Hilal, the most successful Asian club, at the Kingdom Arena in the city of Riyadh. The meeting is held in the capital of the Middle Eastern country from 3pm in Argentina and is broadcast on the AppleTV platform for Major League Soccer (MLS) subscribers.
Las Garzas, led by Argentine Gerardo Martino, plays the first of four matches scheduled on the Asian continent before the start of the official MLS season, which will take place on February 21st against Real Salt Lake in Miami.
After the first friendlies against El Salvador and Dallas FC, Messi with Luis Suárez as his attacking partnerthey try to score their first goal of the year and win their team’s first win of the season.
Despite facing the leader of the Saudi league, the Al-Hilal does not have its greatest figure, none other than Neymarwho is still recovering from the torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee suffered last October in a match with his national team.
The Eastern team is led by the Portuguese Jorge Jesuswinner of the Copa Libertadores 2019 with Flamengo from Brasil. For this afternoon his team does not have other figures available such as the Moroccan goalkeeper. Link and the Senegalese central scorer Kalidou Koulibalycalled up by their respective national teams to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations.
In front of them is a Inter Miami seeks its best version with the old Barcelona poker which in addition to Messi and the Uruguayan Luis Suárez, is also made up of Spaniards Jordi Alba AND Sergio Busquets.
The Florida franchise also has Argentine defenders on the roster Thomas Aviles AND Nicolas Freire, one of its recent additions. On the other hand, they didn’t leave directly for the Asian tour Facundo Faríasvictim of a serious knee injury in the preseason, nor Beniamino Cremaschirecently had hernia surgery.
Three days after the friendly match with Al-Hilal, Inter Miami will end their stay in Saudi Arabia with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nasrr, whose presence was suspended due to an injury that forced the club Asian to postpone two matches in China.
Once the Saudi tour is finished, Inter will travel to Hong Kong to face a local team on 4 February and to Japan to play three days later against Vissel Kobe.
On February 15th Messi will experience an exciting end to the preseason in a friendly match in Miami against Newell’s Old Boys from Rosario.
With information from agencies.
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.