Messi performed in Japan and played minutes with Inter Miami, who ended their Asian tour with several disappointments

If at any time you watch a game Tokyo It was early to see the boy’s goals Maradonathe steps Mouthpiecesthe elegance of Enzo or the magic of Romanwake up this Thursday 7 at 7 to see the InterMiami playing friendly against Vissel Kobe It loomed as a great challenge for any true football fan. But I played Messi.

Or rather, was Messi playing? This was the question that was asked in the capital Japan and has crossed the world to Argentina, where there is a certain uncertainty for the physique of the national team captain faced with the imminent calendar of tough competition for the best in the world.

His discomfort in his right adductor is so severe that last Sunday he was faced with a refusal to leave 40 thousand Chinese They filled a stadium to see him on the pitch but he showed up wearing sneakers and a cotton t-shirt. The disappointment spread from the stands to the event producer, and from there to the government Hong Kongwho complained publicly.

“It’s football stuff, I wanted to be there,” Leo replied a few days later. But this tour conceived by Beckham, with the endorsement of 10, was much more than just football, as every movement of the pink team off the pitch demonstrated, through Saudi Arabia, China and now Japan. Corporate profits and future investments are measured in hundreds of millions of dollars, although these trips always have their costs.

The machine is forced, night and day, and Leo’s right adductor began to show signs of wear too early in the year; hence the obsession with Tata Martino for taking care of his jewel while trying to put together a team that dominates in the United States, something he already knew how to do and more than enough, without so many big names.

The disapproval in Hong Kong was so great that the Tokyo audience ended up enjoying a few minutes of Leo in a match that not even TV wanted to show. The AppleTV+ signal was supposed to broadcast exclusively on its paid platform but was turned down at the last minute due to technical complications and was broadcast on the Inter Miami website, free of charge via Youtube and with ambient sound. Whoever turned off the computer at 0-0 didn’t even realize that it had been decided on penalties and a fundamental piece of information was lost.

It was cold in Tokyo, around 5 degrees, and Messi took to the field as a substitute, puffy under his jacket but with boots. This was the first sign that he would play; The second came when he ran into the locker room as the first half was about to end.

He entered the field in the 14th minute of the second half, assisting a spectacular overhead kick from close range. Luis Suarez who almost went to the corner, and had a very clear scoring opportunity in which he defined as if the MLS was affecting his killer instinct inside the area: first to the goalkeeper’s body and then bit, from the right , so that he can eliminate a defender on the line.

Beyond the main role of Leo and his supporting actors, Suárez, Busquets (he got injured very early) and Jordi Alba, The show in Japan was set up by Martino, with their screams exposed to silence and microphones. “Take the ball away, dammit!” he complained at one point, seeing some players’ doubts about him.

Inter Miami is a team without balance: those who play well give an advantage physically, those who run… I’ll give you an example: Robert Taylor, that Finn with great goals, doesn’t use his left leg. And American kids have heart but they need two, three and even four touches to control the ball, and what’s more they almost always make bad decisions.

“You have to make that pass!” Tata celebrated when one of the central defenders appeared short, strong and on tiptoe for Suárez, who masterfully turned and found himself with half the pitch free to head towards the opponent’s goal. There the story changed: he ran out of gas and a Japanese overtook him with a single step. It will be difficult for the Uruguayan to enter the Yankee code: “Drop it, idiot, drop it…”, He complained to a teammate who didn’t dare commit a foul.

Inter Miami could have lost it, especially in a first-half play in which the ball hit the post twice. AND Drake Callender, the one who almost always saves him, once again eliminated one of those one-on-ones that his defenders usually allow. The club is so close to Disney that the kids in the back seem to notice.

The penalties that no one expected arrived and then the bombshell news: Messi did not kick, which reiterates that the leg discomfort is a serious cause for concern, which will have to be carefully monitored for what is to come.

Leo was not among the five selected and did not step up when it came time to become the sixth. There he appeared Gregorya practically unknown Brazilian, who delivered the last shot into the hands of the substitute goalkeeper Shota Araiwho at 38 years old and with several gray hairs in his hair, took home the ball and an unforgettable anecdote.

The one that also returns home with a full suitcase is Inter Miami, which in addition to Saudi riyals, dollars and yen, brings with it several worries. The poor results are one, especially the 0-6 defeat against Al Nassr, which brought the MLS to its knees in front of the Arab sheiks. Lack of team chemistry could be another. But there is another that directly affects the Argentines, knowing how Messi’s right leg is evolving.