“Holy water”: Miami welcomes Messi after the storm

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A storm disrupted World Cup champion Lionel Messi’s performance in Miami. Due to a heavy thunderstorm, the Argentinian exceptional talent had to wait two hours on Sunday evening before he could present himself to the nearly 20,000 fans in the stadium of his new MLS club Inter Miami.

“A dream has come true,” said co-owner David Beckham, before majority shareholder Jorge Mas welcomed the new attraction with pitiful words. “Tonight we’re going to do this in the rain. It’s holy water,” said the Cuban-American businessman, calling Messi “America’s number 10.”

Contract until 2025

Messi had already arrived in Florida with his family last Tuesday and had signed a contract until 2025 that should earn him $ 60 million per season. The 36-year-old thanked “everyone for supporting me and giving me this love”. He wanted to start training straight away, he stressed, assuring fans who had fled to their cars before the storm: “I have the same desire I always had – to win and help the club grow.”

The MLS club in the sunny state desperately needs this help. After 14 losses in 22 games and 11 consecutive games without a win, Inter are bottom of the Eastern Conference. La Pulga’s debut is expected on Friday when Inter opens the newly created League Cup with teams from the US and Mexico against CD Cruz Azul’s team from Mexico City. In the league, Messi can help out for five weeks at the earliest due to the MLS summer break, when the regular season resumes with a home game against Charlotte FC.

Messi last played for French champions Paris St. Germain. After two unhappy seasons on the Seine, the South American’s contract expired on June 30. In addition to Miami, his old club FC Barcelona and clubs from Saudi Arabia had competed for him. (AFP)

Source : Blick