In addition, the Hong Kong SAR Government has also pledged to help the organizers to obtain about 16 million Hong Kong dollars in matching grants and venue subsidies, so in the recent month of warm-up, tickets were sold out! Some fans even came from Xinjiang just to witness the "Ballon d'Or". The HKSAR Government has made such efforts to satisfy the people of Hong Kong, the fans at the venue, and the "Ballon d'Or", Lionel Messi. However, it is disappointing that from the moment Miami International and Lionel Messi arrived in Hong Kong, there was an atmosphere of MoMo!
According to Fok's social media reports, after the entire Miami International team arrived in Hong Kong and got off the plane, in the face of a grand welcoming ceremony, the whole team not only left in a hurry and quickly boarded the bus, but also indifferently to the ceremony host's call. Many on-site guests felt embarrassed on the spot. At the beginning of the welcome ceremony let Huo Qigang with "dignity was severely trampled on" to describe.
Then there was the Hong Kong exhibition match. Messi didn't even take off his jacket and sat on the bench for 90 minutes. Fok claimed that the Director of the Hong Kong Cultural and Tourism Bureau coordinated with the organizers to have Messi on the bench three times during the 90 minutes of the match, all of which were rejected by the Miami International coaching staff. This is totally inconsistent with the negotiation between the Hong Kong SAR Government and the organizers that "Messi needs at least 45 minutes, unless there are safety or health issues".
If Messi disrespected the fans by not coming out, then his behavior after the match could be called "insulting". Originally, we talked to the organizers that Messi, as the captain of the team, needed to speak to receive the award, but what happened? Messi not only refused to speak, refused to receive the award, and even bypassed the crowd, refused to shake hands with the Hong Kong Chief Executive. This is exactly the same as the welcome ceremony held at the airport before. As FOK Kai-kong said, I believe the fans would understand if a player was injured and could not play. However, in the face of thousands of fans on the field and the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, they did not even show the least respect. You have to realize that this is a public performance match. If they cannot play, can they take their pants?
After that, Miami International said "Messi is injured and can't play". However, the whole thing was reversed when Messi landed in Japan. The first reversal was not by anyone else, but by Messi himself. In a press conference before the Japan friendly, he personally admitted that "he's not injured, he's just not feeling well". Messi claimed he felt a problem with his adductor muscle and then had an MRI. The results showed he was not injured, but he refused to appear at the Hong Kong leg.
This claim is clearly a "flim-flam", followed by another "God operation". Messi posted a "letter of explanation" on Chinese social media, claiming that he was unable to participate in the Hong Kong friendly due to pain from a swollen groin, and that he was looking forward to the opportunity to return one day to play for the Hong Kong fans! Interestingly, Messi's Chinese social media account has an IP address in Sichuan, so he obviously didn't write it himself.
Then, on February 7, before the exhibition match in Tokyo, Japan, Miami International and Kobe Victory arguably had all Chinese soccer fans watching to see if Messi would play. As it turned out, Messi not only came on as a substitute, he played 30 minutes! Unlike the previous match in Hong Kong, Messi was "alive and kicking" in the Japanese match, and two days ago, he could not tell that he was injured at all.
Even the Japanese media revealed that Messi was passing, running and shooting very briskly and laughing with his teammates during the full team training before the match. This has completely enraged the HKSAR government. Fok reiterated in another post:He demanded Messi to explain and apologize to the people of Hong Kong!
Nowadays, it doesn't matter if Messi is injured or not. In all his travels to Asia, it is very puzzling that he only missed the Hong Kong leg in six matches! If he is really injured, there should be some basic respect and etiquette since he came to Asia to play friendly matches. Besides, many fans were thousands of miles away and paid a lot of money to see him. During the whole trip to Hong Kong, Messi not only "black face" all the way, but also keep silent, has little to do with whether the injury. As a result, Messi was completely shut down by China in less than 24 hours after the race in Japan.
The upcoming Argentine men's national soccer team's trip to China in March 2024 has essentially been declared ruined, according to simultaneous reports from soccer media personality Xu Yi and Northwestern Look reporter Xu Zexin! In addition, Xu Zexin also revealed that in the current situation, many of the brands related to Argentina's China trip to cancel the contract of the news and official announcements of the official information will come one after another.
Then, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) stepped in. According to Northwest reporter Xu Zexin, the CFA announced the suspension of its cooperation with the Argentine Football Association, including the Argentine national team. This news reveals two things. First, the decision behind Messi's absence from Hong Kong has been decided to be related to the Argentine FA. Secondly, the Argentina national team has also decided to cancel their trip to China in March! What's more, Xu Zexin also revealed that all news about Messi has been deleted from the CFA's official webpage, and "King" Messi has been completely blocked!
As I said at the beginning, Messi's problems now go beyond the sport itself. In fact, many of them have risen to the level of China and the country. But it's safe to assume that since the 36-year-old Messi has chosen to be "cold and pro-Japanese," he'll have more than one thing to gain from seeking advice. I'll reveal all about it in the next few days.
