Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi made an appearance in an away match at Internacional Maia Miami on Wednesday night, and despite only coming on as a substitute for 30 minutes, an incident sparked discontent among the local fans. Despite a 0-0 draw and a penalty shootout to decide the winner, the 36-year-old was unable to take the spot-kick and was booed in the stadium, sparking public outrage after he was "benched" in Hong Kong.
Lionel Messi has tended to be the first to take penalties when faced with penalty shoot-outs in past tournaments, both for his club and the Argentina national team. For example, Messi was Argentina's first penalty taker in the last World Cup's one-eighth final against the Netherlands and the final against France. Since he joined Internacional Maia Mi, Messi has taken the role of the first penalty taker in last August's cup matches against FC Dallas, Nashville, and FC Cincinnati.
However, when Japanese fans raised their cameras in anticipation of capturing Messi's penalty kick moment in this warm-up match, they never got around to it. Japanese media noted a tidal wave of boos at the end of the match, with many fans expressing their displeasure that Inter Maiami coach Martino wouldn't let Messi take the first penalty.
In addition, the Japanese media pointed out that the crowd for the match was only 28,614, far below the capacity of the stadium which can hold 68,000 spectators, and far below the 47,335 attendance of Kobe Victory against Barcelona in June of the previous year, not to mention the 61,618 attendance of Yokohama Marinos against Manchester City in July of the previous year.
