This preseason, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will be traveling an absurd lot as the team tries to capitalize on its increased international recognition.
With the additions of Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suarez this winter, the Herons rose to national prominence. In front of the forthcoming Major League Soccer season, the team will tour the Middle East and Asia.
The extent of Miami’s travels has now been made public, as a Front Office Sports film reveals the team will cover more than 23,000 miles in only three weeks.
On January 19, the preseason journey starts with a 1,019-mile flight to El Salvador to play their national team.
After that, on January 22 (1,402 miles) in the Cotton Bowl, the club will take a plane back into the United States to play FC Dallas before traveling to Saudi Arabia.
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Lionel Messi will be travelling all over the world during his club’s pre-season this winter
On January 29, the Herons and Al-Hilal will square off in Riyadh; the distance from Dallas to the game is 7,793 miles.
On February 1, Miami will play Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr; during the game, Miami will just stay in Riyadh. After that, Miami will travel 4,235 miles to Hong Kong.
On February 4, Messi and his colleagues will take on a group of the top players in the Hong Kong Premier League.
Following that, on February 7, the team will travel 1,787 miles to Japan National Stadium in Tokyo to play Vissel Kobe before ultimately returning home.
It will take an additional 7,461 kilometers to return to Miami.
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Tata Martino, the manager of Inter Miami, has stated that he intends to give the 36-year-old Messi rests this season.
On February 15, Messi will play one more preseason game for the Herons back in South Florida before the MLS season starts. Messi played with Newell’s Old Boys as a child.
The regular season opens on February 21 with a visit from Real Salt Lake.
Messi’s arrival in Florida for the Leagues Cup in July coincided with his usual pre-season on a European schedule, and the team’s season didn’t end until November, thus he had a very busy season the previous year.
Due to a muscular ailment, the attacker was also forced to miss multiple MLS games.