Football star Lionel Messi spoke to reporters in Tokyo, Japan about the injury that kept him from playing a match in Hong Kong with his club Inter Miami. Messi and Inter Miami are currently on an international tour, playing friendly matches in different countries. Their last two matches were in Saudi Arabia against local teams.
In the first match in Saudi Arabia last week, Messi felt pain in his hip while playing. He said it was an muscle injury to the area near his hip joint called the adductor muscle. Although tests like an MRI scan did not find a serious problem, Messi still felt discomfort in the injured area. This made him miss the match against a team of local all-star players in Hong Kong.
Messi said it was unfortunate to not play in Hong Kong due to the injury. He had participated in a public training session with local children there and saw how excited the fans were. Messi really wanted to play for the fans. But injuries can happen to any player in any match, and this time it was bad timing for him. The people of Hong Kong were also very disappointed after finding out Messi would not play.
Inter Miami’s next match was on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan against the local club Vissel Kobe. Messi said he was feeling much better after taking some rest but would have to see how the injury felt after training with the team on the day before the game. He has been very tired after traveling with Inter Miami to different countries like El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and now Japan in the past two weeks. Messi just wants to finish the Tokyo game and then return home to rest.
The injury issue in Hong Kong also led to some problems. Many fans became unhappy and even booed Messi, his teammate David Beckham and Inter Miami during and after their match when they realized Messi would not play despite being present. Local officials also expressed disappointment publicly that fans did not get to see Messi play.
This gives more context about why Lionel Messi had to miss the important match in Hong Kong and the issues it caused. Fans everywhere want to see the legendary player in action. But injuries are just part of being a top football player and sometimes you have to rest to fully recover like Messi is doing now.
