It has been a chaotic journey for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami during their global exhibition tour, intended for promotion and marketing to elevate the team's brand with star power from Messi and Luis Suárez.
However, the tour has generated more negative publicity than anticipated, coupled with underwhelming results spanning from El Salvador to Dallas, Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong.
The upcoming destination is Tokyo's National Stadium, where Inter Miami will face Vissel Kobe on Wednesday, followed by a concluding match on Feb. 16 against Newell's Old Boys in Florida – Messi's childhood club and potentially his final stop before retirement.
Despite promotional efforts, Inter Miami's performance in five games has been less than stellar, being outscored 12-7 and securing only one victory.
The lone triumph occurred in Hong Kong, marked by a 4-1 win over the local team.
However, the celebratory atmosphere was marred by disgruntled fans demanding refunds and booing, triggered by the absence of Messi and Suárez, both sidelined due to injuries and aging concerns.
Messi is 36, and Suárez is 37, and both are increasingly subject to nagging injuries.
"The marketing hype in promoting the event to global fans creates high expectations, coupled with a government subsidy of the event," John Grady, a sports law professor at the University of South Carolina, told The Associated Press (AP). "This also raises the expectations that marquee players will appear as advertised."
Even though fans know the games are for practice and meaningless in the standings, they still choose to pay high prices and attend. As the phrase goes in Latin – caveat emptor, or "let the buyer beware."
"As more football teams recruit elite talent with large followings, including on social media, it creates a situation where non-appearance causes fan outrage and results in public relations headaches," Grady added.
Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino apologized for Messi's absence after Sunday's Hong Kong match. Fans who saw practice on Saturday at least saw the Argentina captain in a kick-around, with Miami co-owner David Beckham also on the field.
"We understand the disappointment of the fans for the absence of Leo (Messi) and Luis Suárez," Martino said. "We understand a lot of fans are very disappointed and we ask for their forgiveness. We wish we could have sent Leo and Luis on for at least a while, but the risk was too big."
Messi came on for the last seven minutes in the 6-0 loss at Al-Nassr – one of the two matches in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – as Inter Miami prepares for its MLS season opener on Feb. 22.
It's anyone's guess if Messi will play on Wednesday in Japan, and if so, how much. Martino will certainly be under pressure to use him some, but Messi is sure to have the final say.
Inter Miami is to practice on Tuesday on the outskirts of Tokyo with snow in the forecast. Wednesday calls for sunny skies but temperatures at game time around freezing.