FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – JUNE 07: The DRV PNK stadium where the professional soccer team Inter Miami plays games on June 07, 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Reports indicate the team has signed Argentine legend Lionel Messi as a free agent. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A final duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo seems to be off the table after
Inter Miami denied the rumors, according to ESPN FC.
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A recent report by the Associated Press had the soccer superstars going head-to-head in a friendly in Saudi Arabia this next February as part of the Riyadh Season Cup.
On Monday, Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson said that nothing had been finalized or if the team was ready to announce the team's pre-season plans, according to AP.
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With the start of the MLS season beginning in late February, Henderson told AP that the team would need about four to six friendlies, split between the U.S. and overseas.
The club had plans to play two matches in China earlier this month, but that trip — which could have led to more than 100,000 tickets being sold — fell through for logistical reasons. Inter Miami didn’t make any international tours in its first three seasons; getting Messi in Year 4 changed everything.
“I really felt like, overnight, we became a global club,” Henderson told AP. “Eyes all over the world are watching what we’re doing. And what comes with that are these tours and preseason opportunities that we have as a club, so we’re working closely with the front office as they negotiate some of those preseason tours.”
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Saudi Arabia has made a major push to be a big player in world soccer by signing some of the game's biggest players. But it couldn't lure Messi to the oil-rich kingdom when he left Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season, with the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner opting to move to MLS instead.
Messi took part in last season's Riyadh Season Cup with PSG and also came up against Ronaldo after the Portugal great's surprise move to Al Nassr. In May, Messi was fined and suspended by the French club for taking an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia.
