2023-12-19T10:28:06+00:00
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/ Argentine star Lionel Messi will face his childhood team, Newell’s Old Boys, after the latter agreed to play a friendly match against the American Inter Miami, whose colors will be defended by the Qatar World Cup champion next February.
The American club, which Messi joined last July from Paris Saint-Germain, announced on Monday that it will host the Argentine club at its stadium in Miami on February 15.
Newell’s Old Boys is based in Rosario, Argentina, where Messi was born, raised and started playing football, before joining Barcelona at the age of 13.
Argentine Gerardo “Tata” Martino, the current coach of Inter Miami, also hails from Rosario and defended the club’s shirt in three stations before supervising it as a coach in 2012.
“I am excited to welcome my beloved Newell’s Old Boys to Miami,” said Martino. “This will be a special match because of everything Newell’s Old Boys means to me.”
“It will also be a good opportunity to prepare for what promises to be an exciting season,” he added.
Inter Miami’s friendly will be the last match in their pre-season program, and they will also face El Salvador in San Salvador on January 19.
Messi and his teammates will also play two friendly matches in Saudi Arabia against Al-Nassr and its Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo in a match that the organizers have called “The Last Dance” and Al-Hilal (between January 29 and February 1), before traveling to Hong Kong and then Tokyo.