Inter Miami suffered a crushing defeat against Al Nassr despite Messi's presence

Without Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr still won Inter Miami 6-0 in a friendly match, when Lionel Messi only played the last 13 minutes.

*Score: Otavio 3, Talisca 10, 51, 73, Laporte 12, Maran 68

The classic match between Ronaldo and Messi could not come true, when the Al Nassr captain was injured and not on the registration list. Messi was also injured from the previous match, so he was only on the bench against Al Nassr. The Inter Miami captain entered the field in the 83rd minute, when his team was already 6-0 down. And in the 13 minutes on the field, the 37-year-old superstar mainly walked, not having many opportunities to touch the ball and show his ability.

Al Nassr players (in yellow) celebrate Aymeric Laporte's goal against Inter Miami. Photo: ANFC — Al Nassr players (in yellow) celebrate Aymeric Laporte's goal against Inter Miami. Photo: *ANFC*

When Messi replaced striker Leonardo Campagna, Miami had only one other star on the pitch, Sergio Busquets, since Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba had been substituted earlier. Messi touched the ball only 10 times, shot once and was blocked, and dribbled once but failed. After the final whistle, he walked down the tunnel chewing gum, looking calm.

Messi ended Miami's tour in Riyadh, scoring a penalty in the opening game against Al Hilal in the Riyadh Season Cup. The Americans lost all two games, conceding 10 goals and scoring just three. They had to watch as Al Nassr advanced to face Al Hilal in the final.

During the match, the camera focused on Ronaldo sitting in the stands, and Messi sitting on the bench more than most of the players on the field. Because these two stars own 13 Golden Balls, scoring the most goals in history. Ronaldo stood up many times to celebrate his team's goals, while Messi could not smile when his juniors showed many weaknesses.

Messi did not have many opportunities to show his skills in the match against Al Nassr. Photo: Reuters — Messi did not have many opportunities to show his skills in the match against Al Nassr. Photo: *Reuters*

Al Nassr led Miami 3-0 after just 12 minutes, with centre-back Aymeric Laporte firing in from inside his own half after he spotted goalkeeper Drake Callender coming forward. Ronaldo jumped to his feet, raised his arms and screamed after the goal. Messi opened his mouth in amazement.

The interesting situation in the match also happened in the 25th minute, when Al Nassr was leading 3-0, the camera showed Messi and Ronaldo at the same time, showing it on the big screen on the field. After seeing that image, the Portuguese superstar leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and smiled. Meanwhile, the Argentina captain looked up at the screen and showed no emotion.

Ronaldo smirks as Al Nassr beats Inter Miami — Ronaldo smirked when he saw the picture of him and Messi.

Ronaldo was injured and even forced Al Nassr to cancel their tour of China last week. Even without him on the field on February 1, Al Nassr's fans were still chanting "siuuu" when striker Anderson Talisca imitated CR7's goal-scoring dance move. Talisca himself was voted the best player of the match, with a hat-trick.

After this match, Inter Miami will travel to Hong Kong to play a friendly with this team on February 4, and three days later will meet Vissel Kobe in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Al Nassr will meet Al Hilal to determine the champion of the Riyadh Season Cup on February 8.

Hoang An

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