Messi wishes Lunar New Year, speaks out about the incident of not playing in Hong Kong

"This is an unfortunate thing for me. I really wanted to play, but I didn't feel really comfortable because of the injury. I had some muscle discomfort. So it was really unfortunate and very difficult to decide to sit out the whole match, while there were a lot of fans watching. This is also part of football," Messi said.

Messi officially speaks out about the incident of not playing in Hong Kong

"Inter Miami's Asian tour is in its final stages. I would love to play against Vissel Kobe tomorrow (February 7) before returning to the United States. However, this will depend on the condition of my injury. I will have a training session today (February 6) to assess the situation, and see if I am able to play or not," Messi shared.

He also said: "I have been to Japan many times before as a player for Barcelona, PSG and also with the Argentina national team. Everyone here has always welcomed me very warmly. Therefore, I always hope that the fans in Japan will continue to support me, and like everyone in many other Asian countries, enjoy the Lunar New Year holiday as well as the upcoming match."

Also at the press conference in Tokyo, Messi emphasized: "I want to return to the US after the Asian tour with the best spirit and form, to enter the matches at MLS 2024 in the best condition. This is the season in which I want to have the most complete competition with Inter Miami, aiming to conquer important championships."

Messi wishes people in Japan and many countries across Asia a happy Lunar New Year holiday

According to AS (Spain), in Japan, Messi will reunite with his long-time friend, famous player Andres Iniesta, who has played for Vissel Kobe for more than 5 years since leaving Barcelona in the summer of 2018.

In Inter Miami's five pre-season MLS 2024 training matches so far, Messi has not played the full 90 minutes of any match. The most recent match he played was just a few minutes at the end of a 0-6 loss to Al Nassr on February 2. Before that, in a 3-4 loss to Al Hilal on January 30, when Messi and Suarez both scored for the first time in 2024, he started the match and left the field in the 88th minute. After the match with Al Hilal, Inter Miami announced just hours before the match with Al Nassr that Messi was injured and was only on the bench.

After the match against Vissel Kobe on February 7, Messi and his Inter Miami teammates will return to the United States to continue their friendly match against Newell's Old Boys (Argentina) on February 15. Messi and his teammates will play the opening match of the 2024 MLS season against Real Salt Lake at home on February 22.

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