Lionel Messi’s Official MLS Unveiling Could Be Broadcast at the Gold Cup Final
Lionel Messi has told the world he plans to go to South Florida, but his new team Inter Miami has yet to officially welcome the global icon. But that looks like it will change soon.
A presentation about the soccer legend joining the club may be broadcast at halftime of the Gold Cup final on Sunday, The Athletic reported, citing multiple sources who were briefed on the plans. Major League Soccer has been in discussions with the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), Fox and Univision over the the possibility of airing a part of Messi’s arrival celebration.
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Publicly, Inter Miami has announced a Sunday event called “The Unveil,” which will begin at 8 pm ET. It will take place at DRV Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, occurring at the same time as the Gold Cup final at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The semifinals of the tournament is this Wednesday, with the U.S. Men’s National Team taking on Panama while Mexico matches up against Jamaica. In a statement about the event, Inter Miami didn’t bring up Messi, but it did say that it will include “exciting entertainment, speeches on the pitch and more.”
A source told The Athletic that Messi is expected to return to the United States Tuesday ahead of an announcement from the club this week. He’s currently spending vacation time in the Bahamas. Univision and Fox did not provide the outlet with a comment at the time of the new report’s publication. Both parties also didn’t respond to separate inquiries from Robb Report.
One person who appears to be very excited about Messi’s Inter Miami move is the club’s co-owner David Beckham. While an artist named Maxi Bagnasco was making a giant mural of the reigning Argentine World Cup champion in South Florida, Beckham came by and even helped do some painting, according to The Daily Mail.
“He’s a very important person in the world. He came in and went up with me. I was all sweaty and I had my aerosol sprays. It was an incredible surprise,” Bagnasco told CBS. When asked how he would react to Messi himself stopping by to see the work, he said: “I don’t know, it would be another surprise. Imagine if I had this surprise all the time, I would die. I would die right here.”
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