Cover The Inter Miami team spirit in full force during a match (Photo: courtesy of Inter Miami CF)
The Inter Miami team spirit in full force during a match (Photo: courtesy of Inter Miami CF)
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Ahead of the Tatler XFEST match between Inter Miami CF and Hong Kong Team, we dive into the past of the team co-owned by David Beckham, and what to expect from the game
There have been some momentous occasions in Hong Kong’s sporting history: the football team’s 1985 victory over China in Beijing; windsurfer Lee Lai-shan’s 1996 Olympic gold; the Edgar Cheung Ka-long and Siobhan Haughey-led six medal bonanza at the recent Tokyo games; even the cricket team’s 2014 World Cup win over Bangladesh. A football match taking place at Hong Kong Stadium on February 4 is set to join them among those memories.
On that day, US club side Inter Miami, co-owed by footballing superstar David Beckham and starring footballing hyperstar Lionel Messi, takes on a Best of Hong Kong Soccer 11 (sort of the SAR’s own team, but not officially) in a one-off match, presented in partnership with Tatler Asia. You’re going to need to pull in some favours if you want to get hold of a ticket: they sold out within an hour of the match being announced.
You might also like: What you can expect from the Tatler XFEST match in February 2024
One major reason for this: Argentina and Barcelona legend Messi, the world’s greatest footballer, who has revolutionised Inter Miami’s fortunes both on and off the pitch since he arrived in the middle of 2023.
In truth, though, the entire short history of the club has been quite a ride. It began when Beckham signed for Major League Soccer (MLS) side LA Galaxy in 2007, with a deal that gave him the option to buy an MLS club when the league expanded. Fast forward to 2013, Beckham ends his playing career at French club Paris Saint-Germain, and the next day flies to the US to announce that he has exercised his option to buy an MLS expansion team—Inter Miami. In 2018, the stadium was complete; Inter Miami would play its inaugural game two years later.
Above David Beckham at a September 2023 game between Inter Miami CF and Houston Dynamo FC (Photo: Getty Images)
David Beckham at a September 2023 game between Inter Miami CF and Houston Dynamo FC (Photo: Getty Images)
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He owns it in partnership with American construction billionaires Jorge and Jose Mas. Since then, it has quickly gone from being famous as The Club Owned by Beckham to The Club Messi Plays For to something else, with a growing constellation of galácticos recruited to play alongside the Argentinian, the latest of them Uruguayan great Luis Suárez.
What they’ve also become is spectacularly famous. They became the world’s most googled sports team in 2023 and saw their social media following skyrocket— from about a million Instagram followers to more than 15 million. Other MLS clubs have stopped including fixtures against Inter Miami in their season ticket packages, so valuable a revenue earning opportunity have they become. LeBron James, Kim Kardashian and Serena Williams all turned up to watch Messi’s debut match; and for a lot of the club’s fans, games these days are opportunities to watch an icon in Messi.
They’ve also had success on the field, winning their first ever silverware, in the shape of the 2023 Leagues Cup, a competition that combines top clubs from the US and Mexican leagues, beating Nashville in the final.
Messi has said that he’s happy to be at Inter Miami, following a difficult couple of years after he left Barcelona in 2021 and joined French club Paris Saint-Germain. He has pronounced himself impressed by the standard of football in the US these days, pointing out that the country’s clubs can now hold their own against those in the traditionally strong Mexican league. He’s also proved himself on the pitch since he arrived, scoring 11 times in his first ten games.
Above Messi (far right) in action in a match against New York City FC (Photo: Getty Images)
Above Messi (third from right) and Leonardo Campana celebrate a goal at a Major League Soccer match against Los Angeles FC (Photo: Getty Images)
Messi (far right) in action in a match against New York City FC (Photo: Getty Images)
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“I came here to play and to keep enjoying soccer, which is what I’ve loved my whole life,” he told ESPN in September. “I can tell you that I am very happy with the decision I made,” adding that he and his family have been made to feel very welcome by the people of Miami.
Messi was signed by Inter Miami from under the noses of all sorts of other clubs who wanted him: Barcelona, for whom he made 520 appearances over 17 years, tried to entice him back, while a club in Saudi Arabia reportedly offered him the richest contract in the sport’s history, rumoured to be worth as much as US$1.3 billion over three years.
Beckham has said it took four years of work to persuade Messi to sign. “When I started this journey, my vision was always to bring the best players,” he said in an episode of the Stick to Football podcast, part of the UK online sport series The Overlap, in October. As an owner of a team, you always want to bring the best players, but it’s challenging.
“To bring someone like him to the club, we knew it would change the club and we knew it would change the league, but it’s beyond that. To bring someone like him is a dream. He’s changed everything. I was very emotional about it because it’s taken a lot of hard work to get here.”
Known for his humility, Messi has repeatedly surprised people in Miami by driving himself to supermarkets to do his shopping (the supermarkets in question generally come to a standstill, mind you). He’s also been passing on his accumulated wisdom to young players at the club’s academy, who are naturally entranced—as is Beckham himself.
Above Luis Suárez (Photo: Getty Images)
Above The line-up for the US Open Cup final (Photo: Getty Images)
Luis Suárez (Photo: Getty Images)
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“When he first arrived, I was in the training ground at 7am every day just to watch him, and I’m 48 years old,” Beckham said on the podcast. “He sees things that other players just don’t see.”
These days, Inter Miami’s roster of stars has expanded well beyond the Argentinian. In fact, the team is close to becoming a Barcelona all-star XI: at the same time as Messi, it signed his former teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, with 481 and 313 appearances for the club respectively, as well as 143 and 93 games for Spain.
It also has a star coach, Gerardo “Tata” Martino, formerly the coach of Barcelona and of the Argentinian national team, as well as those of Paraguay and Mexico.
In December, the club announced its latest signing, Luis Suárez, who joined on a one year deal. The Uruguayan has consistently proved since leaving Barcelona three years ago that he still has what it takes to compete at the highest level, with 26 goals and 17 assists from 53 appearances in his most recent season, for Brazil’s Grêmio, as well as the Golden Ball award for the Brazilian league’s best player.
“I chose to come here because of the project and the desire to win; I like these kinds of challenges,” he tells Tatler. “I think it’s something great for the fans, who from what I have seen support you and motivate you a lot, which generates enthusiasm to compete. The league is also growing a lot, with high-level players, not just at Inter Miami, but at other clubs too. That makes for a very competitive league.
“I’m very eager to take on this new challenge to help the club win titles. I’m coming here to fulfil that dream of winning more titles, and fighting for the MLS title, which is everybody’s dream. I’m very eager to start the 2024 season already. Inter Miami is giving me beautiful opportunities to continue to show that I can do great things in football, and help the club grow.”
For one of his new teammates, 18-year-old midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, who graduated from the club’s academy and made his senior debut in February 2023, followed by a call-up to the US international side just seven months later, the arrival of the superstars has been the culmination of an unimaginable year.
“This past year brought many changes for me, and it’s been amazing,” he tells Tatler. “The biggest impact personally has been to experience many of my childhood dreams in my first year as a professional player. This year, I made my first team debut, made my international debut and even won my first title as a professional, and also had the opportunity to play alongside my childhood hero Lionel Messi. It’s kind of crazy that it all happened so fast, but I keep my feet on the ground and continue to work hard to continue representing my city proudly.”
Hong Kong has been notably failing to keep its feet on the ground about Messi’s forthcoming visit—even though this isn’t even the first time Messi has played in the city. Messi previously visited in 2014, when the Argentinian national team visited for a friendly against Hong Kong. Coming on as a substitute with half an hour to play, he duly scored twice, then handed his shirt to Ghanaian-born Hong Kong player Christian Annan; he even generously signed a shirt for a lucky pitch invader (note to fans: please, don’t try it—it’s unlikely to end well). His every touch was rapturously received by the crowd, despite Hong Kong Stadium being barely half full for the occasion. This time, only the first of those will be true.
Read the February issue here.
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