‘Hurricane Messi’: Rain can’t dampen the adulation at Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami unveiling
On the day Lionel Messi was introduced as Inter Miami’s new No. 10, ominous clouds hovered over the club’s stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The storm clouds erased the scorching hot sun that shone brightly just 30 minutes prior.
Outside the stadium, on the gravel lots that fans and media members use for parking, boys and girls in Messi’s Argentina and Inter Miami No. 10 shirt chased soccer balls and dodged the slow-moving cars. The fans made their way to the stadium unbothered by the incoming storm.
Abrupt weather changes are typical in south Florida, but on Sunday evening, a downpour would not dampen the historic celebration that would take place.
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“This is holy water,” proclaimed Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas once an event dubbed “The Unveil” began. “ Es agua bendita.”
Mas, 60, the Cuban-American billionaire and Miami native, was the architect of the ground-breaking deal that brought Messi to U.S. shores. In front of a crowd of 21,000 people who filled Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium, and standing on a rain-slicked runway to an unused center stage next to his co-owners, brother Jose and David Beckham, Mas proselytized in both English and Spanish about Inter Miami’s ambition to bring the best players in the world to the city.
Messi’s former Barcelona teammate and newest Inter Miami teammate Sergio Busquets was introduced first. He was celebrating his 35th birthday. “I’m very happy to be here,” he said in English. He’ll wear the No. 5 shirt. The crowd waited anxiously for the night’s main attraction.
"I'm very happy to be part of Inter Miami." – Sergio Busquets pic.twitter.com/Uqmpfqw0U6
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 17, 2023
Mas had weathered his own storm to sign Messi as Major League Soccer’s
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