It seems that Argentine star Lionel Messi's journey with Inter Miami is not going as planned, with a new crisis arising during the team's trip to Asia. The American team's season ended quickly in the domestic league after failing to qualify for the finals, leading the club to plan a tour in China this coming November, including two friendly matches against Qingdao Hainiu on the 5th and Chengdu Rongcheng three days later.
According to the "South China Morning" newspaper, it was decided to cancel the second match by the organizers, citing various reasons for the last-minute and shocking change to the game that Chinese fans were eagerly anticipating to see Messi play. As for the second match, its date and location were changed; it was originally set to take place at the Qingdao Youth Stadium, which holds 50,000 spectators, but has now been moved to the Wuyuan River Stadium, which accommodates 41,500 spectators in Haikou.
The newspaper also pointed out that there have been conflicting statements from the organizers regarding the ticket sale date after the number of matches was reduced to just one instead of two, leading to anger among Chinese fans who expressed their frustration on social media.
It is worth noting that Messi has scored 11 goals and provided 5 assists in 14 matches played with Inter Miami since joining the team in the last summer transfer window.
