Tickets for Messi’s Inter Miami road debut at FC Dallas Sunday sold out in 15 minutes
The Lionel Messi Show hits the road this weekend for the first time as Inter Miami tries to keep its Leagues Cup win streak alive against FC Dallas in the Round of 16.
Fans will have to pay a pretty penny to watch the Argentine star in person at Toyota Stadium Sunday.
Tickets for the elimination match sold out in 15 minutes when they went on sale to the general public Thursday morning after all the presale tickets, which started at $199, were gone Wednesday night. Prices on the secondary market immediately soared. As of Friday afternoon, the cheapest tickets were $462 on TicketMaster, $413 on Vivid Seats and $447 on Stub Hub.
Toyota Stadium capacity is 20,500, a similar size to Inter Miami’s home field DRV PNK Stadium, so seats are at a premium.
Inter Miami has won all three of its cup games so far, led by Messi’s five goals. He scored a spectacular game winning free kick in his debut against Cruz Azul, two goals against Atlanta United and another brace on Wednesday against Orlando City.
Despite being mired in last place in the league standings, Inter Miami with the addition of Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba has become the team to beat this summer in the Leagues Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. Miami plays Cincinnati in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals Aug. 23.
Right back DeAndre Yedlin expects every opponent to be especially motivated to play against the men in pink and black.
“We’re expecting a tough game, we know what kind of team Dallas is,” Yedlin said. “They have very good players, especially up front. I’ve played with a few of those guys, so I know their qualities and they can be extremely dangerous. Every team is going to try to bring their A game against us, and that’s normal. If I was on the opposing team that would be the same motivation for me.”
Surely, Dallas players will be fired up to test themselves against Messi, and they might try to get under his skin, as Orlando players attempted to do.
Asked to comment on Messi’s fiery performance against Orlando, coach Tata Martino said: “Certainly, the game of the other day was totally different from the previous two. There was more friction. I attribute that to the fact that there were a lot of Latin American players on the field, especially many South Americans, a lot of Argentines, Brazilians, Uruguayans, and evidently there is a respect toward the best player in the world but over 90 minutes, everyone wants to win, so it merited him at some point saying, `Hey, our team is here, too.’’’
Martino, who took over the team from Phil Neville in early July, feels good about what the team has shown so far, but said the best is yet to come.
In addition to the signings of Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, the team in the past week added Under-22 players Facundo Farias and Tomas Aviles of Argentina and Diego Gomez of Paraguay. Martino is also eager to see how the team performs when Gregore, Jean Mota, Nico Stefanelli, Franco Negri, Coco Jean and Ian Fray recover from injuries.
Gregore, the former captain, is expected to return from foot surgery sooner than the others.
One former starter who has had limited playing time the past two games is Ecuadorian forward Leo Campana, who entered in the 83rd and 81st minute. Martino went instead with Venezuelan Josef Martinez, whom he coached with MLS champion Atlanta United in 2018. Martinez scored on a penalty kick against Orlando on Wednesday.
“One of the first conversations we had with Leo was about trying to find the best version of himself, the one that took him to the English league, and he is working toward that,” Martino said. “Knowing the past two games he has had very few minutes, knowing the coach has been inclined to start another center forward, knowing the this team will not have many opportunities to play two forwards together, he is trying to show in his few minutes and in training that he deserves to start.”
Messi’s arrival has led to many changes around the training center and stadium. A pair of portable air conditioners were seen along the practice field sidelines on Friday.
“It gets pretty hot out there on the field,” Yedlin said, smiling. “I think they have to fix the units a little bit because it was really blowing hot air now, not cold air, but it’s still nice to have a little breeze when you’re hot.”
And hot they are since the arrival of Messi and friends. Whether they can keep it going remains to be seen.
