Inter Miami gets ready to play Al Hilal as Saudi Arabia kicks off Messi ad campaign
Lionel Messi and his globetrotting Inter Miami teammates were greeted with giant bouquets of pink and white roses and music from a saxophonist upon arrival at their hotel in Saudi Arabia on Thursday night, but it has been all business ever since as the team prepares for its next preseason game Monday at 1 p.m. against Saudi league leader Al Hilal.
Fans worldwide can watch the game with the Apple TV MLS Season Pass.
Messi is familiar with Saudi Arabia, as he is a paid tourism ambassador for the country and a frequent visitor. The national tourism brand “Saudi Welcome To Arabia” kicked off a global marketing campaign this week featuring the Argentine soccer icon. The “Go Beyond What You Think” campaign aims to reshape perceptions about the region.
The headline on the campaign website says: “Saudi is More Than You Think. Messi has enjoyed discovering many parts of Saudi. Now explore the unexpected for yourself.” The ads feature a video of Messi kicking a ball to break down walls and behind the walls are scenic sites, hot air balloon rides, an auto race, theme park, music festival, and a young woman playing soccer.
Saudi Arabia has spent big money to attract soccer events, Formula One, and LIV Golf, a practice that has been criticized as “sportswashing.”
Unlike Messi, Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender is a first-time visitor to the region. He experienced his first transAtlantic flight and has been impressed with the facilities and the accommodations in Riyadh.
“This is my first time flying across the Atlantic into this side of the world, so everything’s pretty new to me,” he said on a Zoom interview Sunday. “In terms of training, the facilities are great. It’s a quality field, the locker rooms, everything is top notch, as well as the hotel we’re staying at. It’s one of the nicest hotels I’ve stayed at ever, between the food and the rooms, they made it a comfortable experience for us so far.”
He said the team is still getting adjusted to the eight-hour time difference but was able to get in two full training sessions and was scheduled for a third before the game Monday. Inter Miami failed to score in its first two preseason friendlies against El Salvador (0-0 tie) and FC Dallas (1-0 loss) and aims to play better during its two games in Saudi Arabia.
Al Hilal is riding a 20game win streak and has a seven-point lead atop the Saudi league standings despite the season-ending knee injury to Brazilian star Neymar. Players to watch include Aleksandar Mitrovic of Serbia, Malcom of Brazil and Ruben Neves of Portugal.
Al Hilal will be missing a half-dozen other key players for Monday’s game due to national team duty for the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations.
Among those missing will be Kalidou Koulibaly, the Senegalese center back, Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and Saudi national team standouts Salem Al-Dawsari and Saud Abdulhamid.
The team is coached by Jorge Jesus, the 69-yearold from Portugal who has had great success in the Portuguese league and with Brazilian club Flamengo.
“Al Hilal plays a similar style as the Saudi national team,” said Inter Miami coach Tata Martino.
“They play with an advanced back line, which we saw from Saudi Arabia in the World Cup. And the teams there have important individuals on their rosters, some of whom will be missing, but they are still strong teams in the top two spots in the Saudi league and will require a great effort from us.”
The integration of new players Luis Suarez, Julian Gressel and Nicolas Freire has been one focus of training, and Callender said he expects tough games against the Saudi opponents.
“As we prepare for this game, there’s some things tactically we’ve been looking at, as far as their attacking threats, but there’s only so much you can focus on the opponent,” Callender said. “The most important thing for us is making sure we’re confident in what we’re doing as a unit.
We’re going to be playing away from home, and we know there’s a lot of good players on their side of the field. So, it will be a challenge.”
Inter Miami midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, the Key Biscayne teenager who broke into the starting lineup last season, did not make the trip. He had surgery to repair a sports hernia and is expected to be out for two to three months.
Inter Miami’s second game in the Riyadh Season Cup is Thursday against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr team in a matchup being billed as “The Last Dance” as it could be the final time fans see Ronaldo against his rival Messi. Ronaldo’s availability for the much-hyped match is questionable as he is recovering from a calf injury and has not trained in the past few weeks. Al Nassr canceled a scheduled China tour because of Ronaldo’s injury, but media reports from Saudi Arabia say he is likely to play against Messi.