Messi, Ronaldo to meet in Miami-Al Nassr friendly in February

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are set to meet once more on the pitch when MLS membership Inter Miami CF face Saudi membership Al Nassr in the Riyadh Season Cup friendly, set for February 2024 in Riyadh.

Event organisers confirmed “The Last Dance” occasion through social media on the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh with no precise dates but set.

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The three-team match shall be accomplished by Neymar’s Al Hilal, however the Brazil worldwide is unlikely to function after tearing an ACL final month.

“The excitement and global interest that we expect this tournament to generate expands upon one of our main aspirations for Riyadh Season — to create international events that visitors to Riyadh and fans around the world can all enjoy,” mentioned Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority.

Saudi Arabia has made a serious push to be an enormous participant in world soccer by signing a number of the recreation’s greatest gamers. But it could not lure Messi to the oil-rich kingdom when he left Paris Saint-Germain on the finish of final season, with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner opting to transfer to MLS as an alternative.

The final time the 2 LaLiga rivals performed in opposition to one another was at this match on Jan. 19, 2023, in Riyadh.

Messi took half in final season’s Riyadh Season Cup with PSG and in addition got here up in opposition to Ronaldo after the Portugal nice’s shock transfer to Al Nassr. PSG received the match 5-4.

In May, Messi was fined and suspended by the French membership for taking an unauthorised journey to Saudi Arabia.

Messi, who led Argentina to triumph ultimately yr’s World Cup, has already received his first trophy with the David Beckham co-owned Miami — the Leagues Cup in August.

Messi and Ronaldo are extensively thought-about to be two of the best gamers of all-time and competed in opposition to one another for soccer’s greatest prizes throughout their prime years at Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively.

Both have left European soccer behind however have proven little signal of giving up their ambition to add to their legacies.

Ronaldo has led Portugal to qualify for subsequent yr’s European Championship, and Messi shall be aiming to retain the Copa América for Argentina at subsequent yr’s match.

Sadio Mané has additionally joined Al Nassr as a part of Saudi Arabia’s drive to lure extra star names amid allegations of sportswashing.

While Neymar is recovering from surgical procedure, Al Hilal ought to nonetheless have Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in their lineup.

The Riyadh Season Cup is scheduled to be held in the primary week of February at Kingdom Arena. The schedule has not been introduced, however the three groups will play in a round-robin match.

Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson mentioned Monday that nothing had been finalised or was prepared to be introduced concerning the workforce’s preseason plans.

It will resume coaching in the second week of January, with the expectation that the MLS season will start in late February. Henderson mentioned he thought the workforce would want between 4 and 6 preseason matches, cut up between the U.S. and abroad.

The membership had plans to play two matches in China earlier this month, however that journey — which may have led to greater than 100,000 tickets being bought — fell by way of for logistical causes.

Inter Miami did not make any worldwide excursions in its first three seasons; getting Messi in Year 4 modified every part.

“I really felt like, overnight, we became a global club,” Henderson mentioned Monday. “Eyes all over the world are watching what we’re doing. And what comes with that are these tours and preseason opportunities that we have as a club, so we’re working closely with the front office as they negotiate some of those preseason tours.”