Messi Mania was winning over all of Puerto Rico with thousands of fans thronging the Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel to watch the open training session of Inter Miami. What was to be a habitual affair was soon turned into a football party. It was a final rather than a cordial build-up.
To the supporters, it was several hours before the session started. There were long queues outside the stadium. It increased security to deal with such huge attendance. All the seats were crowded with enthusiastic spectators dressed in pink jerseys and holding Argentine flags.
When Lionel Messi came out, the stadium collapsed. It was emotional and continuous noise. The desire of many fans was just to see the football legend once. Even the light warming up exercises were hailed as match winning goals.
Messi also trained with Rodrigo De Paul which brought even more reactions of the crowd. Inter Miami centered their attention on the tactics before their friendly match with Independiente del Valle under the supervision of their coach Javier Mascherano. But, there was always a strong focus on the Argentine superstar.
Children chanted his name. The adults reported all the touches on their phones. To a great number of people, it was an uncommon opportunity to be close to a world icon. The presence of Messi made the training a historic event to the Puerto Rican football fans.
The incident demonstrated the power of an individual player to increase the popularity of a club on an international level. The brand of Inter Miami has expanded outside of the United States. Based on this open session, the next friendly will seem more like a major tournament night.
