At a soggy but joyous unveiling event on Sunday, Lionel Messi greeted his new Inter Miami supporters and was praised by the club’s owner as “America’s number 10” despite the rain.
Despite a severe thunderstorm that passed through Miami’s 20,000-seat stadium shortly before the celebration for the arrival of the World Cup champion Argentine was set to start, it was nearly full.
As audience members sought shelter or waited out the tropical downpour in their cars, the commencement of “The Unveil” had to be postponed by the organisers.
Around two hours after the stated start time, the event began with exuberant spectators singing Messi’s name as the lights darkened in the stadium.
The club’s co-owner David Beckham opened the ceremony saying Messi’s arrival was a “dream come true” before majority owner Jorge Mas whipped the crowd up.
“Tonight is a gift and celebration to the city that opened its arms to my family,” said the Cuban-American businessman.
“Tonight we are doing this in the rain. “This is holy water!” he added.
“This is our moment! Our moment to change the football landscape in this country,” he added, before introducing Messi as “Your new number 10, America’s number 10”.
Messi, who made headlines on Tuesday after flying to Miami with his family and was caught shopping in a nearby supermarket, thanked the fans.
“Thank you very much to all the people for supporting me and giving me this love. I am very happy to be here in Miami,” he said.
“I really want to start training, to compete, I have the same desire that I always had to compete, to want to win, to help the club continue to grow.
“I am very happy to have chosen to come to play in this city with my family, to choose this project and I have no doubt that we are going to enjoy it a lot, we are going to have a good time and very good things are going to happen,” he said.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner signed a contract that will keep him with the team through 2025, and Inter Miami, the bottom team in Major League Soccer, announced it on Saturday.
Following the expiration of his contract with French club Paris Saint-Germain last month, the former Barcelona great chose to join Miami.
His Monday press conference was supposed to take place, but the club announced on Sunday that it had been postponed. There was no justification provided for the choice.
In the new Leagues Cup, which involves teams from both the United States’ Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX, Messi might make his club debut on Friday against Mexico’s Cruz Azul.
However, on Saturday, the team’s new Argentine coach Gerardo Martino urged “patience” after watching his side’s winless streak extend to 11 games.
“We look to the future with hope (given) that the best player in the world will play for our team, but also with the patience that we have to have so that he can get in good physical shape and can play at the right moment,” he said.
The DRV PNK Stadium, a temporary venue located about an hour’s drive north of downtown Miami, was where Latin music icons Camilo and Ozuna were scheduled to perform for the crowd.
As the celebration began with pyrotechnics, the stadium on the site of the former Fort Lauderdale Strikers stadium was not quite packed.
Freedom Park, the stadium being built specifically for Inter Miami, is scheduled to open in Miami in 2025.