Billed as “The Last Dance” between footballing legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the friendly match between Inter Miami and Al Nassr in Riyadh has turned into a disaster.
Fans had already soured on the match given the news that Ronaldo would miss out, which was announced on Wednesday.
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Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both OUT for “Last Dance”
Now, less than an hour before the game was set to begin, Messi was ruled out of the starting lineup. Although he’s on the bench, he’s not expected to play at all.
Messi apparently picked up some discomfort in his hamstring over the first couple of games of Miami’s preseason tour. Inter Miami had initially published a team sheet graphic without Messi on it, but deleted it and then added him to the bench.
Inter Miami still have four preseason games left (including Al Nassr), with all four being in different countries. Their first game of the MLS regular season is on February 21. Messi is expected to be fine by then.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, continues to heal and isn’t quite ready to return yet. Al Nassr’s next competitive game is on February 14.